Flat Fires: How to Avoid Tragedy

Posted on April 25, 2013 in Uncategorized

Have you seen the news? Many local reports have recently featured flat fires that have started because of faulty electrical equipment. How can you take precautions and avoid tragedies?

1. Make Sure Appliances Are Turned Off

Some of the most serious fires have been started because of neglect; leaving hair tongs on a wooden floor, forgetting to turn off irons, etc. Taking simple precautions, like checking around the house before you leave, can help you to avoid danger. Ensure that appliances are switched off at the mains plug socket, and keep irons, hair tongs and other appliances away from flammable materials.

2. Be Aware of Product Recall Notices

In spite of legislation to combat poor manufacturing quality, products do sometimes go wrong. Occasionally, products that could cause danger to people have to be recalled to the manufacturer. But, how do you find out if your product has been recalled?

This site, RecallUK, has a list of products that have been issued product recalls and is updated frequently with new recall statements from major manufacturers. Check this site if you have a concern about a product you own:

http://www.recalluk.com/latest/recalls.aspx

It might be worth checking this site every now and again, just to see if there are any faults in older equipment that you own develop, which haven’t been noticed before.

3. PAT Test Regularly

The IEE (Institute of Electrical Engineers) recommends that PAT Testing (Portable Appliance Testing) is done on a ‘regular’ basis. But there’s a degree of responsibility there – how often you get your appliances tested depends on several factors, including:

  • The type of equipment
  • How often it’s used and in what manner
  • How old the equipment is
  • If it’s regularly moved or transported and how
  • Where it’s being used (outdoors, indoors, in a dangerous environment etc)
  • Manufacturer’s recommendations

There is some useful information on this page which expands on the Health & Safety Executive guidance and covers a broad range of situations and settings:

https://www.protechpropertysolutions.co.uk/electrical-services/pat-electrical-testing/

4. Install a RCD Fuse Box

RCD Fuse Boxes detect abnormal residual currents from your appliances and shuts off supply rapidly to avoid danger.  RCD fuse boxes take a bit more skill to install as your electrician has to make sure they don’t trip every time you boil a kettle.

ProTech Property Solutions have plenty of expertise installing RCD fuse boxes., and PAT Testing. Please speak to David or Megan at ProTech if you’d like more advice or to find out what we can offer you.