St. Louis Electrician comments on Child Safety and Electrical Outlets
Posted by Stanley Cain on Mon, Apr 11, 2011 @ 07:24 PM
Worried about when your children become curious about the electrical outlets in your home?
It is important to protect children with tamper proof outlets throughout your home, as outlets are tempting toys for unsuspecting children. Sticking fingers or foreign objects into sockets puts them at risk of being shocked or burned. Reduce this risk by calling Cain Electric to install child proof outlets in your home today.
Is your child at risk of injury?
This year over 2,400 kids will be injured by placing metal objects into electrical outlets.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that over 95% of these injuries will involve burns. These burns range in severity, but many result in serious, even fatal injuries. Even minor injuries can leave a child emotionally traumatized. It is important to note that pediatric burns are more serious than adult burns because their skin is thin and offers little resistance to electric flow or heat. For this reason infant and toddler burns leave more serious burns and scars. Alarmingly 70% of the time adult supervision is present when an injury occurs. It only takes a second for a child to find danger by sticking a metal object or their finger into an outlet.
Do all child proof outlets work?
Unfortunately some of the products that claim to protect your children have not only proven to be unreliable, but have become a hazard themselves. The plastic plugs you push into the socket can be removed and if inserted into the mouth, can become a choking hazard. In addition, some “tamper proof” outlets don’t fully close the openings to the outlet and a child could still push something like a safety pin in the hole and experience an electrical shock. There are even some products that require you to screw the plugs in place. This is not only inconvenient, it presents a fire hazard.
Call Cain Electric to install the right child proof outlets in your home today.
Can injuries be prevented?
Injuries can be prevented by installing appropriate tamper resistant outlets. Tamper resistant outlets have been so successful at preventing injuries that the 2008 National Electrical Code requires them to be installed in all new homes. If you home is older, you can easily meet safety code by adding child proof outlets throughout your home.