{"id":38640,"date":"2023-05-10T13:37:26","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T20:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/?page_id=38640"},"modified":"2023-08-25T10:34:20","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T17:34:20","slug":"electrical-safety","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/outages-safety\/safety-tips\/electrical-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Electrical Safety"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Outdoors, look up and be aware of any power transmission lines near you! Be extra aware of your surroundings when working with excavation equipment, ladders or other tall equipment or when in a sailboat. Coming in contact with power lines can be deadly.<\/li>\n<li>Teach your children about electrical safety. Never allow them to fly a kite or climb a tree near a power line.<\/li>\n<li>Do not work with, handle or repair any of Peninsula Light Company\u2019s electrical equipment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Never touch<\/strong> or attempt to pick up a fallen power line. If you see a downed power line or pole, get away and call Peninsula Light Company immediately!<\/li>\n<li>Report any substation or power line, pole, security light, or transformer vandalism to PLC or police.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure new appliances or equipment purchases carry the Underwriters Laboratory&#8217;s or other certified lab\u2019s approval. The UL label should apply to the entire appliance, not just the cord or plug.<\/li>\n<li>Never run electric cords under a carpet or through a doorway. Check cords often for fraying and signs of wear and replace them immediately if damaged. Do not repair or patch a frayed cord.<\/li>\n<li>Ground all tools and appliances properly. If you use a three-prong plug in a two wire socket, be sure to use a properly grounded adapter.<\/li>\n<li>Because water conducts electricity, do not use appliances or power tools while your hands are damp or while standing in or near water. Do not use electric toenail or nose hair clippers in the tub!<\/li>\n<li>Disasters of all types can cause power lines to fall to the ground causing a potentially deadly hazard.<\/li>\n<li>Never touch, move, or go near any kind of downed or hanging line, even if it looks harmless. Getting near it could cause a severe injury or even death.<\/li>\n<li>Do not put your feet into a flooded street or even a puddle where a downed line is lying. In some instances, wet or snow-covered ground can conduct electricity.<\/li>\n<li>Do not try to move tree limbs that are on or near power line. Anything touching a downed line may be dangerous.<\/li>\n<li>Immediately report a downed line to your local utility company\u2019s emergency center and also call your local police.<\/li>\n<li>If you see someone who has been shocked and is in direct or indirect contact with a downed power line, do not try to touch the person. Efforts to move an electric shock victim could make you a second victim.<\/li>\n<li>If a power line falls on a car, you should stay inside the vehicle. This is the safest place to stay under the circumstances. Honk your horn to alert passersby. Roll down the window and warn people not to touch the car or the line. Ask someone to call the local utility company and emergency services.<\/li>\n<li>The only circumstance in which you should consider leaving a car that is in contact with a downed power line is if the vehicle catches on fire; open the door, but do not step out. Make sure that you jump completely free of the vehicle with both feet together to avoid contact with the live car (metal) and the ground at the same time. Hop as far away as possible from the vehicle keeping both feet together.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Outdoor Tools &amp; Appliances<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Safely store warm weather tools like lawn mowers and trimmers. Check cold weather tools, such as leaf and snow blowers, along with their power cords, for unusual wear and tear. Repair or replace worn tools or parts right away.<\/li>\n<li>Unplug and safely store battery chargers that won&#8217;t be in use again until spring.<\/li>\n<li>Use only weatherproof electrical devices for outside activities. Protect outdoor electrical devices from moisture. Make sure electrical equipment that has been wet is inspected and reconditioned by a certified repair dealer.<\/li>\n<li>Keep dry leaves swept away from outdoor lighting, outlets and power cords.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Holiday Decorations &amp; Costumes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Ensure all holiday lighting and extension cords are in good repair, with no fraying, cracking or cuts, and are certified by an independent testing lab such as UL, CSA or ETL. Follow the rating for indoor or outdoor use.<\/li>\n<li>Never connect more than 3 strands of decorative lights together. Make sure all connections are tight and protected from inclement weather, including the outlet. Unplug the lights from the outlet when not in use.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure spotlights used to highlight decorations are well-ventilated, protected from weather and are a safe distance from anything flammable, such as shrubs and bushes, dry leaves or fabric decorations.<\/li>\n<li>Keep power and extension cords out of pathways.<\/li>\n<li>Do not coil power cords or extension cords while in use. Do not tuck them under rugs, carpets or curtains. They may overheat, causing a fire hazard.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Electric Blankets<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Make sure electric blankets are in good repair and certified by an independent testing lab such as UL, CSA or ETL. Power cords should not be frayed, cracked or cut.<\/li>\n<li>Do not tuck your electric blanket into mattresses or under children, and don&#8217;t put anything on top of the blanket while in use, such as comforters or bedspreads.<\/li>\n<li>Never allow pets to sleep on the electric blanket.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For these and other related safety tips, visit the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.electrical-safety.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ESFI website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Outdoors, look up and be aware of any power transmission lines near you! Be extra aware of your surroundings when working with excavation equipment, ladders or other tall equipment or when in a sailboat. Coming in contact with power lines can be deadly. Teach your children about electrical safety. Never allow them to fly a [&#8230;]\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"parent":138766,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38640"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38640"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138787,"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38640\/revisions\/138787"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/138766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penlight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}