Safety Tip of the Week – Extension Cord Safety

Did you know that electrical extension cords are responsible for thousands of injuries each year, resulting is visits to the hospital emergency room? Injuries involving fractures, lacerations, contusions, or sprains are common when people trip over an extension cord. Thousands of residential fires originate from extension cords each year, killing and injuring hundreds of people.

REMEMBER, frequent causes of these fires are short circuits, overloading, damage, and misuse of those extension cords.

REMEMBER, extension cords are only temporary convenient wiring and should be used sparingly.

Safety Tips to Consider:

• Ground your equipment when plugging into the extension cords;
• Use products with the three-pronged plugs or the new polarized plugs with one blade slightly wider than the other;
• Never abuse the prongs by bending or forcing a three-pronged cord into a two-pronged outlet;
• Insure a good solid connection to the outlet with the plug;
• Choose extension cords appropriately rated for the task (indoor/outdoor) and for wattage;
• Use one long cord instead of several shorter cords. Never connect extension cords in a series.A longer cord should have a larger diameter (thicker = safer);
• If using a cord outdoors, plug it into ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI); and
• Don’t overload cords. Multi-plug devices should contain an integral circuit breaker. 

REMEMBER, choose the right cord, inspect it, consider the best location carefully, handle it with care, and then put it away properly. You can avoid tripping, fire, shock, and electrocution hazards associated with extension cords by thinking carefully and then acting safely.

CARE FOR YOUR CORDS! IT’S A GOOD PRACTICE!