Has Cold Weather Forced You to Stay Inside? Check for Safety!

Before you leave home in the morning, you run through a mental checklist: Keys? Check! Lights? Check! Wallet? Check! But most Americans have never thought about running through a checklist that could save them from electrocution or electrical fire: an electrical safety checklist.

The Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) has a free, downloadable checklist covering electrical issues that may arise inside your home.

Covering every room from the kitchen to the basement, the checklist guides users through their homes’ electrical systems via a series of questions and suggested action items. Do your lights flicker when you turn on the vacuum cleaner? Engage a licensed electrician to determine if your home has enough electrical circuits. Are you protected from electrocution that can result from electricity interacting with water? Conduct a monthly test of the ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets in the kitchen and bathroom.

To download ESFI’s Indoor Electrical Safety Checklist, go to www.esfi.org.