How To Babyproof Power Outlets

For parents raising babies in modern homes, it can bring with it a number of concerns. Baby proofing homes is an essential step in creating a safe home in order to protect your children from the dangers on everyday items. Water, gas and electricity are some of the areas you may be thinking of precautions for. Today we’ll focus on the latter and discuss how you can baby proof power outlets at home.

Firstly, we understand parents have a spectrum of opinions when it comes to babyproofing. Some believe babyproofing to be unnecessary and a little over the top, some believe it to be of the utmost importance. Wherever you stand on this, let us start by saying that babyproofing your power outlets can be critical for the safety of your child and to put your mind at ease that you have taken the necessary steps to achieve that. You can book all types of electrical maintenance with us.

Dangers

1 – Putting fingers into plug sockets: This can cause injury or even death in rare cases. Children are naturally curious beings and learn by play and exploration. But this can be dangerous with electricity. Some preventative measure you can take include using plastic safety plugs on unused power outlets to stop infants from playing with them. You can also strategically place furniture to cover plug sockets where possible, for example, behind the sofa or behind a chest of drawers.

2 – Poking metal objects into power outlets: Metal is of course a conducter of electricity and so can be an electrocution hazard. Keep metal objects out of reach so there is less chance of your children trying to put a key or cutlery into power outlets which can have a dangerous outcome

3 – Keep wires and cables fixed in place: Loose cables by power outlets can be a strangulation hazard for young children. Helix Electrical have solutions for you with our neat and safety first approach to reducing risk in your home.

Solutions

1 – WorkSafe NZ suggests you always choose shuttered or recessed sockets for new inmstallations or upgrades, especially for sockets accessible to toddlers and young children. Contact us today to enquire about upgrading your home with babyproofing in mind.

2 – Put electrical appliances away after use. This will reduce risk in your home and won’t allow your children to grow accustomed to appliances and treat them like toys.

3 – As soon as they are old enough, teach your children about the dangers we have referred to in this blog. Until then, get in touch with Helix Electrical today to discuss the ways in which we can babyproof your home today to make it safe for tomorrow.