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Electrical Hazards
Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCIs)
Annually, over 40,000 fires are attributed to home electrical wiring. Arcing faults are one of the major causes of these fires. When unwanted arcing occurs, it generates high temperatures that can ignite nearby combustibles such as wood, paper, and carpets.
Electrical receptacle outlets in walls and floors may present shock and electrical fire hazards to consumers. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that 3,900 injuries associated with electrical receptacle outlets are treated in hospital emergency rooms each year. Approximately a third of these injuries occur when young children insert metal objects, such as hair pins and keys, into the outlet, resulting in electric shock or burn injuries to the hand or finger. CPSC also estimates that electric receptacles are involved in 5,300 fires annually, which claim 40 lives and injure 110 consumers.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that each year, about 4,000 injuries associated with electric extension cords are treated in hospital emergency rooms. About half the injuries involve fractures, lacerations, contusions, or sprains from people tripping over extension cords. Thirteen percent of the injuries involve children under-five years of age; electrical burns to the mouth accounted for half the injuries to young children. CPSC also estimates that about 3,300 residential fires originate in extension cords each year, killing 50 people and injuring about 270 others. The most frequent causes of such fires are short circuits, overloading, damage, and/or misuse of extension cords.
A "GFCI" is a ground fault circuit interrupter. A ground fault circuit interrupter is an inexpensive electrical device that, if installed in household branch circuits, could prevent over two-thirds of the approximately 300 electrocutions still occurring each year in and around the home. Installation of the device could also prevent thousands of burn and electric shock injuries each year. The GFCI is designed to protect people from severe or fatal electric shocks Because a GFCI detects ground faults, it can also prevent some electrical fires and reduce the severity of others by interrupting the flow of electric current.
A checklist to help you identify and correct electrical safety hazards in each room of your home.
This guide describes warnings of potential hazards. Each part of the home electrical system is listed along with warning signs that may indicate current or future problems. Each section describes problems and tells you what to do.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that about 4,700 residential fires originate in extension cords each year, killing 50 persons and injuring some 280 others.
To help prevent fires, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) urges homeowners (including residents of mobile homes) to replace uncertified heat tapes more than three years old. Uncertified heat tapes should be replaced with new heat tapes certified to meet recognized voluntary standards. At the present the following organizations are certifying heat tapes to meet recognized voluntary standards: Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), and Factory Mutual Research Corporation (FMRC).
Electrical fires in our homes claim the lives of 700 Americans each year and injure 3,000 more. Some of these fires are caused by electrical system failures and appliance defects, but many more are caused by the misuse and poor maintenance of electrical appliances, incorrectly installed wiring, and overloaded circuits and extension cords.
Electrical fires are one of the leading types of home fires, especially in manufactured homes. By following some simple rules on electrical safety you can reduce the likelihood of an electrical fire in your home.
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Problems in home wiring, like arcing and sparking, are associated with more than 40,000 home fires each year. A new electrical safety device for homes, called an arc fault circuit interrupter or AFCI, is expected to provide enhanced protection from fires resulting from these unsafe home wiring conditions. Typical household fuses and circuit breakers do not respond to early arcing and sparking conditions in home wiring. By the time a fuse or circuit breaker opens a circuit to defuse these conditions, a fire may already have begun. Several years ago, a CPSC study identified arc fault detection as a promising new technology. Since then, CPSC electrical engineers have tested the new AFCIs on the market and found these products to be effective.
Signs of trouble in aluminum wiring systems warm to-the-touch face plates on outlets or switches, flickering lights, circuits that don't work, or the smell of burning plastic at outlets or switches.
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