Let’s Make Our Home Completely Safe from an Electrical Standpoint for Our Child
The Three Pillars of Child Protection
Creating a safe environment does not depend on just a single device, but on the combined effect of three areas:
- Technical Protection: Standardized and child-sized safety equipment.
- Physical Protection: The isolation of devices and mechanical accident prevention.
- Education: Education appropriate to the child's level regarding the benefits and dangers of electricity.
Technical Basics: Network Safety and Child-Sized Protection Against Electric Shock
Before dealing with visible devices, let us ensure that the apartment's electrical system is fundamentally safe. Without claiming completeness, the most important ones are:
- RCD (Residual Current Device / FI-relay): This device immediately disconnects the power if it detects a leak. Its presence is not only mandatory but life-saving.
- Protective Conductor and Fuses: Every socket should have grounding, and fuses should be correctly sized to trip in time in case of overheating.
- Child-sized Protective Grounding: While the standard specifies 10 Ohms for adults, for children, it is recommended to install grounding with a resistance below 2 Ohms.
- Expert Inspection: Electrical work is not a "do-it-yourself" task. Periodically have an electrical safety inspection performed to check the above.
Physical Protection and Accident Prevention: Contact Protection of Electrical Devices
The following precautions help ensure that the child cannot access sources of danger and that accidents resulting from technical faults can be prevented.
Damaged Devices and Warning Signs
Any device with a malfunction or damaged casing should be withdrawn from use immediately! Repairing with electrical tape is not standard and does not provide sufficient protection.
Seek the help of an electrician if you experience the following, for example:
- Smells and Sounds: We notice a burning smell or crackling anywhere.
- Discoloration: Suspicious discoloration or burn marks indicating heating.
- Lighting: Frequently burning out bulbs.
Take everyday electrical appliances to a service center if, for example:
- Kettle: It does not switch off in time, or steam leaks from it in an inappropriate place.
- Toaster: The release button jams.
Damaged equipment increases the risk of live wires becoming touchable, which can cause electric shock.
Safety of Sockets and Cables
- Use of Childproof Sockets: Use tamper resistant receptacles with built-in protection that only open if both prongs of the plug touch them simultaneously. These are sufficiently protected against the insertion of other objects, such as paperclips or pens.
- Safety Caps (Blanking Plugs): Place safety caps into unused sockets if they do not have built-in child protection.
- Cable Management: Avoid running cables under carpets (they can be damaged by footsteps). Use cable organizers to keep them out of the child's reach; this prevents them from putting them in their mouth or becoming tangled in them (strangulation hazard). Young children often explore new things by taking them in their hands or mouths. This can carry a serious risk of electric shock.
- Extension Cords: Avoid "daisy-chaining" extension cords. If necessary, buy a longer extension cord. Immediately unplug extension cords that are no longer in use! Remember: children can put these cables in their mouths.
- Adapters: Avoid plugging adapters (e.g., T-plugs) into each other, i.e., "chaining." Connect at most one such device to a wall socket, as stacking them can lead to overheating and fire hazards.
Large Electrical Appliances and Stability
- Fixing to the Wall: Secure the TV, hi-fi, and other heavy electronic devices to the wall so they cannot fall on the little ones or have their cables pulled out.
- Inaccessibility: Push machines directly against the wall so children cannot reach the rear wires. Keep DVD players and similar electronic devices in a closed cabinet. Sockets that are not used, or those into which something is constantly plugged (e.g., a speaker, electric piano), should be hidden with furniture—a cabinet, sofa, or chest of drawers.
- Instable Lamps and Equipment: Avoid floor lamps or heating panels that tip over easily, or fix them stably to the wall or floor in such a way that if a child grabs them with their full weight, they cannot tip them over.
Protection Against Water and Moisture
- Strict Adherence of Safety Distance: Strictly keep all electrical devices away from the bathtub, tap, or pool.
- Hairdryer: After use, always put it away in a place where the child cannot reach it.
- Outdoor Socket Installation: Outdoors, only have sockets installed that can be closed with a lid and have the appropriate IP rating.
Kitchen Safety
- Induction Cooktop: Specifically recommended because it only gives off heat when in contact with a metal object and cools down in seconds, preventing burn injuries in case of accidental contact.
- Elevated Storage: Keep the toaster, blender, and other kitchen machines on a high shelf or in a place where the child cannot reach them.
Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
- Protective Grilles: Install grilles on all vents and rotating parts through which a child can poke neither their hand nor small objects.
- High Installation: Have equipment installed at a height where it is not accessible to children.
- Outdoor Unit: If the air conditioner's outdoor unit is on the ground, surround it with a stable fence, maintaining a protection zone of at least 1-1.5 meters. The fence must be strong enough to withstand natural child activity, such as playing ball or climbing.
- Remote Controls: Keep them locked away! Swallowing the button batteries inside them is life-threatening; moreover, the child can change the temperature, which can lead to catching a cold.
- Space Heaters: They should be at least 1 meter away from the bed, curtains, and flammable materials. Only operate them in tip-proof locations where neither a child nor a pet can knock them over.
Regular Inspection of Children's Toys
- Regularly examine electrical toys! If you notice wear, sparking, heating, or a strange smell, take it away from the child immediately! When changing batteries, always check if you see rusting (corrosion) in the battery compartment.
- Pay attention to the voltage! Only give certified toys to the child. The safe operating voltage is below 12V; for babies, types below 5V are recommended. Always check what the local regulations are regarding this.
General Maintenance and Safety
- Bulbs: Only use light bulbs that do not exceed the maximum power (Wattage) indicated on the lamp fixture.
- Night Lighting Near the Floor: For sensor lights near the floor, buy those (e.g., LED) whose surface remains cool even during use. This way, a curious child will not burn themselves if they touch the lamp.
- Online Shopping: Avoid devices from non-domestic or uncertain webshops (e.g., cheap chargers, extension cords), as they are often fire-hazardous and life-threatening.
- Regular Inspection: Every 2-3 months, go through the apartment and check the integrity of cables and the other points based on the list above.
- Foreign Environments: When visiting or on vacation, only leave the child unsupervised if you are already completely convinced of the environment's safety.
- Fire Protection: Since nearly half of apartment fires stem from electrical faults, keep a special fire extinguisher at home suitable for extinguishing electrical fires. In case of fire, immediately disconnect the power and notify the authorities!
- DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Prohibition: Electrical work is not a hobby. Call an electrical professional for any modifications!
In case of electric shock, call the ambulance immediately and seek medical help!
Educating the Child: Awareness and Leading by Example
Alongside technical protection, the most important thing is teaching our child about the benefits and dangers of electric current. Lead by example and explain the connections!
Indoor Electrical Safety
Correct Use – Sockets and Cables
- The Rule of Connection: Only plug in or pull out a device that is switched off. Always grab the plug, never yank the cable!
- Prohibition of Poking: Teach the child that it is forbidden to reach into the socket with hands or objects (e.g., cutlery, pens, paperclips).
- Reporting Demages to an Adult: If the child sees a damaged wire or moisture next to the socket, they should tell an adult immediately.
Connection Between Water and Electricity
- Wet Hands Forbidden: It is forbidden to touch a switch or electrical device with wet hands.
- Bathroom Prohibition: While sitting in water (bathtub, pool), it is strictly forbidden to use any electrical device (hairdryer, phone, laptop)!
- Safe Distance: Keep all liquids (glass of water, wet towel) away from electrical machines, such as laptops.
Smart Devices and Charging
- Charging Rules: Use only original chargers. It is forbidden to plug a damaged charger into the socket! Replicas can carry serious risks, such as overheating and fire hazards.
- During Use: Using the phone while charging is forbidden, and especially avoid using headphones at such times.
- Overheating: At night, avoid placing a phone that is on the charger under a pillow or blanket, because it can catch fire due to overheating! Surprisingly many children do this, so pay special attention to it!
General Precautions
- Kitchen Rules: It is forbidden to reach into the toaster with a metal object (knife, fork).
- Moisture at Sockets and Electrical Devices: If you see water next to a socket or any electrical device, tell an adult immediately!
- Powering Down when Leaving: Before you leave home, switch off all lights and devices—only the refrigerator should stay switched on!
- Signs: Teach children the meaning of signs warning of electrical danger and to take them seriously.
- Power Outage in a Storm: Switch off electrical appliances, use a flashlight, stay inside to play board games, and notify the service provider. The power will come back.
Outdoor Electrical Safety
Industrial Facilities and Wires
- Transformers: Always stay away from transformer houses and power plants. If a ball or kite falls behind the fence, it is forbidden to climb in—you must tell an adult!
- Wires and Trees: It is forbidden to climb a tree whose branches may touch electrical wires. If branches accidentally touch the wires, the tree can become live.
- Kite Flying: This should only be done in open fields, far from high-voltage lines.
Emergency in a Storm
- Location: Avoid pools, wet places, lone trees, and high points. Look for a low-lying but flood-free place.
- Defensive Pose: If you feel the danger of a lightning strike, squat down, touch your heels together, but never lie down on the ground!
- Group Distance: If there are several of you, keep a distance of at least 6-7 meters from each other so that a potential lightning strike does not spread to others.
When Should We Start Childproofing Our Home?
Preferably even before the baby is born. Although crawling and climbing only start at 6–9 months of age, electrical work can be time-consuming and involves a mess—it is better to get through these before the arrival of the newborn.
If you have any questions regarding the above, please feel free to contact me.