Electricity Has The Power To Kill, And Sometimes Does

Electricity is all around us. We use it all day and every day. It powers our phones, our laptops, our tablets, the lighting in our homes, street lamps, electric vehicles, cookers, radiators, the tills that we pay at for our shopping in retail giants, our kettles, the water for a shower or bath – the list just goes on and on.

Yet here is the strange thing: you cannot see electricity; you cannot hear it; you cannot smell it; you cannot taste it. Yet you will pretty soon know if you touch it! Depending on the amount of power it is producing, you will either feel a slight shock, or on the other hand it can kill you. Quite easily. In 2015/2016 there were some 1,380 deaths in the UK caused as a result of electricity. Between 2010 and 2016, 26 electricians died – and these are the people who are trained in the use of electricity. (Source:  http://www.neighbourhoodwatch.net/how-many-electricians-die-a-year-in-the-uk/). 

The problem is that, as far as most of us are concerned, electricity is just “there”. We don’t think about how it gets to where we need to use it, because all the cables and wires are hidden in the walls, floors, and ceilings of buildings, and run underground through the streets in order to get to the building in the first place. 

But here’s the catch: all those wires, cables, sockets, and so on, deteriorate over time. But because we can’t see them, or they are tucked away in a cupboard, we don’t give them a second thought. Yet faulty and old wiring is one of the main causes of electrical fires in buildings. However old your electrical installation is, it may get damaged and will suffer from wear and tear.

How old is your electrical installation? Well, for example, if you have fixed cables coated in rubber, they have not been used since the 1960’s. Fixed cables coated in lead or fabric are even older.
Light switches on bathroom walls are prior to the 1960’s. There are other indications as well. The short answer is that you should have your electrical installation checked by a qualified electrical testing companies and get an EICR report (Electrical Installation Condition Report) on a regular basis.

In a private home that is every ten years, but in commercial premises it may be as little as every three.