How can you avoid electrical hazards during the rainy season?
- Have your electrical fittings checked prior to the rainy season
- Clean and upgrade your appliances.
- Avoid doing electrical chores.
- Ensure your home is grounded.
There’re a lot of reasons to love the rainy season – gone are the heatwaves that cause inconveniences and casualties along with the need to keep your air conditioners running 24/7 and your unending desire to go to the beach to cool off. While people are taking comfort in the natural and cold breeze that the monsoon brings, somewhere in the Philippines, an electrical company is set and dedicated to devising a safety plan for the masses.
Companies and branches of the government concerned with health and safety are responsible for informing people of the dangers that come with the rainy season. Electrical companies, in particular, disseminate information regarding electrical hazards in order to keep their client base, as well as other people, safe.
Although accidents brought about by the combination of electricity and the monsoon are few and select, they still happen and they can be fatal. For you to be able to avoid these electrical hazards that occur during the rainy season, it is best that you follow the different ways we’ve listed below:
Have Your Electrical Fittings Checked Prior to the Rainy Season
Here’s an important safety precaution that is guaranteed to lessen your run-ins with electrical hazards – have your electrical fitting inspected by a professional. We’re all well aware that, in the Philippines, the rainy season starts sometime around June. Before that is several months of nothing but sunshine and scorching heat, which means there’s ample time to prepare our homes for the onset of heavy rainfall and floods.
During the dry season, it is recommended that you have your home’s electrical fittings checked and repaired (if needed) in order to decrease the chances of electrical shocks and other electrical hazards. A task of this caliber should be done by professionals like an expert from an electrical company in the Philippines.
Clean and Upgrade Your Appliances
On top of having your electrical fittings and systems inspected and repaired, we also suggest that you clean and upgrade your appliances especially the ones that you can’t do without during the rainy season. Appliances such as electric fans, refrigerators, and televisions are some great examples to consider in this aspect.
Heavy and constant rains are reasons for high humidity, dampness, and moisture, which, for the most part, are beneficial for everyone and everything except your electrical appliances. These things allow for the growth of fungus and mold – two of the things that could cause damage and increase the probability of electrical hazards such as electrocution. The only way to prevent this from happening is to clean your appliances constantly with a dry, clean cloth.
Aside from cleaning your appliances, inspect their parts for your safety. Make sure that the wires, plugs, and switches are in good, working condition. If not, consider having them repaired or replaced.
Avoid Doing Electrical Chores
It should go without saying that electrical chores, especially outdoor ones, should be put off until the skies clear up. Unless you are a trained engineer, you should stay indoors and away from potentially dangerous electrical systems during a heavy rainfall.
As said before, the season causes moisture, dampness, and humidity and these could interfere with your work. Not to mention that fiddling with electrical systems that are drenched in rainwater is extremely hazardous.
While indoor electrical chores are less dangerous, they should still be performed with extreme caution, so make sure to take safety precautions before doing them. Additionally, avoid touching any electrical part with wet or damp hands as the slightest wetness could cause danger.
Ensure Your Home Is Grounded
When people say they got grounded, it often means that they experienced a slight and non-fatal electric shock from touching a certain electrical part. However, what we mean when we say to get your home grounded is to connect the metallic parts from your appliances, types of machinery, and devices to an earth plate or electrode found underground.
Ensuring that your home is properly grounded lowers the chances of electrocution from accidentally touching an exposed wire, plugging in things or even switching them on and off. The practice may be foreign to you, so try asking an expert for help. Professional electricians should help with earthing or grounding your home and other tasks.
One such item that can definitely help ensure that your home is properly grounded is Meiji’s very own GFCI outlet: built to ensure that your home is grounded without any risk of injury or any life-threatening scenarios, especially during the rainy season!
Key Takeaway
It is important to remember that the rainy season doesn’t just bring cold winds and comforting rain showers but also additional hazards that could cause severe damage to our homes and to ourselves. The danger of handling electrical parts and appliances doubles when heavy rains start to fall, so it is imperative that you tread cautiously and wisely.
Aside from being aware of the risks, you should learn of ways to avoid them in order to guarantee your safety. There are a lot of precautions that are pretty common sense and we’ve avoided those. Instead, what we have here are ways that many people may not know of but are equally crucial nonetheless.
Once you’ve followed the things listed above, you’ll become less prone to electrical hazards and more alert to handle any consequences should accidents happen!