Kitchen Safety

These are general safety guidelines for using electrical installations in your kitchen.

Do:
check that flexible leads and appliances such as kettles and toasters are in good condition.
get an electrician to repair damaged cables or equipment.
take special care when using electrical appliances in the kitchen as the mixture of water, hot services, flexes and electricity can be dangerous.

Don't:
use any electrical equipment or switches with wet hands.
wrap flexible leads around equipment that is still warm when storing it away.
clean any appliance like a blender, juicer or kettle whilst it is still plugged in.
trail flexible leads across sinks or cookers.
try to retrieve toast stuck in a toaster whilst it is plugged in, and especially not with a knife.
fill a kettle whilst it is plugged in.
fill a steam iron whilst it is plugged in.

Sinks
Socket-outlets, switches and other accessories should not be positioned where they may be splashed with water, either directly from taps or by normal use of the sink.

Appliances
Large appliances such as fridges, dishwashers and washing machines can be plugged into a standard socket-outlet, but in modern kitchens, these appliances are often installed under worktops, and sockets mounted behind them are difficult to reach. It is generally more convenient to have a switched fused connection unit mounted at an easily-accessible height above the worktop.

RCD Protection
Socket-outlets likely to be used to supply portable equipment outdoors must be RCD protected. The circuits that supply fridges and freezers do not need to be RCD protected.

Information supplied byNICEIC