Kitchen safety advice from FirstEye electricians in Leeds

Several thousand people are injured in kitchen fires every year – a staggering figure especially when you consider that this amount doesn’t include those killed by kitchen fires. Fire safety is incredibly important so make sure you and your family know what to do to ensure that you stay safe.

Is your kitchen safe?

To minimise the risk of a kitchen fire, it’s important that your kitchen is a safe place to be. By taking the following steps, you’ll be helping to minimise the chances of a fire:

• Never keep electrical leads near a source of water: if your kettle is located next to the sink, for example, find another, safer place to keep it.
• Make sure your oven, hob and toaster are kept clean and free from grease as a build-up of fat and bits of food are a fire risk.
• Tea towels, towels, curtains and blinds should be well away from the cooker.
• Large appliances such as washing machines, fridges and dishwasher should be regularly checked to ensure they are safe. If you see scorch marks around the socket or a damaged electrical cable, stop using the appliance and seek professional advice.
• Never try and repair an appliance yourself – seek professional advice or if a small appliance such as a toaster breaks down, replacing it with a new one is usually the cheapest, safest option.
• Don’t be tempted to run an extension cable across the floor or to overload plug sockets: if you don’t have enough sockets in the kitchen the safest thing to do is to ask a reputable electrician to install new ones.
• A working smoke alarm is vital but if yours is near the kitchen and keeps going off frequently, consider moving it to avoid false alarms. It’s also worth considering installing a heat alarm in the kitchen – as the name says, these are triggered by sharp rises in heat, rather than smoke – making them ideal for use in kitchens.

Contact FirstEye for advice or information

If you would like advice on electrical or fire safety, please don’t hesitate to contact the team here at FirstEye for further advice. Our quotes are always free and can be arranged at a time to suit you.