FIRST AID FOR ELECTRIC LIGHTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 233, 21 December 1927, Page 7

FIRST AID FOR ELECTRIC LIGHTS

Shock dangers from electric-light Bttings cannot be emphasised too much. Housewives who have been considering die advantages of modernising their lighting or heating arrangements should uot allow such dangers to dissuade them. It may. however, serve to remind them that all electrical a.pptiances should be treated with respect, and that fatal accidents are possible even at very low voltages. The counsel of perfection, no doubt, is 7uly to change the position of lamps or attachments by daylight, and when the main switch near the meter has beel turned off. It is an error'to suppose that when the switches in rooms Jnd passages arc up there is no danger It is always risky to touch electrical apparatus with wet hands or while standing on wet floors. If faulty fittings are suspected— particularly in bathrooms, kitchens, or sculleries —a skilled electrician should be called in. A simple precaution which reduces risks to the minimum when replacing ft worn lamp or detaching, or attaching, movable fittings is to put a perfectly dry piece of wood. or. even better, several layers of dry newspaper under the feet. This precaution is only effective if. while handling the fittings, the body is brought into contact with <no other objects. A pair of goloshes, provided they are neither damp nor leaky, also make good insulators.