Every year, about one million children under 15 years old visit hospitals after an accident in the home – many of them electrical. There are things that you can do as a responsible parent to childproof your home against electrical hazards. 

On the list of “Things To Do” when you move into your new home, “find an electrician in Nottingham” is probably not in the top ten. Most people don’t think of looking for an electrician until something goes wrong. 

Part M of the building regulations help with guidance on the recommended height of Switches and Sockets for new buildings to help with access and should be located so that they are easily reachable. The regulation also suggests that in habitable rooms this will be achieved by mounting the switches, sockets etc between 45cm (bottom of socket height) and 1200mm (top of switch height) above the floor level. Unless the dwelling is specifically designed for a person with limited reach, these requirements do not apply in garages and kitchens.

Once again, careless use of small electrical appliances are again in the news after a hair dryer set alight causing a family home to be gutted.

With current temperatures the hottest they have been in a decade, shops are facing huge demand for fans. Listening to the local radio last night, I heard many High Street stores had sold all out of fans and were turning customers away empty handed.

Child Safety week places the safety of children firmly at the heart of a whole week of campaigning from the 1st-7^th June 2015.

A new electrical safety campaign is under way targeting people who use small electrical beauty appliances such as hair dryers, straighteners and curling tongs. Items such as these have a thriving market where 'fake' versions of the genuine products are being sold as if they were genuine.

E-cigarette chargers are again in the news after a household in Wales had a narrow escape from a serious house fire started by a fault e-cigarette charger. The charger set alight in the bedroom causing damage to the bedroom. Luckily they managed to raise the alarm quickly enough to prevent their whole house going up in flames.

Walk into any retail outlet that sells light bulbs and it quickly becomes a confusing array of boxes of different sized light bulbs all promising amazing energy efficiency. Gone are the days of picking up a standard 'one size fits all' incandescent light bulb – now you have to hold what seems like a Ph.D. in light bulb mastery to make perfect sense of it all.

There is always a reason for celebration, whether it is a house warming party, a graduation celebration or a family get-together, there are growing numbers of people choosing to celebrate at home. Preparing your home with essential party regalia is all part of the fun and choosing some ornate lighting can really add to the finishing touches.

Choose your lighting carefully