Managing electrical safety in communal areas of residential properties is one of the fundamentals of keeping the property and the people inside it safe and secure.
Electricity is one of the most essential parts of our lives. How we use electricity has changed over recent years, where lifestyle habits and evolving technology have increased the amount of appliances we’re using and the times we’re using them, often using night time as ‘charge time’!. As a result, we sometimes forget how powerful and dangerous it can be.
As a Freeholder, Director of a residential management company or residents association, or if you are responsible for managing a property, you are responsible for ensuring the safety of the electrical installation of the community estate.
We recognise the importance of managing the electrical safety in communal areas and the requirements of this applies to the communal estate. Our Health and Safety Management Service deals directly with the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the responsible persons duties and the specific regulations.
We also recognise the need for this same approach to be taken within the individual apartments and work with our clients to provide as much information and support as possible to ensure everyone is ‘power safe’ and managing electricity correctly. Landlords will have additional obligations to home-owner residents and need to ensure the electrical safety of any property they let.
Our information leaflet on managing electrical safety in communal areas, ‘How to Ensure you are Power Safe‘, provides relevant information on keeping safe with electricity and the obligations of managing electricity.
Electrical Safety First is a campaigning charity that aims to reduce deaths and injuries caused by electricity in UK homes. We do this by working closely with Government, the electrical industry, manufacturers, retailers and consumer safety organisations to improve safety regulation and standards. We run media and digital campaigns to share advice and guidance with consumers that will help them to stay safe in their homes.
Further information and advice: https://www.ddfire.gov.uk/sites/default/files/attachments/electricalsafety.pdf
