Sharpe Services was called to defuse a ticking time bomb in an Adelaide home this week. The occupants were lucky not to be electrocuted when a kitchen power point burnt out.

This was because the older switchboard didn’t have any safety switches fitted. Not only that, loose wiring in the roof space added another serious risk.

Sharpe Services can’t stress enough the importance of making sure your home complies with current electrical safety standards.

With people generally spending more time at home than ever, electrical safety has never been more crucial.

The only way to get a total piece of mind is to get an experienced, fully-qualified and insured electrician to safety check your switchboard and wiring circuits.

Safety switches are life-saving devices that quickly turn off the electricity supply if a fault is detected. They minimise the risk of electricity-related fires, electric shock, injury and death.

By law, safety switches protecting power points and lighting circuits must be installed in all new homes and in buildings where electrical circuits have been altered or added. This law was introduced in 1991, so if your home was built before then, it may not be protected by safety switches.

Switchboard upgrades and safety switch installations must be carried out by a licensed electrician who provides a certificate of compliance.

Does a light switch or power point make a slight sizzling sound when you turn it on? Is there a faint smell of burning plastic in one part of the house? Have you got any cracked or loose power points or switches? Do your ceiling lights flicker occasionally? Is there a tingling sensation when you touch your taps?

All these are urgent warning signs of electrical danger and should never be ignored.

Sharpe Services can be at your house within the hour to attend to any electrical emergency.

For those concerned about the state of their electrics and unsure if they meet current standards Sharpe Services can carry out an affordable safety check of the entire household wiring and switchboard.