Keeping Kids Away from Electrical Hazards - Tips for Childproofing Your Home

Whether you are a parent to be or you recently became a first-time parent it's important to identify electrical hazards in your home before your bundle of joy is mobile and getting into everything. Your homes electrical system can be dangerous to curious little ones if the proper precautions aren't taken to "child-proof" your home. Read on to get a few tips from our expert team of electricians at the Lake of the Ozarks!


First, Identify the Hazards

Before you start to child-proof your home you must first identify the potential hazards. Some you have probably already thought about while others may not have crossed your mind yet. It's a good idea to go through every room of your home and check every high and low point for potential hazards. This includes furniture, on top of counters and dressers, dangling cords etc. Once you identify hazards, be sure to make a list and check each item off until everything is complete. Below are a few things to add to your list.

Electrical Outlets 

One of the first things that come to mind when child-proofing your homes electrical system is all of your outlets. Little fingers and objects are often stuck in outlets and can be potentially extremely dangerous if the proper precautions are not taken. There are many ways to childproof outlets. The most common way is outlet covers whether it be the small plastic one that you stick inside the outlet or an entire cover. While these will do the trick, it's easy to forget to put those back on after using the outlet or leaving them lay around causing a choking hazard. For that reason, we highly recommend installing Tamper Resistant Receptacles instead.


Tamper Resistant Receptacles are a type of outlet that have internal shutters blocking foreign objects from being inserted into the receptacle. To plug something into the outlet there must be an even pressure applied to both sides of the receptacles to open the shutters.

Power Strips 

If you have any power strips, don't forget to get covers for those too! Covers are a solution for power strips but for the safest option, you should consider getting rid of them all together and just installing more outlets in your home. Chances are if you're using power strips you are overloading your circuit which can be dangerous for everyone in your home - not just your new baby.

Electrical Cords 

If you have loose cords laying around, you should put them away. If you have cords that are unnecessarily long, be sure to neatly bundle them up. You won't want them to pull anything off shelving such as lamps.

We hope that you find this list helpful for childproofing your home. If you need any help childproofing your home, give our expert electricians at the Lake of the Ozarks a call! Whether you need more outlets installed to decrease the burden on your electrical circuit or you'd like to install Tamper Resistant Receptacles in your home, Catalyst Electric can help! Remember to only hire electrical contracting companies at the Lake of the Ozarks that are licensed and insured, like Catalyst Electric, to ensure you and your family stay safe in your home! 


Catalyst Electric: Best electrician service at the Lake of the Ozarks  


1106 Runabout Drive
Osage Beach, Mo 65065
(573) 552-8488 -Phone
(573) 552-8248 -Fax



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Location: Osage Beach, MO 65065, USA

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