Many portable electric items like lamps and radios are supplied with a relatively short length of cable. Ensuring your home has sufficient socket-outlets at convenient points will minimise the need for extension leads and adapters, but occasionally their use will be unavoidable.
The use of extension leads can present the following dangers:
- Tripping or falling.
- Cable damage due to wear, particularly where leads are walked over, flexed at a single point or stored badly. When leads are fitted to power tools, they can become tangled and one of the conductors may eventually fail, which could cause danger.
- A greater capacity for overloading circuits, which increases the risk of fire.
An extension lead should not be used whenever it is possible to reach a wall socket with the equipment cable. However, the equipment cable should never be stretched taut as this may cause a tripping hazard.
Multi-way adapters should not normally be used. If two appliances are regularly used from one power point, replace it with a double socket if possible.
When an adapter is used with a number of plugs, the angle and weight of the assembly increases the stress on the socket contacts. There is also a danger of electrical overload as the combined loads may exceed the ratings of the socket-outlet.
When circumstances require more connection points, a multi-way trailing socket with minimum cable length should be used, though care should be taken not to overload the unit.