Did you know that, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), 12,500 Americans end up in emergency rooms with shocks, burns, and other serious injuries related to Christmas lights? Seasonal decorations can dramatically increase the likelihood of electrical accidents and fires. Homeowners and workers can keep safe during the holidays, and over the course of the year, using small, simple tools.
Cable Glands and Conduit
Insulation, or simple mechanisms and tools that keep wires intact, promote household electrical safety. For example, cable glands, typically made from fired clay, brass, plastic, aluminum, or stainless steel, safely connect cables and wires to various equipment and household electronics. Likewise, rigid or flexible conduit wraps around wires, shielding them from harsh weather and small animals’ teeth. Electric metal tubing, or metal conduit, also offers protection from potentially harmful electromagnetism. Most consumers use metal conduit with some form of conduit bushing, or soft materials to protect cables and cords from jagged edges and sharp metal pieces if wiring needs to be adjusted.
Nylon Fasteners and Cap Nuts
Home electrical safety does not depend on insulation alone. In order to remain safe at home, and dramatically reduce risks of electrocution and electrical fires, it is also critical that electronics and electrical parts are securely and reliably fastened together. Nylon fasteners, for instance, securely fasten electronics. Nylon nuts, bolts, and screws are also lightweight, and allow consumers to easily take apart and reassemble machinery and equipment. Most nylon fasteners are relatively easy to install, and do not require an expensive applicator, such as a power drill or a hole punch, unlike their metal counterparts.
Finally cap nuts, also called dome nuts or acorn nuts, fit over bolts, screws, and nuts to safeguard external threads from weatherization, abrasion, chemical wear, and corrosion. Nylon cap nuts also help reduce vibrations and torque.
Prevent serious accidents, electrocution, and fires in your home starts with simple, and often inexpensive, tools. Cable glands provide safe and secure connections to electronics and nylon fasteners keep parts reliably stable.