• Overview
• Safety at Home
  • Overview
  • How to wire a plug correctly
  • Using appliances safely
  • Kitchen safety
  • Bedroom safety
  • Bathroom safety
  • Garage, Workshop and Garden safety
  • The Electrical installation - Fuses and MCBs
  • What to do if there is a Power Cut
• Safety at Work
• Safety on the Farm
• Equipment Protection
• Environment
• Storm Damage
• Safety Publications
• Safety for Young People/Schools

Bathroom Safety

Special precautions are necessary regarding wiring and the use of appliances in the bathroom. That's because the wet surroundings pose a greater risk of electric shock than anywhere else in the house.

Socket outlets and portable appliances

NO socket outlets, other than specially designed shaver outlets are allowed in bathrooms and this rule also applies to en-suite bathrooms. Under no circumstances should portable appliances, such as a hair-dryer, electric fire, washing machine or even a mains-operated radio be brought into a bathroom EVEN if it is plugged in outside the room.

Electric Heaters and towel rails

Wall-mounted fan-heaters, small storage heaters and heated towel rails are typically used in bathrooms. All electric heaters and waterheaters in a bathroom must be fixed and permanently wired; none must be used through a plug and socket. In addition, a room heater must be fixed out of reach of a person in the bath, i.e. greater than 0.6 metres from the nearest edge of the bath. It must only be controlled by a pull-cord switch or by a switch located outside the bathroom.

Electric Showers

An instantaneous electric shower must always wired back through its own circuit to the customer's distribution board and the circuit must be protected by an Residual Current Device (A device that detects the leakage of current from a circuit).

En-suite showers/bathrooms

The same requirements regarding wiring and the use of appliances apply in en-suite units.