Canada makes NEW Homes electrically safer for kids

Child safety features now required for NEW homes to be built with release of CSA's 2009 Canadian Electrical Code.




Canadian Standards Association (CSA) today announced 2009 Canadian Electrical Code. New measures must be taken to help protect children from electrical shocks in the home. All NEW DWELLINGS will be required to include tamper-resistant receptacles that will be affixed in place. These receptacles have a built-in shutter system preventing single pronged items such as pins, keys and nails from touching live electrical wires if inserted into the receptacle slots. These plus will be not impair normal plug insertion, removal or function.

According to a study by the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP) on electrical injuries in children, during a six-year period, 365 children were treated in 16 emergency rooms for electrical injuries due to placing a conductive object or finger in an electrical outlet. Of those children injured, 37 per cent needed medical follow-up treatment and 11 per cent required admission to a hospital. During the same time period there was one reported fatality. Two-thirds of all electrical injuries were sustained by children five-years of age or less and 74 per cent of all electrical injuries took place in the child's own home.




A tamper-resistant receptacle with a shutter system behind the faceplate is designed to prevent children from inserting single-pronged objects like pins, keys and nails into electrical outlets. The CSA 2009 Canadian Electrical Code calls for all new dwellings to be fitted with the receptacles. (CNW Group/Canadian Standards Association)