WARNING! Please be careful cleaning around electricity

I was called to a job in the Sydney suburb of Glebe where a cleaner had been cleaning the under the sink and also cleaning electrical fittings mounted there. The reason for calling me was that the cleaner had received a minor electric shock while under the sink and was concerned about safety.

cleaning around electricity When we arrived we used a voltage meter and measured a voltage on the cupboard walls of 90V and 40V on the tiled floor.; Scariest of all was the reading from the plastic of the power point 200V. This voltage was due to the level of moisture still in this area because its close to the sink and was being cleaned with additional water. I was informed that the space under the sink was very dirty so hthe customer had repeated the cleaning process several times resulting in excess water getting into the power point.

Cleaning around a power sockets should be done with a damp cloth only, while the cleaning of the actual power point should only be done with a dry cloth. You should never directly spray power points or light switches with cleaners or water.  Although this story has a happy ending he could have been one very unlucky cleaner – alas, he lived to tell the story.