From 30 November to 6 December, we celebrate Electrical Safety Week Wales. The Electrical Safety First charity are the only charity working in Wales who are dedicated to reducing the number of injuries and deaths caused by electricity. They use Electrical Safety Week to promote electrical fire safety in the home, raising awareness that over half of all accidental house fires are caused by electricity.

This year, COVID-19 presents new challenges for electrical safety. There is evidence that COVID concerns are pushing Welsh consumers away from the high street and onto online marketplaces, risking dangerous gifts. New research from Electrical Safety First suggests that 57 per cent of Welsh residents will be shopping online this year, and the majority of these people said they were planning to shop online because they believed these websites are safer than going to the high street during the pandemic. However, Electrical Safety First is concerned that consumers are simply replacing one risk with another, as multiple investigations for the charity have unearthed dangerous electrical products for sale via third parties on these sites, with Electrical Safety First investigations repeatedly finding unsafe electricals for sale on sites including Amazon Marketplace, eBay, Wish.com and others. Repeated calls for online marketplaces to take responsibility for the products sold has not yet yielded significant action. So, the charity is urging consumers to reduce their chances of buying dangerous items by sticking to the stores and websites of well-known and trusted manufacturers and retailers, such as those on our high streets. So, in Electrical Safety Week, ask Santa to bring you safe electrical gifts this year—ho, ho, ho!