7 Easy Ways to Prevent Cable-Related Dangers

By: CableOrganizer®

dangerous cables

It can be a tripping hazard or the risk of electrical shock, but one thing’s for sure: whenever people and cables come together, there’s always the threat of injury. You never know what can happen… cable-related accidents can result in just about anything, ranging from mild embarrassment to lawsuits. Whether you’re a parent, business owner, or pet lover, reduce on-premises cable dangers with these seven easy tips from CableOrganizer®.


1. CHILDREN

Have kids? Have loose, floor-level electrical cords? Small children and cables are not a safe combination, so if you answered “yes” to both of those questions, you’ve got some cable management to do. Many parents cover unused outlets to protect their children from shock, but precautions shouldn’t end there. Just as there’s a risk of kids sticking fingers or sharp objects into electrical receptacles, there are also less obvious dangers that come from small children chewing, tripping, and pulling on household cables.

One of the easiest ways to protect your children from cable-related harm is to lift cords off the floor and out of their reach. With our adhesive-backed cable clips, cords can easily be routed around door frames, run behind furniture, and secured against higher surfaces. Another of our child safety favorites is latching cable raceway, the perfect solution for containing and disguising cable runs between your electronics and power outlets. For people who have multiple cable management concerns, there is our Child Safety Kit. This kit comes at a cost savings for purchasing its numerous items together. It features a wire loom, 10 pack of adhesive cable clips, two small Cable Turtles, and a CableBox, to keep wires wound or contained.


2. EMPLOYEES

From computers and phones to copiers and fax machines, the devices that make business possible, come with a bevy of cable-related tripping hazards. The unruly cords that crawl around office floors are an accident waiting to happen. Avoid the expense, frustration, and downtime that accidents can cause, by increasing your employee safety factor with light capacity floor cord covers. Our easy-to-install, low-profile cord covers significantly reduce the risk of employees tripping — and help prevent damage to power and data cables that are continually walked over.


3. GUESTS

People visiting your home do not typically know where the cords are lurking along the floors of your residence. Take guest safety into your own hands: prevent cable-related accidents with ingenious but simple-to-use products like Dura Race Cable Cover from Techflex®. It is a solution to both conceal and guard wires, especially on industrial and high traffic carpeting. If you’ve got cords running across carpeted rooms, hallways, or staircases, just cut this braided and tightly woven ballistic nylon cover to the length you need, lay it over the cables, and gently press to secure it to the carpet. That’s where it stays thanks to industrial strength hook and loop closures. It removes with ease. Dura Race Cable Cover repels liquids, is abrasion resistant, and shields carpeting against UV and chemical damage.


4. MEETING PARTICIPANTS

Gone is the age where the only props needed for meetings were easels and whiteboards. These days, most conference rooms in offices are minimally wired for internet, while others offer Wi-Fi. Projectors, laptops, and other equipment are usually present. All of this can translate to many cables. These cables can create a roomful of tripping hazards if they are all stretched from the tabletop to wall outlets. If you’re looking for a way to prevent meeting participants from tripping on conference room cables, CableOrganizer® has the perfect solution: desk outlets and grommets. Products like the ALTINEX® Tilt ‘N Plug® Tabletop Interconnect Box allows you to have AC power outlets and data ports built directly into your conference tabletop. You no longer need to run cords across the pathways in your boardroom — this gives you access to the most common power sources, including for data, audio, and video.


5. DELIVERY PERSONNEL

Whether it’s inventory, office supplies or just lunch, if your business regularly receives orders that are carried into the workplace by delivery personnel, cable safety measures are a must-have. It’s easy to trip over a cable even if you aren’t carrying something bulky. Imagine how much the risk increases for delivery personnel, who must navigate through offices while balancing boxes — and are unable to see the floor ahead of them.

Cord covers provide you with a simple and effective means to secure cables and prevent on-premises tripping hazards. For deliveries into office environments, products like DO-Lite™ cable protector help to secure cords to the floor. This protects delivery personnel from trip-and-fall accidents, making it easier for them to maneuver hand trucks or carts over cables.


6. PETS

Just because your furry friends are low to the ground, don’t let them fall below the radar when it comes to cable safety. In addition to being naturally playful and inquisitive, most dogs and cats also love to gnaw things. But play can become dangerous very quickly if your pet decides to sink its teeth into a floor-level power cord. Chances are you’ll never find a way to break your pet’s chewing habit, but you’re still in luck: CableOrganizer® has products to help protect and deter the cable chompers running around your house.

One of your best options is to “armor” cables with an overlay of stainless steel braided sleeving, which is extremely resistant to penetration by animal teeth. Metal braided sleeving created by Techflex® works so well that several government agencies use it to protect outdoor cables from animals in the wilderness. In addition to the shielding it provides, stainless steel braided sleeving often deters pets from gnawing in the first place. Thanks to its metallic composition, it gives that unpleasant “chewing on tin foil” sensation, which often keeps pets from coming back for more. Flexo® Rodent Resistant braided sleeving is another option from Techflex®. It keeps cables safe from chewers with a proprietary coating that averts chewing in the first place. CableOrganizer® also offers a Pet Safety Kit, with items like split wire loom, cable ties, wire clips, cable winders, and cord covers.


7. EQUIPMENT

Electronic devices can’t trip on power cords like people do… and they’re definitely not going to chew on cables the way your pets might. But that doesn’t mean they don’t need protection. Computers, home theater equipment and other electrically sensitive equipment face a different kind of cable-related danger: power surges.

Whether power surges happen as the result of power line disturbances or nearby lightning strikes, they always mean the same thing: high levels of excess voltage suddenly running through our electrical circuits. If electronic devices are plugged directly into unprotected outlets when a power surge occurs, there’s a high risk of their microprocessors being “fried” by the spike in current.

The best way to prevent your electronics from becoming power surge casualties is to plug them into a surge protector. This type of power distribution unit provides the additional service of diverting excess electrical current away from your equipment, sending it to a safe grounding line instead. A surge suppressor keeps power consistent, even if it’s surging. Be sure to check out the wide variety of surge protection units available at CableOrganizer®.


Searching for expert advice on your situation? We want you to stay safe. Call CableOrganizer® weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET at 1-833-3CABLEORG
(1-833-322-2536) with questions, and we can advise you on the best solution.


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