Electric Blanket Fire Safety

Electric blankets cause countless fires each year. Bluebird Care Rushcliffe & Melton will be working in partnership with Trading Standards to improve staff and customer awareness.

Electric blankets cause countless fires each year, and at a recent Nottinghamshire County Council Trading Standards safety event, 68% of blankets brought into the event failed safety tests.

Residents across the county were offered the free safety tests as part of a winter safety and cost of living initiative by Nottinghamshire County Council’s Trading Standards team, in partnership with Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service. In 2022/23, electric blankets caused three fires in Nottinghamshire, which sadly resulted in two fatalities.

All the blankets that failed safety tests were exchanged for free, for new electric blankets that meet current safety standards. The unsafe blankets failed testing for a variety of reasons, including their age, worn fabric, faulty controllers, scorch marks from overheating, dangerous wiring and damaged heating elements. 

Consequently, Bluebird Care Rushcliffe & Melton will be working in partnership with Trading Standards to improve staff training and customer awareness of electric blanket usage over the coming months.

There are simple ways to stop a blanket causing a fire in your home. If your blanket (or its flex) shows any of these danger signs, you should have it checked or replaced:

• scorch marks and/or worn flex
• fraying fabric and/or loose connections
• exposed elements and/or tie tapes damaged
• creasing or folding
• soiling and/or damp patches
• old BEAB safety mark (this means it is more than 10 years old).

We will completing an audit of our customers with electric blankets, and kindly ask people to come forwards if they have any safety concerns. Our care experts will be conducting risk assessment reviews and basic inspections based on the criteria recommended by Notts CC Trading Standards as described above. This is to help raise awareness, improve safety, and prevent any potential fires from starting.

Nottinghamshire County Council will be running further safety testing events for residents later in 2024. For further information on this Trading Standards initiative, please click here.