Safety Alert 17 - Portable Heaters
With the onset of colder weather people may be considering purchasing a portable heater. Wherever possible the use of potable heaters should be avoided and any issues with heating should be discussed with the Facilities Team. If the use of a portable heater cannot be avoided thermostatically controlled oil filled radiators should be used.
Please ensure the following:
- Do not put anything on top of portable heaters
- Ensure it is in a location where it won’t be knocked over
- Not placed under desks
- Keep all combustible material a safe distance away from the heater to ensure it won’t catch fire
- That heaters with time-switches are set (deactivated) so that they cannot switch on out of hours when not supervised by staff
- Not used unattended
- Plugged directly into a wall socket
- Any new electrical equipment needs to have a PAT test before use, please contact safety-office@eng.cam.ac.uk to arrange
- Please also see Use of Electrical Equipment in University of Cambridge Premises
This Safety Alert is available as a poster, please display on noticeboards for all to see.