Electrical Safety First

Authority

Official guidance

Territories

GB

Primacy

primary

Commercial interest

none

Retrieved

2026-08-21

State

Read and citable

Original document

The first independent electrical authority in this catalogue, and the one the electrical safety domain had long been waiting on. Supports: an RCD with all outdoor electrical equipment, and a plug-in RCD where the fusebox has none; extension leads, cable reels and connectors suitable for outdoor use, weather-resistant with moulded connections; cable reels fully unwound and fitted with a thermal cut-out; equipment checked for damage before use; and the rule that decides the case an electric smoker actually presents — 'even if there is just dew on the ground, don't use electrical equipment outdoors until it is dry'. States NO milliamp rating, so BBQHQ states none from it.

Safety, Technical

• Explicitly not culinary practice: An electrical-safety charity has no standing on how food is cooked. Its competence begins and ends at the socket, and the barbecue is only in scope because it happens to be plugged in.
• Explicitly not equipment specification: It writes about mains equipment as a class and names no cooker. A specification claim about any particular smoker must come from the maker of that smoker.

• “Use a residual current device (RCD) with all outdoor electrical equipment. If you don't have one built into your fusebox, use a plug-in RCD.”

  Electrical Safety First instructs the use of a residual current device with all outdoor electrical equipment, and the use of a plug-in RCD where one is not built into the fusebox.

  No milliamp figure is given, and that is recorded deliberately. Masterbuilt specifies 30 mA for its own smoker and the temptation is to read the two together into 'a 30 mA RCD is required'. Neither source says that. The charity says use an RCD; the manufacturer says 30 mA for its appliance. BBQHQ states each in the voice that said it.

  What it covers:

  All outdoor electrical equipment as a class. A mains-powered smoker is in scope because it is a mains appliance used outdoors, not because the source mentions cooking — it does not.

  Where it applies:

  The United Kingdom. Electrical Safety First is a UK charity writing for UK homes.

• “Only use extension leads, cable reels, and connectors which are suitable for outdoor use. ... Before using them, check they are clean and free from damage, and fully uncoil them to prevent overheating.”

  Electrical Safety First requires extension leads, cable reels and connectors used outdoors to be suitable for outdoor use, weather-resistant with moulded connections, checked for damage and cleanliness before use, and fully uncoiled; and requires cable reels to be fitted with a thermal cut-out.

  The lead is the part of an electric smoker's installation that BBQHQ can say something useful about. The smoker is bought once and the lead is chosen every time it is used, usually from whatever is in the shed.

  The stated reason is overheating, not shock. A coiled reel under load is a heater, and the failure it produces is a fire rather than an electrocution.

• “Electricity and water don't mix so, even if there is just dew on the ground, don't use electrical equipment outdoors until it is dry.”

  Electrical Safety First instructs that outdoor electrical equipment must not be used until it is dry, and sets the threshold at dew on the ground rather than at rain.

  The sentence that decides the case an electric smoker actually presents. a ten-hour cook that starts in the afternoon ends after dark on wet grass, and 'it is not raining' is the test most people would apply. The source sets a lower bar than that on purpose.

  Written about garden equipment generally. BBQHQ applies it to mains-powered cookers because they are mains equipment used outdoors, and says so rather than implying the source named them.

• In the UK, mains-powered equipment used outdoors should be protected by a residual current device, and a plug-in RCD should be used where the fusebox does not have one built in.
• In the UK, mains-powered equipment should not be used outdoors while the ground or the equipment is wet, and the stated threshold is dew rather than rain.
• In the UK, extension leads, cable reels and connectors used outdoors should be ones rated for outdoor use, checked for damage before use and fully uncoiled, and cable reels should have a thermal cut-out.

If this source changes, these are the claims that need rechecking. That is the point of recording provenance per claim rather than per page.