The Electrical Safety Register aims to let the public have access to qualified, local electricians and thanks to a new campaign, millions around the UK are now aware of the scheme.

The campaign saw representatives from the ESC (Electrical Safety Council) taking part in segment on BBC news and across a wide range of UK radio stations including Classic FM, TalkSport, BBC London and BBC North East.

The Electrical Safety Register is a joint effort between the ESC and the ECA (Electrical Contractors Association) designed to give the public a simple place to find a qualified electrician.  Electrical contractors listed on the site have fully certified Elecsa, NICEIC or ECA qualifications.

At the time of writing the site has over 36,000 individual contractors listed, a number that the ECA and ESC will no doubt hope will continue.

With interest from the public generated by the appearance on BBC news and the radio interviews, it’s hoped that the Electrical Safety Register will become a place many members of the public visit whenever they need work doing in their home.

Doing so will help to cut down on the cowboy electrician trade. Electrical jobs performed by uncertified people are extremely unsafe and could cause extreme danger to anyone in a property, so we can’t stress enough how important it is you use qualified contractors who know exactly what they’re doing.

The Electrical Safety Register is also seeing competition from the very-similar ElectricSafe Register which was launched by NAPIT at around the same time as the ESR launched.

Although both registers are extremely similar, the ElectricSafe Register is open to all electricians with qualifications, while the ESC’s Electrical Safety Register is open only to those with Elecsa, NICEIC and ECA qualifications.

The development of the two registers, both of which are designed to make things for the standard home owner, has resulted in frustration amongst the industry.  Both sites seem to be jockeying for the attention of the public at the moment, but it seems like the best solution for the industry as a whole is for an amicable solution to be reached and the two registers to be merged together.

With both registers active it’s hard for the average customer who knows nothing about electricity to know who to trust.