Intro

Forster created behaviour change campaigns for the Electrical Safety Council to protect people from death, injury and fires caused by electrical accidents.

Challenge

Every year in the UK there are around 70 deaths and 350,000 serious injuries due to electrical accidents at home. RCDs (residual current devices) could reduce injuries and prevent many house fires, but over half of UK homes don’t have adequate protection. Forster’s research revealed public complacency about electrical safety, so the ESC needed help to make this fairly dry ‘health and safety’ information more engaging, especially to high-risk audiences such as DIY enthusiasts and gardeners.

Solution

Since 2009, we’ve helped position the Electrical Safety Council (ESC) as the top resource for electrical safety information with an extensive consumer and trade media campaign. We’ve secured high volumes of national coverage (broadcast and print) with interesting feature angles, hard-hitting case studies and support from celebrity builder Tommy Walsh and celebrity home improvement experts Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan. We develop the ESC’s media plan for each year with spikes of activity around seasonal themes such as summer garden parties and Christmas lights. We’ve promoted their Home Electrical Safety Check app, produced free ‘Plug into Safety’ packs for electricians to share with customers and recently hit the road with an experiential roadshow bringing electrical safety to shoppers.

Outcome

More people are now thinking clearly about home electricity dangers and buying RCDs. We continue to raise the profile of the ESC with regular and extensive coverage in national newspapers and consumer magazines, empowering people to stay safe. Following coverage in the Guardian, the ESC home safety app has attracted 4,500 downloads.