Electrical Hazard and Safety Awareness

1. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
Electrical Hazard &
Safety Awareness
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2. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
What are the hazard and safety priorities?
Electrical hazards exist everywhere - in almost every workplace
and in the home. Common causes of electrocution are:
•making contact with overhead wires
•undertaking maintenance on live equipment
•working with damaged electrical equipment, such as extension
leads, plugs and sockets
•using equipment affected by rain or water ingress
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3. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
How do you respond to electrical incidents?
If you come across a person receiving an electric shock:
• assess the situation – never put yourself at risk
• take precautions to protect yourself and anyone else in the
vicinity
• if possible, disconnect the electrical supply (switch?)
• assess the injuries and move the casualty to a safe area if
required
• administer first aid if trained (e.g. DRSABCD)
• seek urgent medical attention
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4. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
What are the types of injuries?
• Burns
• Shocks
• Arc
• Fire
• Explosion
BSAFE
KEEP SAFE
KNOW HOW TO CONTROL ELECTRICAL HAZARDS
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5. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
What are the levels of effect of current?
AC current (mA) Effect on human body
1 Slight tingling sensation
2-9 Small shock
10-24 Muscles contract causing you to freeze
25-74 Respiratory muscles can become paralysed;
pain; exit burns often visible
75-300 Usually fatal; ventricular fibrillation; entry &
exit wounds visible
>300 Death almost certain; if survive will have
badly burnt organs and probably require
amputations
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6. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
What electricity can do - some photo’s……..
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7. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
What electricity can do – some headlines…..
Does your electrical safety management stand up to
scrutiny?
“Safety management has to be made accessible to technical and
non-technical people so that risks to people and their business are
safely reduced.”
So says Bill Bates, a former principal Health and Safety Executive
inspector with over 20 years of investigating electrical safety
breaches.
The statistics speak for themselves: 2015/16 figures from HSE and
CPOFS report 696 cases of safety non-compliance, with 660
convictions – a 95% conviction rate. £38.3million of fines were
issued, compared with £18.1million in 2014/15, and the estimated
cost of workplace injuries is running at £4.8 billion, including 144
fatalities.
Source SHP
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8. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
What electricity can do – some headlines…..
Coroner warning after man electrocuted in bath charging iPhone
A man died after being electrocuted while charging his phone in the bath,
an inquest has heard.The death of Richard Bull, 32, which occurred when
the iPhone fell into the water, was accidental, the coroner ruled. Dr Sean
Cummings said he would also send a report to the phone’s manufacturer,
Apple, to warn about the dangers.
“These seem like innocuous devices, but they can be as dangerous as a
hairdryer in a bathroom. They should attach warnings,” he told the inquest.
“This was a tragic accident and I have no reason to believe at all that there
anything other than it being completely accidental.”
According to Sheila Merrill, the public health adviser to the Royal Society
for the Prevention of Accidents, this sort of incident is rare. Nevertheless,
she said, “people need to be aware of taking an electrical appliance into
the bathroom”.
She told the BBC: “The advice has always been given with regard to
hairdryers and radios – not to use in the bathroom.
Source The Guardian
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9. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
What should you do in an electrical emergency?
For low voltage electricity >50 V AC and 110 V DC
• remove the source of electricity supply
• commence CPR if trained
• call the emergency services
For high voltage electricity >1000 V
• call the emergency services
• don’t go near the casualty
• don’t touch the casualty or try to free them with anything
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10. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
Should you report electrical incidents?
• Electricity is invisible – this in itself makes it dangerous
• It has great potential to seriously injure or kill
• Every company has a duty of care to its employees and
contractors
• Everyone is exposed to electrical hazards, not just electricians
• Report all electrical shocks and near misses
ALL EMPLOYEES CAN BE EXPOSED TO ELECTRICAL
HAZARDS. THEY SHOULD RECEIVE ELECTRICAL HAZARD
TRAINING AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THEIR
EMPLOYMENT AND REGULAR REFRESHER TRAINING.
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11. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
UK Electricity Supply System
• Electricity supplied to factories, offices and homes at
230 volts
• Large factories at 11000 volts or above
• Supply has alternating current (a.c.)
• Alternates at (frequency) of 50 cycles per second (50
Hertz or Hz)
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12. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
How do we protect from the supply?
• Earthing
• Double insulation
• Fuses and circuit breakers
• Residual current devices – RCDs
• Low voltage
• Battery power
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13. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
How do we protect?
Electric Circuit Earthing
•Very important for safety !
•Prevents conducting parts of equipment (ie. metal
frames or lids), which do not normally conduct electricity
from becoming live during faults
Double Insulation
•Lots of portable equipment is Double Insulated
•Extra layer of insulating material over live conductors to
prevent exposure of conductors
•Can mean that an earth conductor is not required – risk
reduced by additional insulation.
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14. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
How do we protect?
Fuses and RCD’s
•Fuses
– essential for safety, will cut off supply at a certain
current level i.e. 13A, 5A, 3A mains supply fuse
– Fuse has a ‘fuseable’ wire element which heats up
when current flows
– Excessive current = excessive heat & wire melts
preventing current flow
•RCD’s
– Residual current device
– Compares current in Live & Neutral if different and
above a certain value supply switched off
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15. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
Remember
Conductors and Insulators
•Conductors conduct electricity
•Insulators don’t
•Metals conduct
•Wood, plastic, air, oil and rigid glass do not conduct
electricity (most of the time)
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16. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
What are other safety measures?
• Warning signs
• Use the right equipment
• Study the operation manual
• Take care of extension leads
• Use only approved extension lamps
• Don’t pull on leads
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17. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
Regular safety inspections
are a part of all OUR jobs...
• Electrical equipment should be checked each time
before use for defects
• If not tagged or the tag is out of date then report it and
place it out of service
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18. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
Electrical inspections
Fixed wiring
• Should be checked every at regular intervals
• Any issues raised must be rectified
• It is a legal requirement (HSAW/EAW)
Portable Appliances
• Must be checked at appropriate intervals
• New appliances should be visually inspected before
use
• See HSE website for test frequency
• Must be undertaken by a competent person
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19. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
Should you be aware of powerlines?
• Do you know if there are overhead powerlines on your site?
• Do you know where they are located?
• Do you know what the safe work clearance is?
• Strict regulations are laid down to cover any work that may have
to be performed close to overhead powerlines
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20. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
What is a powerline corridor?
HSE GS6 defines a powerline corridor as the area under any
overhead powerline that has not been properly isolated, and 10
metres either side of the powerline.
•It is essential that these areas are respected. They are there for
the safety of everyone
•Do not store equipment, machinery, portable buildings
or structures in powerline corridors
•Do not construct, fabricate or maintain
structures, buildings, machinery or
equipment in powerline corridors
LOOK UP AND LIVE
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21. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
Who can access substations/electrical cabinets?
• Only trained and authorised personnel may enter and work
inside a substation
• Access is restricted for any cabinet with exposed energised parts
ALL ELECTRICAL WORK MUST TO BE RECORDED AND
UNDERTAKEN BY FULLY TRAINED PERSONNEL
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22. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
Extension leads and adapters
How to uses extension leads and adapters safely
•Check the current rating of the lead before plugging appliances in
•Know its limit and do not exceed – most are 13amp but some only
10amp
•Never overload a lead by plugging in appliances that exceed its limit
•Only use one extension lead per socket
•Avoid the use of block adapters wherever possible
•Always fully unwind electrical cable reels
•If you regularly rely on extension leads or adapters consider
installing more sockets
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23. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
Extension leads and adapters (Cont’d)
Check extension leads and adapters regularly - looking for the
following signs of danger:
•A smell of hot plastic or burning near an appliance or socket
•Sparks or smoke coming from a plug or appliance
•Blackness or scorch marks around a socket or plug, or on an
appliance
•Damaged or frayed leads
•Coloured wire inside leads showing at the plug or anywhere else
•Melted plastic on appliance casings or leads
•Fuses that blow or circuit-breakers that operate for no obvious
reason
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24. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
Do you have permission to dig?
Be aware of the potential hazard from buried electrical cables for
the following activities:
•excavation
•drilling
•trenching
•levelling
•digging
•driving of stakes or pegs
Do not commence excavation work near buried cables unless a
permit has been issued by an authorised person
Do you know what precautionary measures need to be taken?
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25. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
What risk assessment?!
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26. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
More information
• Electrical power is measured in watts, W, a unit of power
• Electrical current is measured in amps, A, the rate at which it flows
• The fuse in a plug is a safety device designed to protect the lead
• The blown fuse cuts off the electricity to stop overheating and
causing a fire
• If you have to replace a fuse, it's essential, having checked and
corrected the reason for the fuse blowing, to replace it only with
another of the same rating
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27. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
More information (Cont’d)
As a rule of thumb, fuses are rated according to the power rating of the
appliance.
 Plugs for appliances rated up to about 700 watts should have a 3 amp fuse
(coloured red).
 Plugs for appliances rated between about 700 watts and 3000 watts (the
maximum rating of a wall socket) should be fitted with a 13 amp fuse
(coloured brown).
 Some older appliances are fitted with 5 amp fuses (coloured black). These
fuses are still available to buy.
For more information on safely working with electricity check out:
www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk www.hse.gov.uk/electricity
www.iosh.co.uk/electrical safety
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28. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
The key messages are…
• The risk of electric shock from correctly installed and maintained
power sources is negligible, provided that sensible precautions
are taken by the operator and correct work procedures are
followed
• Ensure that the right person is carrying out electrical work – fully
trained versus just competent
• Electricity is essential but, improperly used, it can be DEADLY!
To STAY ALIVE, you have to STAY ALERT
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29. Herefordshire Health & Safety Group
And to finish…
Thanks for listening
ANY QUESTIONS?
To STAY ALIVE, you have to STAY ALERT
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