Electrical Health and Safety
Each year in workplaces, there are about 1,000 accidents which involve electric shock or burns. Of this 1,000, 30 are fatal accidents.
However, careful planning and precautions can help avoid these dangers.
Firstly it is important to assess the risks by identifying what the hazard is. So the main potential dangers are the following:
- Contact with live parts causing shock or burns
- Faulty equipment or wiring causing fires
- Fire and explosion where electricity ignites in an flammable explosive area
Once this is done it is then important to decide who might get hurt and how. Electric shock from faulty electrical equipment could lead to people falling from heights. An electric shock which is not fatal can cause some permanent damage. Also faulty electrics can cause fires.
Then, finally, the risks need to be evaluated to identify if there is a need for more precautions to be put in place.
When your risk assessment is completed, you can then identify any aspects where safety can be improved to keep electric shock and fires to a minimum.
It is important to ensure that fires and shock are avoided as much as possible to ensure that workplaces are safe for all including the electricians working on them.
Written by Sara Thomson
