Electrical Safety Tutorial

Electrical Safety is the set of activities that prevents accidents, injuries, and other dangers caused by electric shocks and hazards. It ensures the safe use, handling, and maintenance of electrical equipment like transformers, generators, wires, cables, and switching devices. It does not matter that you are in a residential, commercial, or industrial environment, electrical safety is important to protect you and your assets from electric shocks, fires, and explosions.

In this detailed Tutorial on Electrical Safety, you will learn everything about electrical safety like common electrical hazards, their causes, safety measures. You will also learn about the devices and standards related to electrical safety.

What is Electrical Safety?

Electrical Safety is a set of activities and practices designed to prevent electrical hazards and accidents. These activities mainly include proper installation, usage, and maintenance of electrical devices and systems so that we can avoid electric shocks, fires, and explosions.

Electricity plays a very important in our daily lives, as it powers the devices all around us. But it can be very dangerous if the safety is neglected. In short, electrical safety practices are crucial for ensuring proper and hazard-free operation of electrical appliances and systems.

Common Electrical Hazards

Electricity can cause various hazards and risks if it is not handled safely. We should be aware of these hazards to prevent accidents cause by electricity.

Some of the common electrical hazards are highlighted below −

1. Electric Shock

When a person comes in contact with a live wire and an electric current flow through his body, it causes an electric shock to the person. Electric shock can be mild causing injuries or it can be a severe shock causing death. The severity of the electric shock depends on the voltage rating and current passing through the body.

Some of the common causes of electric shocks include faulty wiring, open live wires, or charged surface of electrical devices.

2. Electrical Burns

When a high amount of electric current flows through the body of a person, it can cause severe burns to the skin and internal tissues. This condition is referred to as electrical burns. The common causes of electrical burns include accidental contact with high voltage wires, electric arc flashes, electric fires or explosions, etc.

3. Electrocution

Electrocution is a severe electric shock that can kill the person by stopping the functions of hearth and lungs. High-voltage electric shocks are measure causes of electrocution.

4. Electric Arc Flashes

Electrical arc flashes are dangerous electrical explosions that occur due to faults in high-tension lines or transformers. Arc flashes can cause permanent damage to equipment or severe burns to nearby persons.

5. Electric Arc Blasts

Electric arc blasts are similar to arc flashes, as these are also electrical explosions. But the arc blasts produce more pressure and debris that result in fires, burns, or equipment damages.

Major Causes Electrical Hazards

To provide and implement electrical safety guidelines, it is very important to know the causes behind electrical hazards.

Some of the common causes of electrical hazards are explained below −

1. Improper Wiring Practices

Wiring related issues like use of poor-quality wires, loose connections, overloading the electrical system, etc. are primary causes of electrical hazards like fire, explosion, etc. So, by avoiding these improper wiring practices, the electrical hazards can be prevented.

2. Overloading Circuits

It is one of the very common causes of electrical hazards. When too many devices are plugged into a single outlet, it can cause overloading and overheating of the circuit and starts an electric fire.

3. No or Improper Grounding

Grounding or earthing is one of the key elements in electrical safety. It is used for grounding the excess or leakage current and avoid electric shocks. If an electric system or device is not grounded properly, it can result in electric shocks or fires.

4. Poor Training

Sometimes electrical accidents and hazards occur due to improper handling of electrical devices and systems. This is mainly caused due to inadequate training of operating personnel.

Common Practices to Ensure Electrical Safety

After getting the basic understanding of electrical hazards and their causes. Let us now discuss some practices to be followed to ensure electrical safety −

Routine Electrical Maintenance − It is the most fundamental electrical safety practice to avoid electrical hazards. A regular inspection and maintenance of electrical equipment and systems help detecting issues and rectify them to avoid hazardous situations.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) − PPE kit is an essential tool for ensuring electrical safety. The persons working with electrical systems must wear right PPE kit including insulated gloves, insulated footwears, face shield, arc-insulated clothing. It prevents injuries due to accidental electric shock, fire, and explosion.
Lockout / Tagout (LOTO) − LOTO is a practice to be followed during maintenance and repair of electrical systems. It indicates that the system under maintenance is properly de-energized. It prevents accidental energizing of systems that can cause shock or electrocution.
Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters − GFCIs are devices specially designed to switch off power supply when ground fault is detected in the system. This prevents unexpected electric shocks.
Circuit Breakers and Fuses − Circuit breakers and fuses are protective devices used in electrical systems to prevent damages due to overloads and short-circuits.
Electrical Safety Training − It is very essential to provide safety training to the personnel working around the electrical systems. This will help them to assess the risks and mitigate them.

Important Terms Related to Electrical Safety

There are some common terms related to electrical safety; this section defines them briefly −

#1) Power System − In electrical engineering, power system is an interconnected network of various equipment like generators, transmission lines, transformers, and electrical loads. It is designed to provide efficient delivery of electricity from generating stations to utilization points like homes, offices, etc.

#2) Indian Standards − Indian Standards are set of rules and guidelines issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards to ensure electrical safety and prevent risks of electric shocks, fires, and equipment damages.

#3) Low Voltage Overload Protection − It is a system of devices used for protecting electrical systems operating at low voltages, usually below 1000 volts, from overload faults. This protection system prevents overheating, electric fire, and equipment damages due to overload currents.

#4) Short Circuit Protection − Short-circuit is another unwanted condition in electrical systems that occurs when an unintended path of very low-resistance is created. This causes an excessive current flow in the circuit and leads to electric fire or explosion.

#5) Earth Fault Protection − Earth fault protection is a protection scheme implemented in electrical system to detect and prevent faults where electric current unintentionally leaks to the ground. This protection also prevents electric shock and fires.

#6) Earthing − Earthing, also known as grounding, is a protection method that provides a low resistance path for the flow of leakage currents to the ground. It reduces the risks of electric shocks.

#7) Types of the Supply System − In electrical engineering, supply system is the main source of electricity. It can be classified into DC system and AC system (1-phase or 3-phase), depending on the nature of current. Each type of supply system requires a specific type of protection mechanism to prevent electric hazards.

#8) Cables − Cables are nothing but properly insulated conductors or wires used for electricity transportation from one point to another.

#9) Protection against Weather Complexities − Electrical equipment like transformers, motors, etc. are exposed to outdoor weather conditions and hence they must be protected from weather complexities like dust, moisture, wind, and temperature rises. IP (Ingress Protection) ratings are defined to specify the degree of protection for the equipment from all these weather conditions.

#10) Safe Electrical Equipment Design Characteristics − Electrical equipment is designed to have minimum risks of accidents due to overheating, shocks, or overcurrent. Common safe electrical equipment design characteristics include proper insulation, casing, protection from overcurrent, proper cooling mechanism, etc.

#11) Test Certifications − Test certifications are certificates of tests conducted by accredited labs. These certifications ensure that the tested electrical equipment meet all the performance and safety measures.

#12) Maintenance of Unprotected Equipment − Unprotected equipment needs regular maintenance to avoid accidents. This maintenance schedule may include inspecting insulation, checking wears, deposition of dust or moisture, etc.

#13) Duties and Obligations − At an electrical site, its employers duty to maintain safe working environment by conducting regular safety audits, providing PPE, and safety trainings. On the other side, it is workers obligation to follow all these safety procedures.

#14) Primary Ex-Protection − Primary explosive protection (ex-protection) is a process to reduce the number of flammable substances or atmospheric oxygen to a point which ensures no danger of explosion.

#15) Secondary Ex-Protection − Secondary explosive protection is a process of ensuring a safe and explosion-free working environment, even if an explosive environment is present there.

#16) Precautions against Highly Flammable Contents − These are the practices followed to prevent accidental fires and explosions in the presence of highly flammable materials. These include use of sealed electrical enclosures, proper grounding, eliminating electrostatic buildups, preventing sparks, etc.

#17) Bonding − Bonding is defined as an electrical connection of different parts so they all have the same electric potential and prevent electric shock and sparks due to unintentional potential differences.

Prerequisites to Understand Electrical Safety

This tutorial on Electrical Safety is written at a somewhat basic level and is intended for those who are interested in knowing the principles of electrical safety and their implementation at working sites.

Being a most introductory electrical safety tutorial, there are no mandatory prerequisites. However, it will definitely help if you are familiar with the fundamental concepts of electrical engineering.

Who Should Learn Electrical Safety?

This tutorial has been prepared for electrical engineering students, practicing electrical engineers, and people aspiring to make electrical engineering their profession. Thus, this tutorial may be used as an introductory resource on electrical safety for undergraduate college students as well as a reference for practicing electrical engineers.

FAQs on Electrical Safety

In this section, we have collected a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Electrical Safety followed by their answers −

Electrical safety can be defined as a set of activities and guidelines designed to prevent shocks, injuries, and fatalities caused by electricity. It is a very important practice to protect working personnels, reduce risks of electrical accidents, and prevent equipment damages.

Electrical safety is important to avoid the following consequences −

Damage to electrical equipment or assets

Electric shocks or injuries to working personnel

Prevent work disruptions.

Reduce financial losses

Prevent deaths due to electrical accidents, etc.

Some of the basic electrical safety practices are as follows −

Avoid connecting multiple devices to a single outlet

Avoid overloading of electrical circuits

Use lockout/tagout during maintenance

Wear right PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)

Regular electrical safety auditing, etc.

The following are 10 key safety rules in electrical to prevent hazards caused by electricity −

Do not touch electrical switches or equipment with wet hands

Keep electrical appliances away from water

Install electrical cords properly and replace them if damaged

Avoid overloading of electrical systems

Before conducting any electrical checkup, turn off the power

Install proper safety switchgears like fuses or circuit breakers

Make the electricity outlets childproof

Use right and insulated tools, specially designed for electrical works

Consult a professional electrical technician for repair and installation work

Follow instructions and guidelines mentioned in the user manual

HSE stands for Health, Safety, and Environment. It is a set of rules, regulations, and policies designed to prevent accidents and injuries caused by electricity.

PPE or Personal Protective Equipment for electricians include the following safety gears −

Safety glasses

Hard hats

Insulating gloves

Safety shoes

Insulating mats

Flame resistant clothing

Ear plugs

The first rule of electrical safety is to always disconnect the device from power supply before working on it.

Here are some best practices to use electricity safely −

Disconnect devices from supply mains which are not in use

Do not connect too many devices to a single outlet

Keep switchboards and outlets dry and away from water

Immediately change the broken or damages cords

Install recommended electrical safety devices, etc.

Some common electrical hazards include (a) Electric shocks and burns, (b) Electric fires and explosions, (c) Arc flashes and blasts, and (d) Electrocution.

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