Safety first I
The message is clear: working with electricity is best left to the professionals. But what if the professional doesn’t comply with the standards? Stephen Plant of electrical industry charity National Electrotechnical Training (NET) looks at how we can get better at safe isolation
t is a guiding principle in the electrical environment, and almost second nature to those trained to work in it – safely isolating the power supply source, before and during work on electrical installations and maintenance,
is fundamental to preventing both grievous harm to the worker and others, and potential damage to the property or surrounds. So it’s a sobering statistic that less than half of newly qualifying personnel are able to demonstrate that they can competently carry out this procedure. This is the pattern National Electrotechnical Training (NET) has observed consistently in national candidate performance in the AM2 practical assessment of the national level 3 qualifi cation – the point in their training in which an individual’s competencies are benchmarked against the requirements of the qualifi cation, BS7671 and the relevant statutory legislation and non-statutory guidance.
Unsafe practices According to fi gures from the Electrical Safety Council (ESC) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), failing to isolate the electricity source – either correctly or at all while electrical wiring and maintenance work is being carried out – remains a common cause of accidents and fatalities in the workplace each year. These can include severe injuries and deaths resulting from shock and burns.
Achieving basic safe isolation:
the minimum steps Locate/positively identify correct isolation point or device; Check condition of voltage indicating device; Confi rm that voltage indication device is functioning correctly;
Switch off installation/circuit to be isolated; Verify with voltage indicating device that no voltage is present;
Re-confi rm that voltage indicating device functions correctly on known supply/proving unit;
Lock-off or otherwise secure device used to isolate installation/circuit; and Post warning notice(s).
About the author
Stephen Plant Stephen Plant is NET development manager and a former regional training manager at the ECA. A fully trained JIB-approved electrician, he has more than 36 years’ experience in the electrical contracting and training fi elds. Stephen has substantial experience in the training of apprentices and mature operatives, and holds a Teaching Certifi cate in Education and an MBA in Education Management.
Safe working practices need to become part of the psyche of the electrical worker during their training
While new entrants are clearly a concern, the defi ciency around awareness of safe working cannot solely be pinned on unpractised hands that have yet to experience the full scope of electrical work. Unfortunately, a casual attitude towards workplace safety, the temptation to take shortcuts, and failure to comply with the law forbidding live working, are all-too-common indications that the workforce hasn’t fully come to understand the risks involved. Hence the need for ongoing campaigns to get the safe isolation message home.
Learning the safety message There is less excuse today than ever for electrical industry personnel to take safety risks – workers have access to a more sophisticated range of voltage testers and proving devices than at any previous time. The May edition of ECA Today gave a run-down of the kind of equipment on the market and how to make the most of these devices to assure safety. For operatives with suitable smartphones, the ESC recently launched a free app to help electricians work safely, giving them instant access to guidance on how to isolate safely. Technology aside, a variety of published advice explaining exactly what to do to stay safe when working with electricity is within easy reach. Safe isolation is a key industry issue, so printed guidance materials and telephone advice are readily available from most industry bodies and membership organisations with a technical remit. However, much of the industry will defer to the ESC’s Best Practice Guide No 2, Guidance on the management of electrical safety and safe isolation procedures for low voltage installations, which can be downloaded from its website at
www.esc.org.uk
Duty of care
Above all, safe working practices need to become part of the psyche of the electrical worker during their training, with the message reinforced throughout the training period and in employment, so it becomes the electrician’s mantra. But it is only nailed home through direct experience. Lots of apprentices and trainees visibly lack practice at performing tasks such as this that are central to the role when they come to take their AM2, so it’s little wonder they are frequently unable to demonstrate the competence required. AM2 candidates often tell us this for themselves. While some set about the AM2 with demonstrable confi dence
66 ECA Today July 2012
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