• • • EDITOR’S INTERVIEW • • •


Safeguarding those working around electricity


With over 90 years of experience in electrical safety, Martindale Electric is one of the most trusted names in the industry, delivering test, measurement and safe isolation solutions to ensure that circuits have been de-energised and properly isolated prior to maintenance and modifications. Simon King speaks to Steve Dunning, managing director of Martindale Electric


A


well-known name in the electrical industry, the original Martindale business was founded in the 1900’s in the United States,


and the business was set up in the UK in 1928. Following a takeover with his business partner, Mr Dunning became the managing director of the UK company in 1997 and since then, it has gone from strength to strength. Today it uses the strapline “Keeping you Safe” as


part of its branding and broader philosophy when it comes to product development. Initially, back in 1997, Martindale was primarily


known across the sector for its popular an easy-to- use socket testers. As time went on, the company developed a wide range of more sophisticated products that includes safe isolation and voltage indicators, multimeters, clamp meters, PAT testers as well as industrial, environmental and specialist test equipment. “From a safety point, we now hit the things that


really matter,” Mr Dunning said. “Martindale isn’t really an electrical test equipment company, we’re an electrical safety company. The great majority of our product range is about safety and comes from a safety background. “As our focus is on safety, our philosophy is to


engineer out as many elementary mistakes the end user might make as we possibly can. If you do make a mistake for whatever reason, then the consequences could be extremely difficult, and we


want to avoid that by making the technology work safely and intuitively for you.” If you look at any sensible electrical safety


training programmes, they will always insist that before you prove something is dead, that you check that the device that you’re using, is working. Martindale developed a packaged solution to make this easier than it’s ever been to add this element of safety into a working routine. Mr Dunning said: “We’re very keen from a safety


point of view that you test your voltage indicator with a proving unit to make sure it works. Then, once you have proven that the area that you’re going to work in is dead, you need to test your testing device again, ensuring you know it was working all the way through the process. It is this attention to safety that led us to be the first to deliberately bundle together a voltage indicator and the proving unit in a carry case, so that you can use the proving device while it’s in the carry case – this means that you’ve always got the proving device with you.” To bang home the message to keep safe when


working around electricity, Martindale Electric came up with the acronym ALIVE, a five-step process, that encapsulates what really matters. (see the panel). Mr Dunning said: “The ‘Keeping you Safe’


message is important and in some ways every electrician should always think; ‘keep yourself


safe’. Safety does come down to the individual person doing the job. “Thankfully, in the last 10 to 15 years, industry


bodies have got involved in safety training and the quality of apprenticeships has improved enormously in terms of safety training. They were always very good at telling you how to do the job, but now there’s a significant element of safety awareness involved and that’s great, but we must not become complacent.” Mr Dunning continued: “People really do get


killed because of electrical safety problems; it’s not hundreds of people every year, but people are needlessly killed, sadly because they don’t go through the right procedures and don’t use the right equipment. Our ALIVE message will make it easier to remember that electricity can kill and it is so important to safeguard yourself.” Today, from its Watford base, everything at


Martindale Electric is under one roof, including its Research and Development department. Mr Dunning said: “We develop our products and


work with customers to solve their problems; where a problem is common to a range of customers, if we can come up with an idea, we will make a product.” Mr Dunning said the strength of the business is


reliability. He said: “We are always focussed and


committed to the quality of our safety related products. Virtually all our products are manufactured under strict controls in the Far East these days.


12 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • APRIL 2022 electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk


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