Electrical Safety

Dr N.Vijaya Anand
 COURSE OUTCOMES

Upon successful completion of the course, the student must be able to

Understand the Indian power sector organization and Electricity rules,

CO1 electrical safety in residential, commercial, agriculture, hazardous areas and
use of fire extinguishers. (L2)

CO2 Outline the electrical safety during installation, testing and commissioning
procedure. (L2)

CO3 Make use of specification of electrical plants and classification of safety

equipment for various hazardous locations. (L3)
CO4 Distinguish various fire extinguishers and their classification. (L4)
Unit Contents Mapped
No. CO
I
Introduction To Electrical Safety, Shocks And Their Prevention: Terms and
definitions, objectives of safety and security measures, Hazards associated with
electric current and voltage, who is exposed, principles of electrical safety,
Approaches to prevent Accidents, scope of subject electrical safety. Primary
and secondary electrical shocks, possibilities of getting electrical shock and its CO1
severity, medical analysis of electric shocks and its effects, shocks due to flash/
Spark over’s, prevention of shocks, safety precautions against contact shocks,
flash shocks, burns, residential buildings and shop.

II
Electrical Safety in Residential, Commercial and Agricultural
Installations: Wiring and fitting –Domestic appliances –water tap giving
shock –shock from wet wall –fan firing shock –multi-storied building –CO1
Temporary installations –Agricultural pump installation –Do’s and Don’ts
for safety in the use of domestic electrical appliances.
 III Electrical Safety during Installation, Testing and Commissioning,
Operation and Maintenance: Preliminary preparations –safe
sequence –risk of plant and equipment –safety documentation –fieldCO2
quality and safety -personal protective equipment –safety clearance
notice –safety precautions –safeguards for operators –safety.
Electrical Safety in Hazardous Areas: Hazardous zones –class 0,1
IV
and 2 –spark, flashovers and corona discharge and functional
requirements –Specifications of electrical plants, equipment’s forCO1
hazardous locations –Classification of equipment enclosure forCO3
various hazardous gases and vapours –classification of
equipment/enclosure for hazardous locations.
V Fire Extinguishers: Fundamentals of fire-initiation of fires, types;
extinguishing techniques, prevention of fire, types of fireCO1
extinguishers, fire detection and alarm system;CO2and Halogen gasCO4
schemes; foam schemes.
Electricity is very useful and became essential in modern life.
However Electricity is also dangerous unless we follow safety
norms.

Understanding the steps and procedures employed in a good electrical safety

program requires an understanding of the nature of electrical hazards.

Although they may have trouble writing a concise definition, most people are
familiar with ELECTRIC SHOCK.
This often painful experience leaves its memory indelibly etched on the
human mind. However, shock is only one of the electrical hazards. There are
two others—arc and blast.
Dangers from Electricity are due to:
• Electric Shock
• Electric Flashovers
• Electric Faults
• Explosions
• Fire hazards
• Pollution hazard
• Arc (electric) The heat and light energy release that is caused by the
electrical breakdown of and subsequent electrical discharge through an
electrical insulator, such as air.
• Arc energy input The total amount of energy delivered by the power
system to the arc. This energy will be manifested in many forms
including light, heat, and mechanical (pressure) energy.
• Arc incident energy The amount of energy delivered by an electric arc
to the clothing or body of a worker. This amount of energy will be
somewhat less than the arc energy based on factors in the workplace.
• Blast (electric) The explosive effect caused by the rapid expansion of
air and other vaporized materials that are a superheated by the sudden
presence of an electric arc.