Electrical

Safety
Salinda Wijesundara
Condition and Performance Monitoring Branch
How may electricity harm you?
• Electric Shock
• Electrical Burns
• Arc flash
• Secondary injuries
• Lightning (Will not be discussed today)
Electric shock
• What is an electric shock
• Physiological effect resulting from an electric current through a human or
animal body [IEC 61140 – Clause 3.1]

• What happens in an electric shock

• Effects of an electric current passing through the vital parts of a human body
depend on the duration, magnitude, and frequency of this current. The most
dangerous consequence of such an exposure is a heart condition known as
ventricular fibrillation, resulting in immediate arrest of blood circulation. [IEEE
Std 80 – Clause 5]
Electric shock
• The body current curve [IEC 60479-1]
• AC-1: Generally no reaction

• AC-2: Generally no dangerous physiological effect

• AC-3: Generally no organic damage. Probability of muscle contractions and

breathing difficulties if current flows for longer than 2 s. Reversible interference
in the formation of cardiac impulse propagation without ventricular fibrillation
increases with the intensity of the current and the flow period.

• AC-4: Increasing with the current intensity and duration, pathophysiological

effects such as cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, and severe burns can occur in
addition to the effects of zone AC-3
 Protection against electric shock - LV [IEC 61140]

Basic Protection Fault Protection

Basic Insulation Supplementary Insulation

Barriers or Enclosures Protective Equipotential

Bonding
Direct Indirect
Obstacles Contact Contact
Protective Screening
Out of arm’s reach

Automatic Disconnection
Limitation of Voltages
Protection against electric shock - LV [IEC 61140]
Type text here

• Basic Protection

Basic Protection by Obstacle

Out of Arm’s Reach
Protection against electric shock - LV [IEC 61140]
• Fault Protection - Protective Equipotential Bonding
Protection against electric shock - LV [IEC 61140]
• Fault Protection - Protective Equipotential Bonding
• Exposed conductive parts are bound together to avoid hazardous touch
voltages
• Any exposed conductive part shall be properly grounded
• Bonding shall have sufficiently low impedance to avoid dangerous potential
differences in case of a fault.
• Boding shall be sized and designed to withstand potential thermal,
mechanical, and corrosive stresses.
• Any removable exposed conductive part shall not be disconnected from
equipotential bonding before the electricity supply is completely
disconnected.
 Protection against electric shock - LV [IEC 61140]
• Fault Protection – Automatic Disconnection

• A protective-equipotential-bonding system shall be provided.

• A protective device operated by the fault current shall disconnect the line
conductor(s) supplying the equipment, system or installation, in the event of
a fault of negligible impedance between a line conductor and an exposed-
conductive-part or a protective conductor in the circuit or equipment.
Protection against electric shock - LV [IEC 61140]
• Earthing and Methods of Earthing - LV [IEC 7671 -18th Ed.]
• Protective Earthing and Functional Earthing
• Protective earthing provides a low-impedance path for fault currents to pass through the
ground
• Functional earthing provides a reference point ( 0 V reference) for electrical systems
• Methods of Earthing
• TT – The source and the exposed conductive parts of the loads are separately earthed
• E.g. Domestic LV supply of Sri Lanka
• TN – The source and the exposed conductive parts of the loads are earthed at the source
end. Shares the same earthing system
• E.g. Bulk customers of Sri Lanka, such as factories
• IT – The source doesn’t have a functional (reference) earth and the exposed conductive
parts of the loads are earthed separately
• E.g. Only special installations such as laboratories with insulation monitors
TT- System
TN – Earthing System
IT – Earthing System
• Fault Protection – Automatic Disconnection
• Automatic Disconnection Devices - LV
• Circuit Breakers
• Operates for overcurrent and short circuit conditions
• Avoids continuous flow of dangerously high currents

• Residual Current Devices

• Takes the vector summation of phase and neutral currents
• Operates if the residual current (the vector sum of all) is higher than a predefined
threshold
• Fault Protection – Automatic Disconnection

• How a disconnection device can protect you from an electric shock ?

• Any disconnection device hasn’t been designed to protect your from a direct
electric shock

• It is mandatory to have equipotential bonding and proper earthing

arrangements to ensure that disconnection devices can protect people from
indirect shocks

• Automatic disconnections devices are particularly used to avoid hazardous

voltage rises in exposed conductive parts in case of a fault.
• Fault Protection – Automatic Disconnection

• Selection of Disconnection Devices for Human Safety (Earth Faults)

• The basic factor that determines the disconnection device for isolating earth faults is “The
earth loop impedance”.
• TT Systems
• In TT systems, the return path of this loop is the earth. Therefore, the loop impedance is higher. Therefore, the
circuit breakers cannot detect the currents that occur by earth faults, and hence residual current devices (RCDs)
shall be used.
• RCD current limits are selected to avoid a 50V rise in exposed conductive parts based on the loop impedance
(200Ω max) [ IEC 7671 – Clause 411.5.3]
• TN Systems
• In TN systems, the whole loop consists of conductive paths. Therefore, the current flow in case of an earth fault
is high as much as a short circuit. Therefore, if the equipotential bonding is properly done, overcurrent
protection of circuit breakers can avoid hazardous earth faults. This means RCDs aren’t mandatory.
• Here, the selection of the disconnection device is done to ensure that, “Fault current x Loop impedance ≤
Nominal Phase to Ground voltage (230V) x C_min (0.95)” [ IEC 7671 – Clause 411.4.4]
Protection against electric shock – MV and HV [IEEE_Std_80]
• Automatic disconnection devices do not provide any direct protection
against electric shocks
• Leakage currents may be several amperes still without any
disconnection or triggering of a protection function
• You don’t have to touch live parts to get an electric shock from HV or
MV, such high voltages can pass through the air if the distance is short
enough
• The main and absolute protection against indirect contact shall be
assured by proper equipotential bonding and earthing.
• In addition to touch voltage, step voltage is also taken into
consideration in designing earthing systems for MV and HV
installations (substation earthing).
Protection against electric shock – MV and HV [IEEE_Std_80]

Touch Potential
Step Potential
Protection against electric shock – MV and HV [IEEE_Std_80]
• Earth Mesh (Grounding Mesh)
Protection against electric shock – MV and HV [IEEE_Std_80]
• Basic parameters of design – Grounding mesh
• Probable fault current (Fault level)
• Disconnection time
• Portion returns through the ground
• Weight of a person (Standard 50kg or 70kg)
• Soil resistivity and soil structure
• Resistivity of surface insulation material
• Basic design outcomes
• Size of the mesh
• Size of the mesh conductors
• Length of the earth electrodes
Protection against electric shock – LV, MV and HV
• Some risks we face
• Disconnection and maintenance of MV motors
• Online inspection of MV devices
• Working at 220kV Gantry area or a substation
• Effect of water
• Online inspections, tests, and maintenance carried out in LV systems
• Restoration works
Electrical Burns
• Basically, electrical injuries are caused by four reasons
• Flame, Flash, Lightning and True
• Flash injuries are caused by an arc flash, making superficial burns on
the skin
• Flame injuries occur when the arc flash makes the clothing of the
person ignited
• Lightning injuries are caused by very high voltages, but experienced
for a shorter period, resulting in electrical current to flow through the
entire body.
• True injuries are caused by a part of the body becoming a part of an
electrical circuit.
• Here we discuss mainly “True injuries” causing skin burns
Electrical Burns
• Types of Burns

Type text here

Electrical Burns
• A current flowing through our body can disturb/ damage our body
mainly in 3 ways
• Disturb the nervous system (Electrical) – E.g. Muscular contraction/
Ventricular Fibrillation
• Disturb the chemical reactions (Electrochemical) – E.g. Protein coagulation,
Coagulation necrosis
• Damage the tissues with energy (Electrothermal) – E.g. Skin burns,
Dehydration
• Skin burns are the second most severe damage caused by electricity
(the first is to the heart)
• Burns are severe at the source (entry point) and the ground (exit
point)
Electrical Burns
• Practically, an incident causing a skin burn with LV involves a smaller portion of
the body, other than the whole body.
• Accidental contact may worsen the skin burns, why?

120V~

LV~
Electrical Burns
• Treatments
• First of all, the injured person shall be moved to a safe place
• Are addressed similarly to other burns
• The patient shall be hospitalized immediately after providing any possible
recommended first aid.
Arc Flash
• Arc flash is a type of electrical explosion caused by unintentional contact from a
live conductor to the neutral/protective earth or another phase conductor.
• In simply, an instant short circuit created by a person
• An arc flash has a temperature of 20,000 0C which occurs within less than a
second (4 times hotter than the surface of the sun)
• It makes the copper conductors vaporize expanding their volume to 67,000 times
than the solid state.
• The particles travel away from the arc flash at a speed of 300m/s (9mm Gun shot
~370m/s)
• The sound of an arc flash can reach up to 160 dB (a jet engine at 30m distance is
140 db)
• Results in emitting toxic gasses
Arc Flash
• When can happen?
• Whenever you work with or closer to live electrical parts
• They may be either LV or HV
• Improper tools, and poorly maintained systems can exaggerate the risk
• Exhausted, tired, sick, and incompetent persons are more vulnerable, as
always
• What could happen to us?
• Burns
• Injuries due to particles flying away
• Hearing loss
• Inhalation of toxic gases
Arc Flash
• How to prevent
• Make the system de-energized and earthed before attending
• Understand the risk of an arc flash
• Only making new contacts can cause arc flashes
• Having exposed live parts in the vicinity of isolated parts brings the risk of arc flashes
• Older and aged equipment increases the risk
• In competent and unsupervised persons are more vulnerable
• Following the guidelines provided by international standards such as
• OSHA 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 1910 Subpart S
• NFPA 70-2008 National Electrical Code
• NFPA 70E-2009 Standard for Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee Workplaces,
• IEEE Standard 1584-2008 Guide for Performing Arc Flash Hazard Calculations
• Using specifically designed PPEs such as Arc Rated Suits

youtube.com/watch?v=HPUuRizKV3o&ab_channel=WorkSafeQueensland
Arc Flash
• Arc-flash protective clothing – NFPA 70E
Secondary Injuries
• Most of electric shocks don’t cause injuries
• However, secondary Injuries are there
• Fall from height - උස් ස්ථානයන්ගෙන් ඇද වැටීම
• Traumatic injuries - අනතුරුමය තුවාල
• Neurological Damage - ස්නායු හානි
• Burns - පිලිස්ීම්
• Infections and Wound Complications - තුවාල ආශ්‍රිත ආසාදන
• Psychological Impact - මානසික බලපෑම්
Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs)
• Electrical Safety Gloves
• Rubber Insulating Gloves – Electrical Insulation
• Leather Protector Gloves – Protection against cuts and bruises
• Cotton inner liner – Comfort
• OSHA Ratings for Rubber Insulating Gloves – Based on ASTM D120
Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs)
• Safety Shoes – 2019 CEB Spec
Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs)
• Other PPEs for Electrical Protection
• Flame Resistance Clothing
• Insulated ladders
• Hearing Protection
• Insulated Tools
• Voltage Detectors
• Operating Rods
• Insulated mats
• Fall Protection
• Face Shields
Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs)
• What you have been provided by LVPP
 End of the presentation

Thank You
Q&A

0713-682431 / salindawijesundara@gmail.com