SAFETY IN

ELECTRICITY
Electricity is a Good Servant but a Bad master

Electricity is often referred to as a Silent Killer

Electricity is an invisible life Threatner

 OBJECTIVE

• Recognize the Electrical Hazards

• Cause & Consequences for Electrical Accidents

• Legal standards for Electricity

• Electrical Safety Requirement at project site

• Domestic Usage of Electricity

3
A STUDY BY US FOR THE MAJOR CAUSES OF
ELECTROCUTIONS
TOTAL NO OF DEATHS IN %

Cause(Contact Electrical Other

with:) workers Construction
workers
Electrical wiring and
58% 24%
Equipment
Overhead power
34% 56%
lines
Machinery,
4% 11%
appliances
Other 4% 9%
CAUSES OF ELECTRICAL ACCIDENTS

Operation and Maintenance by Unqualified

persons
Faulty insulation and protective devices like
MCBs, ELCBs, Relays, Circuit Breakers etc.
Improper grounding
Loose connections
Defective parts
Unguarded live parts
Tripping hazard
 CAUSES OF ELECTRICAL ACCIDENTS

Use of inferior quality electrical appliances

Wrong identification of equipment / feeders

No Operational clearance

Failure to de-energize electrical equipment when it

is being repaired or inspected

Use of tools or equipment too close to energized parts.

Adequacy of illumination in electrical rooms/around

panels, DBs, etc.
 Hazards

Primary Secondary

Person falling from height

Electric shock Dropping of tools & objects

Electric flash Health hazards due to release of

toxic gas & production of UV
Electric fire & explosion
rays
 Harmful Effects

• Burn

• Muscular Contractions (No let-go)

• Lungs Dysfunction

• Ventricular Fibrillation (Heart

Dysfunction)
 Electric Shock

It is sudden & accidental stimulation of the

body’s nervous system by electric current.
It is the result of passage of electric
current through the human body
 Severity Of Shock Depends

Duration of flow

Amount of current

Path of flow of current

Type of energy
 Types of Electric Shock Risk
Direct Contact: Is coming in contact with a normally energised
part, like bus bars, live cable ends, etc.

Indirect Contact: Is coming in contact with a part, which is

normally dead and has become live, due to an internal insulation
failure in the equipment.
Macroshock: Current flowing across intact skin and
through the body. Current traveling from arm to
arm, or between an arm and a foot, is likely to
traverse the heart, therefore it is much more
dangerous than current traveling between a leg and
the ground.

Microshock: Direct current path to the heart tissue

 Body Resistance

Body area resistance (ohms)

Dry skin 1,00,000 to 6,00,000

Wet skin 1000

 Impact of Shock

Electric Voltage Voltage Maximum

current at 10,000 at 1,000 power Physiological effect
(amperes) ohms ohms (watts)

Threshold of feeling an electric shock,

0.001 A 10 V 1V 0.01 W
pain
Maximum current which would be
0.005 A 50 V 5V 0.25 W
harmless

Sustained muscular contraction. "Cannot

0.01-0.02 A 100-200 V 10-20 V 1-4 W
let go" current.

Ventricular interference, respiratory

0.05 A 500 V 50 V 25 W
difficulty
1000-3000
0.1-0.3 A 100-300 V 100-900 W Ventricular fibrillation. Can be fatal.
V

Sustained ventricular contraction

followed by normal heart rhythm. These
6A 60,000 V 6,000 V 400,000 W are the operation parameters for a
defibrillator. Temporary respiratory
paralysis and possibly burns.
 ELECTRIC ARC / FLASH

Approximately 80% of all injuries and fatalities caused by

electrical incidents are not caused by electric shock, but by the
intense heat, light, and pressure wave (blast)

Studies on the causes of electrical injuries show that a large

number of serious electrical injuries involve burns from
electrical arcs.

There are actually three different issues with the arc-flash hazard,
the arc temperature, the incident energy, and the pressure
developed by the arc.
The main concern with the arc temperature is the flash flame
and ignition of clothing. At approximately 203 F (96 C) for one-
tenth of a second (6 cycles), the skin is rendered incurable
or in other words a third-degree burn

Third and fourth degree burns will usually require significant

debridement (surgical removal of dead and damaged skin), skin
grafting, and other reconstructive surgery. Other physical
trauma, such as kidney damage and failure, heart damage, and
infection are common in victims of severe burns.
 ELECTRIC BLAST

The pressures from an arc are developed from two sources, the
expansion of the metal in boiling and vaporizing, and the
heating of the air by passage of the arc through it

The air in the arc stream expands in warming up from its

ambient temperature to that of the arc, or about 20,000 degree
K (35,540 degree F).

The arc-blast created by the heating of the air is similar in

nature to the generation of thunder by the passage of lightning
through it.
 Shock Protection Methods

Isolation

Current limitation

Low voltage

Double insulation

Earthing
 Isolation

All electrical equipment should be

isolated from accidental contact &
approach by unauthorised men.
Providing barrier

Panel boards, generators, large

motors, batteries should be enclosed.

Low & Medium voltage OH lines should be kept 19’

above the ground.
 Double Insulation

• In addition to the normal insulation required for functioning

of the equipment, a second layer of insulation known as
protective insulation is interposed between functional
insulation & any accessible metal parts of appliances.

• Double insulated power tools have non-metallic body

 EARTHING SYSTEM

Installation as per approved design?

Installation and Maintenance as per IS 3043?
Earth resistance measured periodically?
Test procedure
Acceptable earth resistance values
Is the earthing system modified when electrical installation
is modified?
Are neutral earth pits independent and separate?
Are earth pits identified?
Are two and distinct earth connections provided?
Is the earth continuity tested?
 Fuses

Fuses are proven safety devices for overload conditions.

Check the fuses for their current ratings

Never replace fuse wire with ordinary copper or aluminium

wire

High rupturing capacity fuses are now a days used.

 RCCB (RESIDUAL CURRENT CIRCUIT BREAKER)

RCD/ELCB/RCCB: Is a protection device

associated with a toroidal sensor
surrounding the live conductors. Its
function is detection of current difference
or to be more precise, residual current.

RCBO (RESIDUAL CURRENT BREAKER WITH OVERLOAD)

RCBO) is a combination of an RCD and a Miniature

Circuit Breaker (MCB).
 Efficiency of RCDs/ELCBs/RCCBs

Year in which a law was enacted making the use

of high sensitivity RCDs mandatory
40
shock
Annual no. of deaths by electric

30

20

10

66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80

Year
Sensitivities of RCDs/ELCBs/RCCBs ; As per IEC,
the following sensitivities are standardised:

 High Sensitivity (HS) – 6mA, 10mA &

30mA
 Medium Sensitivity (MS) – 100mA &
300mA
 Low Sensitivity (LS) – 1A, 3A, 5A,
10A & 20A
The Indian Electricity Rules, 1956, vide
Rule No. 61-A, insists that:

“ The supply of energy to every electrical

installation other than low voltage installations
below 5kW ………. shall be controlled by an
Earth Leakage Protective Device, so as to
disconnect the supply instantaneously on the
occurrence of earth fault”.
 PLUG TOPS
Plug tops should be used to avoid shock danger.

Three point plug in case of metallic body hand tools and

two point plug in case of double insulated hand tools.
 Cables
Insulate live wires
Check before use
Use only cords that are 3-wire type
Remove cords by pulling on the plugs, not the cords
 Lock Out and Tag Out

Apply locks to power source after de-

energizing
Tag the deactivated controls
Tag the de-energized equipment and
circuits at all points, where they can be
energized
Tags must identify equipment or circuits
being worked on
 CAUSES OF ELECTRIC FIRE

 Selection of improper/substandard equipment and

materials.
 Electrical installation not in accordance with statutory
regulations.
 Overloading of equipment.
 Maintenance negligence.
 Failure of insulation level.
 Damage due to rodents, termites and pests.
 Lightning.
 Water seepage.
 Static electricity.
 SAFE WORK PRACTICES

All electrical installation to be tested & commissioned as

per BIS codes and IER

De-energizing electrical equipment before inspection or

repair

Keeping electrical tools and equipment properly

maintained

Exercising caution when working near exposed

energized lines and equipment, and

Using appropriate personal protective equipment and

insulated tools
Connector Box Male-Female Metal Halide Light
Connector Fitting
Employ qualified electrician, B license holders

Display electrical equipment & cable routing layout

Earthing of all electrical installations

Display caution boards

Provide RCCB for portable equipment

Follow work Permit System

Training of employees
 DON’T

Overhead Line Contact with live Line Working with bare

hands
Do’s and Don’ts