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| Electricity Is Life But It Can Kill | | HOME ELECTRICAL SAFETY | | Er. L.P.SINGH
Every year in India tens of thousand of people are killed or injured from contact with electricity. Some of these people are young children. We must know how electricity works so that we can keep ourself, our friends and our family safe.
No one ever thinks they are about to be electrocuted. Yet sadly, it happens. And it happens to people like you - Home handymen & women, young and old – who think that doing electrical work like rewiring plugs & fixing elements in various appliances is easy and perfectly safe. Nothing could be further from the truth.
You or a family member could be seriously injured or killed if you undertake specialist tasks such as –
• Rewiring a power point, plug or switch.
• Repairing electrical appliances i.e. toaster, irons etc.
• Altering or installing fixed electrical wiring.
In our country every home has a doctor without having M.B.B.S degree and an engineer without any degree. My advice to these so called engineers is that - you may have done these jobs before and had no problems. But the risk attached to this kind of behavior is enormous. One slight mistake and someone could be injured or killed. So please be careful in handling electrical works without proper knowledge. Call licensed electrician to do the job.
Not all work involving electricity requires a licensed electrician, it is safe for you to perform simple tasks such as
• Changing an electrical light bulb.
• Changing starter of a fluorescent light.
• Replacing a fuse.
• Resetting a circuit breaker.
However, when doing any of the above mentioned work, one should be careful. Ensure the electricity is turned off (except when resetting a circuit breaker) and take due care.
The Government have brought in more electrical regulations which must be followed. Few years back the Electrical Safety Council published some amazing figure, 42% of home owners stated that they had never had their electrics checked . 32% said they had experienced electrical shocks while working on their homes. A staggering 59% of people do not use, or refer to a qualified electricians when doing electrical works.35% of home owners said their electrics were older than 15 years and had not been checked . Electrics should be checked at least every 10 years. There are 12,500 electrical fires in homes across the UK every year, so please pay attention to electrical regulations and stay safe.
SAFETY TIPS
• Never touch any thing electrical with wet hands or use electrical appliances in a wet place or near water such as a hair dryer near a bath or basin containing water.
• Don’t use an electrical heater rod in the bathroom unless it is specially designed for bathroom use.
• Don’t use electrical cords or appliances near the pool.
• Don’t play with kites or planes near overhead power lines.
• Don’t trim trees near power lines when power is there.
• When carrying long ladder or swimming pool skimmers, Watch out for electric wires running overhead.
• Never attach swing, Clothes lines, hanging basket or the like around beams which have electrical wires attached.
• Always use three or five pin socket for electrical appliances with proper earthing.
• Never touch Guy wires/L.T poles outside your houses; they are like live bombs when insulators fail.
GENERAL SAFETY
Make sure you securely screw in light bulbs. Loose light bulbs can overheat and cause a fire.
Extension cords are not intended to be used as permanent wiring . Long term use causes accelerated deterioration and poses a hazard.
Ensure temporary extension board cords do not run under carpet or rugs which can cause danger from overheating. Don’t nail or staple cords in place, as this may damage the protective plastics, Jackets and expose you and your family to an electrical shock.
Throw away damaged extension cords. Before you do, cut them in half to discourage ‘salvagers’ from taking a hazard home with them.
Never cut or grind the grounding prong off a plug to make it fit an outlet. You would defeat the purpose and integrity of the grounding safety system.
Make sure your appliances such as washing machines, Refrigerator, Microwave oven, press, dish washer etc must be properly earthed. Always use cord with three pin top for your appliances.
Make sure your Transformer, UPS, Invertor, Computer are properly earthed. Never touch these things when the floor or your hands are wet.
(The author is an Electrical Engineer & consultant by profession)
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