Weekly Safety Talk: Week 45: Electrical Safety

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Interesting info.

We share such email every week with folks. May be good idea for you. You may calculate 1 Hr / month per employee as training hour for sending out such information. (15 min/week).

Karthik.

From: Joshi, Abhidnya (IE03x) Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 3:22 PMTo: DL HTT India UsersSubject: Weekly Safety Talk: Week 45: Electrical Safety

The ABC's of Electricity

Current:

? Like water, electricity flows. It can flow through you and other conductors, such as metals.

? It can seriously harm you when it flows through your body (electric shock).

? The unit of current is the ampere (amp).

Resistance:

? Like the pipe restricts the water, resistance can restrict the current.

? The more resistance, the less the current flows.

? The unit of resistance is called an ohm.

Voltage:

? Like water hitting you, voltage is a force.

? The more water and faster it comes at you, the larger the force.

? The more current and less resistance means a bigger force.

? The unit of voltage is called a volt: (e.g. 440 volts)

Potential:

? When water is in a water tower, is has potential to drop and exert a force.

? Stored electricity can have a potential to move and exert a force.

? Capacitors are an example of stored electricity.

What Are The Causes of Electrical Accidents? 3 Basic Types:

1) Unsafe Acts by People

There are 2 basic reasons for unsafe acts:

1. We know better, but intentionally do something unsafe.

2. We don't know any better.

AVOID the following unsafe acts:

? Attempting to work on electrical equipment or components you are not trained for.

? Failure to de-energize, lockout & tagout hazards during maintenance, repair or inspections.

? Not verifying the power is off when making repairs

? Use of defective and/or unsafe tools, equipment, or instruments.

? Use of tools or equipment too close to energized parts.

? Not draining off stored energy in capacitors.

? Using a 3-wire cord with a 2-wire plug.

? Remove the wrong fuse.

2) Hazardous Environments

Be sure to use special precautions around hazardous conditions, such as:

? Flammable vapors, liquids and gases

? Combustible dusts

3) Unsafe Equipment

? Loose connections

? Faulty insulation

? Improper grounding

? Defective parts, such as broken cover plates

? Ground faults in equipment

? Unguarded live parts

Report all unsafe electrical equipment immediately so it can be repaired.

Electricity and How it Can Harm You

Effects on your body

A small night-light with a 6-watt bulb draws 0.05 ampere (50 milli amp), and even that small amount of current can be fatal. Here are some effects of current in milli amps (1/1000 of an amp) passing through a 150 pound (67.5 kg) body:

Milli amps

? Perception 0.5 - 1.5

? Muscle contractions 1 –5

? Pain 3 – 10

? Let-go threshold 10 – 40

? Respiratory paralysis 30 – 75

? Ventricular fibrillation 75 – 100

? Heart paralysis 250 – 300

? Organ burns 5000 – 6000

Current passing through your body can cause Electric Shock, resulting in 3 types of potential injuries:

? Burns (arcs burn with heat & radiation)

? Physical injuries (broken bones, falls, & muscle damage)

? At 10 mA, the muscles clamp on to whatever the person is holding.

? Nervous system effects (breathing is stopped at 30 to 75 mA alternating current at 60Hz, fibrillation at 75 to 100 mA at 60Hz)

? Fibrillation = heart is " twitching " and there is no blood flow to the body.

The heart can be damaged because it is in the path of most common pathways:

? Hand to hand

? Hand to foot

First Aid for Electrical Shocks:

Do not touch the casualty while he is still in contact with electricity. Switch off the current at once. Do not attempt first aid until the contact has been broken. Make the air passage clear and clean. Restore breathing Artificial respiration and external cardiac massage, if needed. (For External Cardiac Massage the first aider should be trained.) Call for immediate medical aid.

B Karthik and Lalitha Karthik

Diamond District.Bangalore, India.Cell:- +91 9844026214.MY BLOG: www.Karthikkaraikudy.blogspot.comTake it Easy and Take care. Live Consciously.

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