Page 44 - OHS, June 2020

ELECTRICAL SAFETY
Electricity is Everywhere
Electricity is part of our daily lives, and it’s important to understand the hazards it poses.
BY LAUREN HOLMAN
40 Occupational Health & Safety | JUNE 2020
www.ohsonline.com
Today, electricity is a phenomenon that exists absolutely everywhere. We use it to illumi- nate our homes, charge our devices, provide power to our appliances, and to perform most of our daily tasks. For most of us, the extent to which we think about electricity does not go beyond our everyday use. But how much do we know about the mysterious force that lights our rooms, powers our appliances and charges our devices?
Given its prominent presence in our day-to-day lives, understanding the basics of electricity, and how to stay safe around it, is essential. This article will seek to help readers better understand electricity, includ- ing the hazards that it poses for workers. It will also identify ways to mitigate these safety risks.
The Basics
Electricity is a form of energy that captures the flow of electrons through a conductor. It’s important to note that some materials carry electricity better than others. How well a given material allows electricity to pass through it is known as its resistance. If a sub- stance has a high resistance to electrical current, that means that electrons cannot pass through it easily. These materials are otherwise known as insulators. Glass, rubber, cloth, and plastic are a few examples
of good insulators and are generally used to guard against the flow of electricity.
A conductor is the opposite of an insulator and is known to carry electricity very well. Good con- ductors include copper, steel, aluminum, and most metals. Conductors are often used to provide an easy path for electricity, such as the copper used in elec- trical wiring in homes. Electricity will always take the quickest and easiest path. If the most direct path involves flowing through the human body, this is where electricity will flow.
Who Bears the Greatest Risk?
In addition to electricians, engineers and overhead line workers are at a very high risk of suffering elec- trocution on the job. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Sta- tistics reported a fatality rate of 19.2 workers out of every 100,000 for electrical powerline installers and repairers, and an average electrocution death toll of 25 workers per year. Those who work near overhead power lines bear the most considerable risk primarily because the lines are not insulated even though they still can carry up to 700,000 volts of power. Even 50 volts can be damaging to the human body; thus, any contact with an overhead powerline could be deadly for a worker.
Key jobs that put these workers at the highest risk are electrical repairs, installations, maintenance, or working with large machinery that could potentially come in contact with the lines. Although workers whose jobs require them to work directly with elec- tricity are at the highest risk of electrocution, employ- ees who work indirectly with electricity are at risk, too. Something as simple as changing a light bulb at your home office could become fatal if the device is not unplugged. Thus, everyone needs to be aware of the hazards associated with electricity.
Common Electrical Hazards
An electrical hazard is defined by any instance where a person may come in contact with a conductor or with an energized object, thus causing that person to suffer a shock, burn or electrocution.
Overloaded circuits and poor wiring. Some of the most common electrical hazards are over- loaded circuits and poor wiring. Circuits can eas- ily become overloaded if a wire, or another part of an electrical system, exceeds the maximum amount of current that can be carried safely. Overloads are
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