Edit: PLEASE NOTE: I have now posted the second draft in a separate thread, so would be grateful if any further comments could be made in that thread. Thanks.
OK, following discussions in other threads, herewith (below) my stab at a rough first draft of a wiki page to ‘replace’ the three posts in the ‘ELECTRICS SAFETY’ sticky. I have tried to cover all the main topics/points which are in those three posts, and have added some material of my own, trying to put all the material into a fairly structured form. There are a number of comments/questions from me (in italics). Formatting can be sorted out if/when the wiki page is created.
Please provide as much input as you can, by way of comments etc. You may think I’ve done it completely wrong, and certainly may disagree with some things I’ve written – remember that I am not ‘qualified’ to talk/write about matters electrical. Given that ‘twas me that wrote it, you may well feel that it is too verbose
Whatever, please let me know what you think, in as much detail as possible. There are obviously lots of other issues/topics I could have covered, but they are perhaps best left for other ‘pages’ – but you may nevertheless want tyo comment upon the ‘scope’ of this page.
Kind Regards, John
THE RISKS
Electricity can, and does, kill, but much more commonly results in (possibly life-changing) serious burns and other serious injuries, including loss of fingers, limbs, sight etc. Residual current devices (RCDs) reduce, but do not eliminate, the risks of death and serious injury. Do not be complacent – catastrophes and tragedies really do happen.
BEFORE YOU START - GENERAL SAFETY ADVICE
Only undertake any electrical work if you are competent to do so – i.e. if you fully understand what you are doing and what safety precautions need to be taken. If in doubt, seek advice or professional assistance. If problems, uncertainties or things you don’t understand arise whilst you are doing the work, stop doing it and seek advice or professional assistance. Do not put yourself or those around you at risk by guessing or by trying to do things you don’t fully understand or which are beyond your capabilities.
With the single exception of when you are ‘testing for dead’, you should never work on any electrical circuit or item which is, or may be, live. When ‘testing for dead’, be extremely careful not to touch any possibly live parts. Wearing rubber gloves (or, better than nothing, PVC ‘washing up’ gloves) will reduce the chance of your coming into contact with live parts. Never interfere with the electricity supplier’s fuse’s, the electricity meter or any of the cables to/from them.
When doing electrical work, you should not wear metallic jewellery or watches on your hands or wrists, or around your neck, and if you have metal-framed or metal-armed spectacles, use a neck cord so that they cannot fall into your work. Nasty accidents can, and do, happen as a result of such metallic items coming into contact with live electrical parts.
BEFORE YOU START - SAFETY EQUIPMENT NEEDED - VOLTAGE DETECTOR
Before you undertake any electrical work, you should acquire a voltage tester for confirming that circuits are ‘dead’ and therefore safe to work on. Ideally this should be a ‘two-pole voltage tester’ – either with a lamp or an LED/electronic display. A less satisfactory tool is a multimeter, set to a high (at least 300V) AC voltage range but, if you use this, be sure that the probes are such as to prevent you touching live parts when using them.[do we want that last sentence? – the problem is that ‘occasional DIYers’ simply aren’t often going to get a proper voltage detector, so maybe the best hope is that they may have, or get, a cheap multimeter?] ‘Neon test screwdrivers’ are unreliable and should not be used to confirm that circuits are safe to work on.
THE SAFE WAY TO UNDERTAKE ELECTRICAL WORK
To work safely, undertake the following steps, in the order given:
1: CONFIRM YOUR VOLTAGE DETECTOR IS WORKING PROPERLY
Do this by testing on a known voltage source [I wanted to add “for example....” here. but am not sure what to say. The CU will not normally be open. I suppose a lighting rose would be one possibility, but that would cause some confusions, and it would be a bit complicated to tell them to de-energise a sockets circuit, remove a socket face plate and pull it forward, then re-energise the circuit. I’m certainly not going to tell them some of the things I might do Any thoughts/ideas?]
2: ISOLATE (DISCONNECT ELECTRICITY FROM) THE CIRCUIT YOU WILL BE WORKING ON
The safest approach is to switch off the ‘Main Switch’ of your Consumer Unit (CU) or fuse board, thereby switching off all electricity in your house. The next-safest approach is to switch of the ‘miniature circuit breaker’ (MCB), or remove the fuse, of the circuit you will be working on (plug-in Wylex MCBs can also be pulled out, like fuses, after switching off).[are we happy with that last sentence being there, or do we want to leave it as just ‘main switch’?]
3: IF POSSIBLE, ENSURE THAT THE ELECTRICITY CANNOT BE SWITCHED BACK ON WHILST YOU ARE WORKING
If you have removed a fuse or plug-in MCB, put it in your pocket. If the CU/fuse board is in a lockable room, lock it and put the key in your pocket. Locks for most MCBs and Main Switches are available. Consider putting a warning notice on the CU to warn against switching on the electricity. If none of those are possible, at least make sure that you warn anyone who might switch the electricity back on.
4: TEST THE CIRCUIT ‘FOR DEAD’ USING YOUR VOLTAGE DETECTOR
Test between Live and Neutral, between Live and Earth and between Neutral and Earth. Note that if you have isolated the circuit by switching off an MCB or removing a fuse, any RCD protecting the circuit will probably trip when you conduct the Neutral-Earth test.
5: IF A POWER SOURCE IS STILL AVAILABLE, USE IT TO CONFIRM THAT YOUR VOLTAGE DETECTOR IS STILL WORKING PROPERLY
Unless you have a battery powered ‘proving unit’ (which you probably won’t have), this will generally not be possible if you have isolated using a ‘Main Switch’, and therefore have no electricity source available in your house. However, if a power source is available, it gives extra reassurance.
6: DO THE WORK. AS FAR AS IS POSSIBLE, TREAT CONDUCTORS AS IF THEY WERE LIVE, EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE ‘TESTED THEM FOR DEAD’
Wherever possible, avoid touching conductors at all, either directly or with non-insulated metal tools. Use insulated tools if possible. If you have to, or may, touch a conductor, try to avoid having your other hand anywhere near any conductor or anything metallic (behind your back or in your pocket is the ideal place for the other hand, although that’s not always practical) – the most dangerous electric shocks are those which go from one hand to the other.
Think, and then think again, at every stage. If in any doubt, don’t do it, or if doubts/uncertainties arise whilst you are working, stop doing it – and seek advice or professional assistance. It’s just not worth risking the life and limb of yourself and those around you.
OK, following discussions in other threads, herewith (below) my stab at a rough first draft of a wiki page to ‘replace’ the three posts in the ‘ELECTRICS SAFETY’ sticky. I have tried to cover all the main topics/points which are in those three posts, and have added some material of my own, trying to put all the material into a fairly structured form. There are a number of comments/questions from me (in italics). Formatting can be sorted out if/when the wiki page is created.
Please provide as much input as you can, by way of comments etc. You may think I’ve done it completely wrong, and certainly may disagree with some things I’ve written – remember that I am not ‘qualified’ to talk/write about matters electrical. Given that ‘twas me that wrote it, you may well feel that it is too verbose
Whatever, please let me know what you think, in as much detail as possible. There are obviously lots of other issues/topics I could have covered, but they are perhaps best left for other ‘pages’ – but you may nevertheless want tyo comment upon the ‘scope’ of this page.Kind Regards, John
THE RISKS
Electricity can, and does, kill, but much more commonly results in (possibly life-changing) serious burns and other serious injuries, including loss of fingers, limbs, sight etc. Residual current devices (RCDs) reduce, but do not eliminate, the risks of death and serious injury. Do not be complacent – catastrophes and tragedies really do happen.
BEFORE YOU START - GENERAL SAFETY ADVICE
Only undertake any electrical work if you are competent to do so – i.e. if you fully understand what you are doing and what safety precautions need to be taken. If in doubt, seek advice or professional assistance. If problems, uncertainties or things you don’t understand arise whilst you are doing the work, stop doing it and seek advice or professional assistance. Do not put yourself or those around you at risk by guessing or by trying to do things you don’t fully understand or which are beyond your capabilities.
With the single exception of when you are ‘testing for dead’, you should never work on any electrical circuit or item which is, or may be, live. When ‘testing for dead’, be extremely careful not to touch any possibly live parts. Wearing rubber gloves (or, better than nothing, PVC ‘washing up’ gloves) will reduce the chance of your coming into contact with live parts. Never interfere with the electricity supplier’s fuse’s, the electricity meter or any of the cables to/from them.
When doing electrical work, you should not wear metallic jewellery or watches on your hands or wrists, or around your neck, and if you have metal-framed or metal-armed spectacles, use a neck cord so that they cannot fall into your work. Nasty accidents can, and do, happen as a result of such metallic items coming into contact with live electrical parts.
BEFORE YOU START - SAFETY EQUIPMENT NEEDED - VOLTAGE DETECTOR
Before you undertake any electrical work, you should acquire a voltage tester for confirming that circuits are ‘dead’ and therefore safe to work on. Ideally this should be a ‘two-pole voltage tester’ – either with a lamp or an LED/electronic display. A less satisfactory tool is a multimeter, set to a high (at least 300V) AC voltage range but, if you use this, be sure that the probes are such as to prevent you touching live parts when using them.[do we want that last sentence? – the problem is that ‘occasional DIYers’ simply aren’t often going to get a proper voltage detector, so maybe the best hope is that they may have, or get, a cheap multimeter?] ‘Neon test screwdrivers’ are unreliable and should not be used to confirm that circuits are safe to work on.
THE SAFE WAY TO UNDERTAKE ELECTRICAL WORK
To work safely, undertake the following steps, in the order given:
1: CONFIRM YOUR VOLTAGE DETECTOR IS WORKING PROPERLY
Do this by testing on a known voltage source [I wanted to add “for example....” here. but am not sure what to say. The CU will not normally be open. I suppose a lighting rose would be one possibility, but that would cause some confusions, and it would be a bit complicated to tell them to de-energise a sockets circuit, remove a socket face plate and pull it forward, then re-energise the circuit. I’m certainly not going to tell them some of the things I might do
Any thoughts/ideas?]2: ISOLATE (DISCONNECT ELECTRICITY FROM) THE CIRCUIT YOU WILL BE WORKING ON
The safest approach is to switch off the ‘Main Switch’ of your Consumer Unit (CU) or fuse board, thereby switching off all electricity in your house. The next-safest approach is to switch of the ‘miniature circuit breaker’ (MCB), or remove the fuse, of the circuit you will be working on (plug-in Wylex MCBs can also be pulled out, like fuses, after switching off).[are we happy with that last sentence being there, or do we want to leave it as just ‘main switch’?]
3: IF POSSIBLE, ENSURE THAT THE ELECTRICITY CANNOT BE SWITCHED BACK ON WHILST YOU ARE WORKING
If you have removed a fuse or plug-in MCB, put it in your pocket. If the CU/fuse board is in a lockable room, lock it and put the key in your pocket. Locks for most MCBs and Main Switches are available. Consider putting a warning notice on the CU to warn against switching on the electricity. If none of those are possible, at least make sure that you warn anyone who might switch the electricity back on.
4: TEST THE CIRCUIT ‘FOR DEAD’ USING YOUR VOLTAGE DETECTOR
Test between Live and Neutral, between Live and Earth and between Neutral and Earth. Note that if you have isolated the circuit by switching off an MCB or removing a fuse, any RCD protecting the circuit will probably trip when you conduct the Neutral-Earth test.
5: IF A POWER SOURCE IS STILL AVAILABLE, USE IT TO CONFIRM THAT YOUR VOLTAGE DETECTOR IS STILL WORKING PROPERLY
Unless you have a battery powered ‘proving unit’ (which you probably won’t have), this will generally not be possible if you have isolated using a ‘Main Switch’, and therefore have no electricity source available in your house. However, if a power source is available, it gives extra reassurance.
6: DO THE WORK. AS FAR AS IS POSSIBLE, TREAT CONDUCTORS AS IF THEY WERE LIVE, EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE ‘TESTED THEM FOR DEAD’
Wherever possible, avoid touching conductors at all, either directly or with non-insulated metal tools. Use insulated tools if possible. If you have to, or may, touch a conductor, try to avoid having your other hand anywhere near any conductor or anything metallic (behind your back or in your pocket is the ideal place for the other hand, although that’s not always practical) – the most dangerous electric shocks are those which go from one hand to the other.
Think, and then think again, at every stage. If in any doubt, don’t do it, or if doubts/uncertainties arise whilst you are working, stop doing it – and seek advice or professional assistance. It’s just not worth risking the life and limb of yourself and those around you.
