Electrical Hazards

1.5 Electrical Hazards

In everyday's life we get reports of what how fires fires have caused havoc.  It is unfortunate t that when such is heard from learning institutions and heavy industries, investigations has always pointed to electric faults.
There are many causes of electrical hazards.   In an electric circuit two types of hazards are possible:

• electric shocks,
• electric fires.

1.51 Electric Shocks

Electric shocks are basically caused by:
1.       Poor Electric Circuit Conditions
These include old and worn out or improperly serviced electric circuits and appliances.
To prevent electric shocks, great care should be exercised to ensure that:
a.       the wires are always properly and firmly connected,
b.      they are properly insulated,
c.       worn out cables are replaced immediately,
d.      appliances are properly earthed.
2.       Carelessness
This is the act of overlooking safety procedures by:
a.       not paying attention to or following all the given instructions,
b.      being hasty in one’s work.

3.       Working under the influence of impairing drugs such as alcohol,
4.       Incompetence in handling electric circuits,
5.       Fatigue,
6.       Stress.

1.52 Electric fires

The three main causes of electric fires are:
1. Circuit overloading,
2. Arcing contacts,
3. Heating appliances within the proximity of combustible materials.
Fire starting from an electric circuit can be categorised as:
(a)          Those involving the insulation and contained within the appliance.
(b)          Those starting from within the appliance due to a short circuit or excessive current and spreading out to the area around as general fire.
In both cases, the fire is detrimental to life and property; proper techniques of firefighting must be devised to minimize losses.