Plumbing - Electrical Safety Part 1

1. Electrical source.

2. Hot wire that sends electricity.

3. Consuming device.

4. Neutral wire that returns electricity.

5. Earth or ground.

1. A faulted circuit. Electrical fault.

In a faulted circuit or electrical fault, current follows the wrong path and bypasses the normal load.

1. The short circuit. The ground fault.

Two hot wires or a hot wire and a neutral wire touch.

The hot wire touches an outlet or tool casing.

Shocks and damage equipment. They make excess heat that can start fires. With a short circuit, a tool usually will not work.

Shocks. The outlet or tool may keep working until a person touches it - creating multiple paths to ground.

Electricity can cause shocks, burns, fires, and explosions in the workplace.

The fourth.

Electrocution or it may cause a physical reaction that results in a fall.
Current flowing through your chest, neck, head, or major nerves can stop your breathing.
Current through the heart can make it beat out of rhythm or stop.

Burns may accompany shock. Resistance to current flow in your body turns into heat. Electricity can cook internal organs or cause internal bleeding. Internal effects may happen days later.

They are the fires that burn very fast. Bad insulation, overloaded circuits, or sparking at switch contacts can ignite explosive mixtures in air.

At a minimum, employers must follow the OSHA electrical standards (subpart K). This standards provide protection for using temporary wiring in construction.

1. Electrical isolation.

2. Grounding.

3. Circuit interruption.

Electrical wiring installed for a construction project. It must use separate circuits for power and lights. OSHA does not allow power outlets or screw-in converters on light circuits. Power and light circuits must have separate circuit breaker boxes or fuses.

1. Power from portable or vehicle-mounted generators.

2. Feeder boxes contain the main shut-off switch for site temporary wiring.

3. The system grounding electrode is located in the main box.

4. Circuit breaker boxes.

5. Circuit for power.

6. Circuit for lights.

We isolate electricity by keeping it away from ourselves or our workplaces.
To isolate electricity we do one or more of the following:

1. Insulate the wires.

2. Isolate the wires in enclosures.

3. Elevate the wires.

4. Bury the wires.

5. Cover the wires.

A separate, low resistance pathway for electricity when it does not follow normal flow from hot to neutral.

In case of a ground fault, most of the electricity takes the ground to source. This helps keep you from becoming part of the circuit.

In 1926.404(f)(1) through (11).

No. Grounding won't work if your resistance is less than the ground path. For example:

1. If you are holding a metal pipe that goes directly to ground.

2. If you are standing in water.

3. If your tool doesn't have a ground connection.