Guide for Electrical Faults & Safety

Guide for Electrical Faults & Safety

1. In the event of a fault on a distribution board,  control panel or cable trunking, it is possible with modern insulation that the heat generated could cause a flammable vapor to form.   This will appear as “smoke”. By opening a switch locally to isolate the problem, it is possible that a spark could be generated which would ignite the vapor and cause an explosion or fire.  For this reason, if anyone discovers a large volume of smoke coming from electrical apparatus, DO NOT attempt to switch it out locally. Contact a competent person who should switch out at a point remote from the fault.
2. Any failure of electrical apparatus even when it is known to be caused by a circuit breaker tripping, or thermal overload trip, should be referred to a competent person.
3. All electrical faults should be reported to a supervisor immediately.  If considered necessary, the equipment should be switched off and the isolator switch opened and locked to prevent inadvertent re-energizing.
4. Unless designed for outdoor use or exposure to water, NEVER use  electrical equipment in the rain, or where it may be subject to water  ingress or splashing.
5. Never take portable electrical apparatus into the classified area unless it has been decommissioned and pronounced safe to do so and a Hot Work permit has been issued.
6. Electrical Safety Interlocks
   1. These are fitted to a number of the machines to prevent energizing or operation until certain safety condition(s) are satisfied.
   2. These must NOT be defeated to regain commercial operation of a machine unless accompanied by a written procedure which ensures documented operator compliance with that particular safety interlock check for each operation of the machine.  They may only be defeated by a competent person for the purposes of fault-finding and then in conjunction with a written risk assessment