Guide for Electrical Faults & Safety
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Electrical Safety Interlocks
- These are fitted to a number of the machines to prevent energizing or operation until certain safety condition(s) are satisfied.
- 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
