Safety Alert – Awareness of your electrical surroundings.
On Monday, August 13th, on one of our projects, I have observed a worker tasked with helping us in the electrical room get dangerously close to live 277/480V wiring, without any awareness of the situation and the danger he was putting himself into. Thankfully, nothing happened, but had he moved about half an inch further, it could have ended in disaster. It is very important to be aware of your surroundings, especially if there is exposed live wiring present!
Important Safety Steps:
- Look – Observe the area you’ll be working in, locate potential sources of danger.
- Recognize – Are there open panel covers? Exposed wiring? Unprotected connection terminals?
- Cover – Install / close covers where available, lockout/tagout where possible.
- Protect – Use proper PPE. Safety Goggles, Gloves are a must! Arcsuit where applicable.
- Avoid – Even if you’re wearing a full arcsuit and electrical gloves, none of this equipment will save you if you bump your elbow into the live wiring!
Common sense goes a long way, but for it to work – you need to intuitively understand what you’re working with. It takes many years of education and experience to achieve the intuitive level of understanding, therefore it is important to constantly remind yourself of the dangers present in working with electricity, and be on high alert when working around electrical equipment.
— Your Safety Manager,
Alec Kristi