Electrical Test and Tag Course for Specific Hazard & Risk Control
Date: 07 September 2017
In the electrical test and tag course you will become familiar with what you will need to know about specific hazard and risk control.
The most common electrical risks of an electrical shock or fire and the subsequent causes of injury are: electric shock causing injury or death. The electric shock may be received by direct or indirect contact, tracking through or across a medium, or by arcing ? that is electric shock may result from indirect contact where a conductive part which is not normally energised becomes energised due to a fault like a metal toaster body or a fence.
Another hazard is arcing, explosion or fire causing burns. Injuries occur because arcing or an explosion - or both - occur when high fault currents are present.
There is also electric shock from ?step-and-touch? potentials. Or toxic gases causing illness or death as burning and arcing associated with electrical equipment may release various gases and contaminants.
A common hazard is fire resulting from an electrical fault. Contact with electricity can result in serious injury or death. Even the briefest contact with electricity at 50 volts for alternating current (V AC) or 120 volts for direct current (V DC) can have serious consequences to a person?s health and safety. High voltage shocks involving more than 1000 V AC or 1500 V DC can cause contact burns and damage to internal organs.
So who are the individuals who must manage electrical risks? During the electrical test and tag course you will learn that a PCBU (Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking) has the primary duty under the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that workers and other people are not exposed to electrical risks arising from the business or undertaking. This duty requires eliminating electrical risks, or if that is not reasonably practicable, minimising the dangers.
During the test and tag course, you will discover that there are a number of simple things you need to do to help ensure electrical safety at the workplace. They include:
- Ensure power circuits are protected by the appropriate rated fuse or circuit breaker to prevent overloading;
- If the circuit keeps overloading, don?t increase the fuse rating as this creates a fire risk due to overheating;
- Arrange electrical leads so they will not be damaged;
- Avoid using leads and tools in damp or wet conditions unless they are specially designed for that possibility;
- Ensure residual current devices (RCDs) are effective by regular testing.
To find out more about our test & tag courses and how it could benefit your business, check out our courses here.
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