Basic Electrical Safety Awareness

Working with electricity is one of the most dangerous jobs in our industry. There are 600 to 800 electrical accidents in Canada every year – not to mention related deaths. To help reduce that number, the Canadian Standards Association and the NFPA have issued new standard that address the requirements regarding electrical safety.

The CSA Z462 , Workplace Electrical Safety and the NFPA 70E Electrical Safety in the Work Place applies to electrical workers, and provides guidance to employers on what qualifications are required for electrical work – and cautions against allowing non-qualified people inside hazard boundaries.

Electricity is toxic energy. It takes about 10 milliamps (mA) of current for your skin to start burning and blistering. At about 20 mA of current, your breathing becomes labored and you can’t let go of the electrical circuit or tool that is giving you the shock, while 75 mA of current passing through the chest area may cause ventricular fibrillation of the heart, Ventricular fibrillation is a rapid, irregular heartbeat that can cause death in minutes. in addition, you may suffer severe burns and muscular damage – a few amps will cause irreversible body damage. While human beings are only designed to handle 5 or 6 mA, the typical over-current at which a fuse or circuit breaker opens a circuit is 15,000 mA.