Ensuring Electrical Safety at Work

Ensuring Electrical Safety at Work

Guest Post

Safety management is an essential criterion of running a workplace successfully. It incorporates all measures to keep the workplace hazard free. If used in a negligent manner, electrical appliances can lead to many disastrous events. So in order to avoid any kind of electrical accidents every workplace needs to ensure that it follows a certain set of safety procedures.

How to keep your workplace safe?

There are several ways in which you can keep your workplace safe. The most basic way through which you can keep your workplace accident-free is by observing your surroundings. Before you start your work for the day, check all the electrical appliances around you carefully. See if there are any lose cords on the floor or any loose wires protruding out and report them to the maintenance staff right away.

Keep your electrical appliances clean and tidy. Before you clean the equipment make sure that it’s turned off. It’s advisable that you read the manufacturer’s manual before you clean any appliance. Dirty and damp appliances are at an increased risk of electrical shocks, so ensure that all your appliances are cleaned regularly. Before you leave for the day make sure that you shut down all the electrical appliances that are no longer in use. Overheated appliances can damage the entire electrical circuit that they are connected to, so handle them carefully.

Consider PAT testing for your workplace

As part of your safety management procedures you can also conduct PAT testing in your workplace. Many people think that PAT testing is an unnecessary and expensive procedure but it helps in reducing electrical threats drastically. In order to conduct a PAT test effectively you can use a PAT testing guidebook. The procedure is fairly simple to understand and you will need to purchase a PAT tester along with the handbook to help you determine whether the electrical appliances in your workplace are safe or not.

How to deal with an emergency?

Even if you take a lot of caution in ensuring the electrical safety within your workplace you should always be prepared for an emergency situation. In times of emergency, you need to make sure that no one panics. Panic-stricken employees won’t be able to rationalise the situation, which may add to the disastrous nature of the emergency.

If an electric equipment sparks while you are using it then unplug it right away. Inform the maintenance staff about the accident and let them take the necessary steps. Make sure you have a fire extinguisher at your workplace so you can stop small fires from turning into major accidents. Also remember that electrical fires are very different from normal fires so don’t use water as a rescue option here.

Conduct mock fire drills regularly

As a responsible safety manager you need to ensure that there are regular mock fire drills conducted at your workplace. The drill will ensure that all the employees know the emergency exit routes well. It will also train them on how to rescue people who may get injured during an emergency.

Grace is an expert associated with Pattesters. Pattesters is a UK based company that deals with PAT tester equipment and training. They are official distributors of PAT testers from various companies such as Seaword PAT testers, Fluke PAT testers, Megger PAT testers and many more.