Electrical Safety-an issue of education
Apr 1, 1998 12:00 PM, Nathaniel Hecht
Working in our industry, it is just about impossible to avoid hazardous situations when it comes to electricity. I can remember an incident when I was about 12 years old where I sustained such a good jolt that my arm was thrown back uncontrollably into a 20 x 40 (51 mm x 102 mm) board. Luckily, it didn't cause any permanent damage, but I have a friend, a painter in England, who wasn't as lucky. While painting a ceiling in a very old flat, he mistakenly painted over an exposed live wire while standing on a metal ladder. He died as a result of the electrocution. The fact that they use 220 V in England didn't help. We may have a slightly better chance here in the United States with 110 V service, but it doesn't take much of a jolt to kill you.
I was fortunate concerning the use of electricity in that my father was an electronics hobbyist and schooled me in the ways of protecting myself, the aforementioned incident not withstanding. I learned about always wearing rubber-soled shoes while working with electricity and to put one hand on my waist so as not to create a direct path across my heart while using an electric tool. I also learned about proper grounding and the dangers involved in repairing high-voltage CRTs. Most kids do stupid things though, like the sixth grader I saw push a wire into an electrical socket. Fortunately, the wire was insulated, and only the breaker blew.
How many of you know that next month is Electrical Safety Month? If you think this is an invisible problem, ponder some statistics: One person is electrocuted in the home every 36 hours (Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)). One person is electrocuted in the workplace every day (Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)). More than 700 lives are lost annually in an average of 155,000 electrical fires, which cause injuries to an additional 6,800 people and personal property damage of $1.4 billion each year (Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)). If we add the millions of dollars in costs that result from these accidents due to related litigation, the huge scope of the problem comes into much clearer focus. There is also the toll in quality of life and loss of productivity.
What can you do? You can educate yourselves and those you work with about the real dangers inherent in working with electricity. In 1994, the National Electrical Safety Foundation (NESF) was formed to bring related industries together to illuminate the problem. It is a publicly organized, tax-exempt charitable organization supported by contributions, mostly from manufacturers, distributors, utilities, insurance companies and other related industries. Its goal is to make an impact in proactively promoting electrical safety in the home, school and workplace. In addition to supplying information to Fortune 500 companies, they distribute nine bimonthly columns on electrical safety tips to over 10,000 newspapers in the United States and Canada. The NESF can be reached through their Web site at www.nesf.org. If you would rather give them a call, they can be reached at 703-841-3211 or by fax at 703-841-3311. Incidentally, they accept donations from contractors as well, so if any of their information is useful to you and your organization, consider becoming an annual sponsor of the foundation. Membership is a great way to reach out to your community, which is always good business.
