Danger High Voltage often brings to mind frightening electric fences or towering transformers buzzing with energy, but for those working in electricity the dangers…
Danger High Voltage often brings to mind frightening electric fences or towering transformers buzzing with energy, but for those working in electricity the dangers are an everyday reality – electric shock can lead to burns, loss of limbs or even cardiac arrest and death! Therefore it is imperative for those working with high voltage to take precautionary steps when handling it.
Step one in protecting yourself while working with dangerous voltage is to wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), such as gloves, goggles and flameproof clothing. Also ensure you aren’t wet or sweaty as electricity and moisture don’t mix. Furthermore, keep flammable materials far away from areas with high voltage as a spark could ignite them and start a fire.
Once you’re wearing PPE, it’s essential to understand what constitutes dangerous voltage levels. Typically speaking, when exposed to voltage higher than your body’s natural resistance you will experience an electric shock whose severity depends on factors like voltage level, amount of current flowing through your body, and proximity of source of voltage.
Keep in mind that just because a circuit has been turned off doesn’t necessarily make it safe for work to commence; stored energy may still exist within capacitors or long cable runs. Furthermore, faults in any interior circuit could create open, short or grounded faults in its design and use.
“Voltage doesn’t kill, current does” may sound simplistic, but this saying has more to it than meets the eye. To be dangerous, voltage must have the capacity to cause lethal shockwaves through your body based on how much current flows through you at any given amount. While body resistance may increase this resistance factor significantly, even weak current can still pose risks and potentially result in serious injury or even death.
One of the primary ways that people are shocked by touch is when they touch an electrically energized object such as equipment or trees while standing on lower voltage ground. This occurs due to parallel circuit pathways having less overall resistance than any single path alone; when touching this equipment or tree with their feet, electricity will flow from energized ground through their body to unenergized parts and shock you.
A great way to avoid electric shock is avoiding contact with live circuits at all times, using an insulator like dry wood as an insulator between yourself and the conductor if working on an energized circuit is necessary, or employing breakers, fuses or resistors that limit current. Furthermore, regularly inspect cables carrying high voltage for holes, cuts punctures or texture changes which could indicate wear-and-tear damage that could result in unexpectedly high current flows through them.