How Workplaces Can Improve Electrical Safety
According to the HSE, contact with electricity accounts for 4% of all fatal injuries to workers, which is the sixth highest over the past five years. The HSE also reports that around 1,000 electrical accidents at work are reported each year, which shows the importance of electrical safety.
How Can Workplaces Help Improve Electrical Safety?
It may be obvious to health and safety professionals, but it’s essential to emphasise proper housekeeping. For example, keep electrical equipment away from water and avoid overloading sockets or extension leads. Things like this may seem basic, but it’s important to ensure staff are regularly reminded of these practices.
Many employees just want to focus on getting the job done and may inadvertently put health and safety second. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that this doesn’t happen and that safety is always a priority. In an ideal world, no work should proceed unless the relevant safety precautions are in place.
But how can employers ensure these messages resonate with staff?
One simple and effective way is through signage. No, not something designed in Word and printed on A4 paper, but a robust and quality sign that meets regulations and clearly communicates safety information.
Safety Signs:
There are five different types of safety signs that you need to be aware of.
- Mandatory: A blue circle containing an image denoting a specific course of action that must be taken
- Prohibition: A red circular band with a diagonal bar on a white background. The black symbol behind indicates the prohibited action
- Hazard Warning: A yellow triangle with a black border and symbol denoting a hazard in the environment. This is likely to be the most common with regards to electrical applications
- Safe Condition: A green rectangle or square with a white symbol or text providing information about first aid, escape or other safe conditions
- Fire Equipment: A red rectangle or square with a white symbol or text providing information about the location and use of firefighting equipment
Safety signs help reduce accidents by delivering clear and immediate safety instructions. For electrical risks, hazard warning signs should be prominently placed in high-risk areas, such as near machines or control panels.
Employers must ensure that all relevant signage is in place. This includes marking emergency assembly points, identifying first aid kits, and highlighting pedestrian walkways. For electrical hazards, signs should clearly indicate risks such as high voltage, live wires or electric shock.
As each site is different, some businesses may require custom signage to address unique hazards not covered by standard safety signs. Custom signs are an effective way to ensure site-specific risks are communicated clearly and effectively.
Lockout Tagout Tryout
Another electrical safety practise to adhere to is LOTOTO, (Lockout Tagout Tryout) a safety procedure that ensures hazardous machinery and energy sources are properly isolated and cannot be re-energised unexpectedly during maintenance or repair work.
It is recommended that appropriate LOTOTO procedures are put in place, including training of staff and contractors, to ensure energy sources are correctly isolated before work begins. This resource highlights the importance of LOTOTO (Lockout/Tagout/Tryout) and what equipment is necessary.
Safety Rescue Hook Boards:
Rescue hook boards are designed as an identifiable and accessible storage solution for electrical safety rescue hooks. Many businesses have safety hooks, but they are often stored in a cupboard or tucked away in a corner. Naturally, this is not ideal during an emergency when someone needs to be rescued.
An electrical rescue hook board is ideally placed on a wall next to electrical equipment ensuring the rescue hook is visible and easy to access in an emergency.
The aim is that the hook will never need to be used, but if an accident does occur it is easy for anyone to find the hook quickly when needed. Also, the presence of the hook and board next to the equipment can remind staff of the dangers they may face while working, to remain vigilant and identify and replace it when missing.
Safety Posters:
Health and safety posters are a practical way to communicate key information. The HSE ‘Health & Safety Law’ poster is mandatory in the UK. The Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations 1989 requires employers to either display a HSE-approved law poster or provide each of their workers with the equivalent leaflet.
Alongside posters showing employers safety obligations, there are also more posters giving specific guidance or key lifesaving information. For example, first aid posters provide guidance on what to do in an emergency, while electrical shock posters offer specific instructions related to electrical incidents.
Most poster’s will typically be displayed in break rooms, entrances or workshops. However, for electrical hazards, it’s wise to position safety posters near relevant equipment or risk areas. This ensures staff are consistently reminded of emergency protocols, PPE requirements, and best practices.
Installing signage, posters, and taking these precautions may seem like a tick-box or compliance exercise, but there are real lives at risk. Employers need to prioritise safety and identify areas where their facilities require signage. Signs are are equally important for contractors and visitors who may not be familiar with the area.
Check out our resource on Electrical Safety.
Content created in partnership with Spectrum Industrial.
