Electricity – good servant, bad master

Citation

(2001), "Electricity – good servant, bad master", Facilities, Vol. 19 No. 11/12. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.2001.06919kab.006

Electricity – good servant, bad master

Electricity – good servant, bad masterKeywords: Electricity, Fire safety, Defects

Electricity literally powers the wheels of commerce/industry. For the most part, it is not given a second thought, for, like the little girl with the little curl, when it is good it is very, very good. But the latest survey from the Safety Assessment Federation (SAFed) shows that, when electricity is bad, it is more than horrid. In a survey into the cost, incidence and cause of electrical accidents, SAFed has uncovered just how lethal and very costly to business electrical faults can be.

Health and Safety Executive statistics show that 30 deaths a year result from electrical faults. Electricity or electrical discharge causes 200 non-fatal major accidents and over 500 accidents involving absences of over three days. The shame is that a simple routine involving the regular inspection of electrical installations could have prevented the majority of these incidents.

According to the SAFed survey, based on records of over 9,000 electrical installations, nearly a third of all installations had a defect. Of all the installations inspected, 15 per cent had one or more faults. This means that, typically, one in three electrical installations is likely to have some type of fault, which, should it not be redressed, could result in a problem arising. That problem could be electrocution, or it could be fire.

Fire is a very costly hazard to hit a business. In 1995, 121 serious electrical fires cost £45 million in terms of repairs or replacements. But it is not just damage to property that needs to be taken into account. Legal implications exist. Unless a business can prove that it took all reasonable steps under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 to prevent the incident from occurring, it is likely to face charges for not complying with the Regulations. In 1998/1999, the authorities issued 442 notices under the Regulations, of which 22 resulted in convictions. In recent years, the level of individual fines against offenders has been steadily increasing.

Beyond financial and legal implications relating to a faulty electrical installation, a business also needs to consider the risks to staff, customer relations and reputation. For facilities managers in particular, there are serious considerations. In all accidents due to contact with electricity or electrical discharge, service industries alone accounted for 32 per cent of fatalities, 28 per cent of non-fatalities and 53 per cent of absences over three days. Service industries also accounted for 31.5 per cent of all major fires due to wiring faults, whilst for housing the figure was 21.5 per cent and for multiple occupancy buildings 9 per cent. The survey revealed that the most common fault was improperly wired switches that were live to the touch. The potential result of contact with these switches ranges from severe burns to fatal electrocution, as well as there being the potential for fire and explosion, should flammable materials be in the vicinity.

Of the classic incidents that occur, the SAFed survey shows that the highest percentage of electrical faults involved the incorrect earthing of an installation (29 per cent high/no earth continuity/bonding). After this 19 per cent of the faults were due to damaged equipment, 15 per cent had exposed parts and 12 per cent had very low insulation resistance. Typically, the highest category of incident involves cabling or wiring. The problem with damaged or incorrect earthing is that the machine or equipment will appear to be functioning normally, since the power supply is not interrupted. However, the main safeguard – a good earth – could be missing, rendering the entire installation unsafe.

The Fire Association reported that 579 major fires over the last five years were caused by electrical faults. Of these, 89 cases were caused by faults in wiring. The definition of a major fire, in this instance, is one where one or more fatalities have occurred, or an insurance loss of over £50,000 has been incurred. Electrical fault based fires covered by the SAFed survey caused insured losses ranging from £2,750 to £5,115,000. But the cost to the businesses involved will not necessarily have stopped there. Loss of confidence amongst staff and customers, implications regarding orders unfulfilled, inability to source alternative stock, are amongst the other considerations to be taken into account.

Probably the single most shocking fact uncovered by the survey is that the majority of the electrical based incidents could have been prevented through the implementation of a regular inspection regime. Industry-wide, it is the service sector that the SAFed Survey showed had the highest incidence of fires. This was followed by Manufacturing Industry, Property/Residential, then Educational Establishments. In all these areas, the introduction of regular inspection of electrical wiring installations will also help organisations to meet their legal requirements under the Electricity at Work Regulations.

For more information on how to identify and appoint a competent accredited specialist independent inspection company, please contact Richard Morgan at SAFed. Tel:’+44 (0) 20 7403 0987; E-mail: richard.morgan@safed.co.uk