Safe handling of electrical energy

Safe handling of electrical energy

Electricity is to be handled with much precaution because the passage of electricity causes heavy damage to human body. As electric current produces heat, several safety aspects are to be strictly adhered while handling electric current.

1. Dangers of electricity and precautions to be taken

The following are the possible dangers as for as electric current is concerned.

i. Damaged insulation – Do not touch the bare wire, se safety glows and stand on insulating stool or rubber slippers while handling electricity.

ii. Overheating of cables – Use quality ISI certified cable wires for domestic wiring

iii. Overload of power sockets – Do not connect too many electrical devices to a single electrical socket.

iv. Inappropriate use of electrical appliances – Always use the electrical appliances according to the power rating of the device like ac point, TV point, microwave oven point etc.

v. Environment with moisture and dampness – keep the place where there is electricity out of moisture and wetness as it will lead to leakage of electric current.

vi. Beyond the reach of children – he electrical sockets are to be kept away from the reach of little children who do not know the dangers of electricity.

2. Safety features

There are many safety features to be followed while handling electricity. Some of them are given below.

Ground connection

The metal bodies of all the electrical appliances are to be connected to the ground by means of a third wire apart from the two wires used for electrical connection. Normally the ground connection wire will be green in colour while the main wire is in red and the return wire is in black. is ground connection provides an easy path for the current avoiding it from flowing through our body. All the ground wires from various electrical sockets are connected together nally to a thick copper wire that is buried deep in to the ground so that the excess current could directly pass in to the ground without passing in to our body.

Trip switch

It is an electromechanical device which does not allow a current beyond a particular value by automatically switching o the connection. We have trip switches of various current ratings used for speci c purposes. It works on relay principle. A set of the trip switches used in electrical connections is shown in Figure 2.23.

Fuse

A fuse is another safety mechanism which works on joule heating principle. Fuse is a wire made up of a Nickel and Chromium alloy which has a de nite melting point. If current passes through the fuse beyond a particular desired value, the excess heat produced melts the fuse wire, thus the electrical connection is cut-off. Fuse has to be kept in tight a ceramic enclosure to avoid the melting heat from producing re accidents.