International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics

Volume 120 No. 6 2018, 11997-12008

ISSN: 1314-3395 (on-line version)
url: http://www.acadpubl.eu/hub/
Special Issue
http://www.acadpubl.eu/hub/

ELECTRICAL HAZARDS AND

SAFETY
P.K.Gore1 , Amita Mane2
1,2
Office of Dean Academics
(Electrical Engineering section)
1,2
D. Y. Patil College of Engineering, Akurdi
Pune, India.
August 15, 2018

Abstract
The electricity resembles to human body as a cut on
body incepts bleeding, similarly any deterioration of insu-
lation leads to leakage of electricity. On increase of leakage
current, the circuit will be isolated but in absence or non-
operation of protection system this leakage may create dan-
gerous situation like shocks and in extreme cases fires. In
order to control cases of electroculations and fire hazards,
proper awareness among the general utilizes of electricity is
essential. This paper describes the basic fundamentals of
the electrical shocks, electroculations, fire hazards etc and
their preventions with safety precautions.
Key Words:Electrocution, Switch gear, Earth fault,
Leakage current, MOCB, AB Switch.

1 Introduction
Electricity is essential to modern life, both at home and on job. It
has become an essential part of our daily life. However, most of us
tend to overlook the hazards of electricity poses and fails to treat
it with the respect it deserves. Electricity is often referred to as a
silent killer, because it cannot be tasted, seen, heard, or smelled. It

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is essentially invisible. The hazards associated with the use of elec-

tricity can affect any one. Many electrical house hold devices, equip-
ment in shops or educational institution, machines in any industry
etc., can pose a significant hazard particularly when mishandled or
not maintained properly. Electricity has long been recognized as a
serious workplace hazard, exposing human being to electric shock,
electrocution burns, fires and explosions. Sparks from electrical
equipment can serve as an ignition source for flammable or explo-
sive vapors. However in most of the fire hazards, it is presumed that
probable reason of fire is electrical short circuit. Electrical faults
seem to be the major reason for industrial disasters in the country
as 56 percent of incidents are reportedly caused by them. The loss
of electrical power even can result in extremely hazardous situation
in any of the process industry, hospitals etc.In view of above facts,
the electrical safety is utmost essential in electrical systems. Elec-
trical safety can be defined as a system of organizational measures
and technical means to prevent harmful and dangerous effect on
workers from electric arc, electric current, electromagnetic field and
static electricity. To avoid fatal accidents due to electrical hazards,
electrical safety standards should be constituted and implemented
at all levels of electrical system. By developing safe practices we
can overcome any risk to workers, costly machine, damages and
unrest due to low morale of works. The electrical safety regulations
are promoted in United States through Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA). Several standards are defined
under the OSHA for control of dangers and to protect the workers
from these electrical hazards.This paper discusses overview of elec-
trical hazards to human beings and precautions to prevent them.

2 WHAT IS ELECTRICITY
Electricity is a form of energy, which cannot be destroyed. It is
weightless and behaves like an imaginary fluid, can be called as cur-
rent which moves freely through some medium generally called as
conductors. The source of electricity is generally the power gener-
ating station. Electricity flows more easily through some materials
than others. Some substances such as metals generally offer very
little resistance to the flow of electric current and are called con-

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ductors. A common conductor is the surface of the earth. Glass,

Bakelite, plastic, porcelain, clay, pottery, dry wood and similar sub-
stances generally disallow the flow of electricity and they are called
insulators. Even air, normally an insulator, can become a conduc-
tor, during occurrence of an arc or lightning stroke. Water is a
great conductor of electricity, allowing current to flow more eas-
ily in wet conditions. Pure water is a poor conductor. But small
amount of impurities in water like salt, acid, solvents, or other ma-
terials, can turn water itself and the substances that generally act
as insulators into conductors or better conductors. For example,
dry wood, generally slows or stops the flow of electricity. But when
saturated with water, wood turns into a conductor. The same is
true of human skin. Dry skin has a fairly high resistance to electric
current. But when skin is moist or wet, it acts as a conductor.
This means that anyone working with electricity in a damp or wet
environment needs to exercise extra caution to prevent electrical
hazards. The conductors / equipment carrying electricity needs to
be properly insulated to avoid leakage of electricity and thereby the
possibility of electrical hazards. The electricity resembles to human
body, a cut on body incepts bleeding similarly any deterioration of
insulation starts leakage of current.

3 ELECTRICAL HAZARDS DUE TO

DIRECT CONTACT
A. Electric shock
Everyone has received minor electric shocks sometime, which they
do not have any concern about the cause. But once in a while,
a loose wire or a faulty appliance can shock the life out of one.
Electricity travels in closed circuits, normally through a conduct-
ing media. But sometimes a persons body- an efficient conductor
of electricity mistakenly becomes part of the electric circuit. This
can cause an electrical shock. When you receive a shock, electricity
flows between parts of your body or through your body to a ground
or the earth. In short, when your body becomes a part of the elec-
tric circuit, shock occurs. Electricity can travel only in a closed or
looped circuit. Normally, the travel is through the conductor but
when the current enter your body at one point and leave at another,

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the shock occurs. Electrical shock occurs either when an individual

comes in contact with:
• Both phase neutral wires of an electric circuit,
• One wire of an energized circuit and the ground,
• A metallic part that accidentally becomes energized by contact
with an electrical conductor
a. Causes of Electrical Shock
i. Improper Insulation
Weakening of insulation is one of the reasons for overheating. It
is generally due to deterioration of insulation material, poor main-
tenance, climatic conditions etc. Weakening of insulation incepts
leakage current which gradually increases and if protection device
is not of appropriate rating, leakage current may starts arcing that
may ignite the fire.
ii. Improper Earthing
Many of the shock cases are reported due to improper earthing
such as a metallic part that accidentally becomes energized by con-
tact with an electrical conductor whose insulation has deteriorated.
For any electrical installation proper earthing is must. The earth-
ing completes the electrical circuit and arrange to trip the faulty
circuit by operation of protection equipment such as fuse , MCB,
leakage current detector, Earth fault relay, Zero sequence detectors
etc. The earthling resistance should be minimum possible below 0.5
Ohms and should be measured once in a year. If required watering
must be done during summer season.
b. Effects on human body
When electrical current pass through the body, the nervous system
become paralyze and fails to transmit signals to brain. Therefore
in shock condition human beings are helpless to get themselves
free from shock nor can they demand for help from any one. The
intensity of shock depends mainly on the strength of the current
through the body and the duration of the contact. In extreme cases
the shock causes the failure of the normal action of the heart and
lungs, resulting in unconsciousness or death. The strength of the
current depends on the shock voltage and body resistance. Under
dry conditions, the resistance offered by the human body may be
as high as 100,000 Ohms. Wet or broken skin may drop the body’s
resistance between zeros to1000 ohms. A current below 5mA is not
dangerous. The current between 10 to 30 mA is dangerous because

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the sufferer loses muscular control. If the resistance of human body

is assumed as 20 Kilo ohms, then a contact with 230 volt supply
can be potentially fatal as it will drive a current of 11.5 mA. If a
current of 30 mA flows through the heart the survival is impossible.
The deceased person will collapse immediately or within few hours.
However still it varies from person to person and also depends on
duration of shock. The other factor is type of current. If it is DC
than more risk as DC offers less resistance and the offered shock
current is almost 5 times that of AC supply. Also the DC repels
whereas AC attracts. Therefore one should be more cautious while
working on DC systems. The time period of shock plays a vital role.
The shock current has passed through body organs, it will damage
organ tissues and if these tissues are not reoriented in required time,
the effect will be seen in few hours. Therefore the patient should be
hospitalized and be watched at least for 48 hours. Not all overhead
wires provided for service connections are insulated and therefore
cannot protect you from an electric shock. Though there is insulat-
ing material around them, they can become brittle and crack. Also
be aware of overhead power lines when moving ladders, bamboos
etc. around your work place. In one of the fatal accident, body of
12 year old boy catching a kite on terrace found in two pieces while
crossing a 33KV overhead line on the terrace.

4 ELECTRICAL HAZARDS DUE TO

INDIRECT CONTACT
The electrical voltage has got its field intensity and if any one enters
in this territory, will gets energized at that voltage level provided,
he is isolated from earth potential.
A. Severity of Voltage
One must have seen birds sitting comfortably on high voltage trans-
mission lines. Similarly if any one touches HV line, nothing will
happen so far he is not touching any ground object and main-
taining minimum clearance required for that voltage level. Every
voltage has an ionization range. If anyone enters in that range, the
energy can arc towards you and take a path to the ground if you are
conducting through ground. The minimum clearances for different
voltage levels are tabulated below:-

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Never allow anyone to prune trees that grow next to power lines
because electricity can move through the tree or jump towards you,
if you are within ionization range.

5 ELECTRICAL HAZARDS WITHOUT

CURRENT FLOW THROUGH THE
BODY
A. Injury to human being without current through body
Direct burns from electric arcs, spattered molten metal, etc., Radia-
tion burns from very heavy arcs, Physical injury from false starting
of machine, failure of controls, explosion of switchgear, etc., Injury
from fire and explosion from electric ignition of flammable vapors,
gases, liquids and solids, Eye injury from electric arcs etc. are the
accidents taking place due to manual errors. Such kind of accidents
can be avoided by observing safety precautions.
While rack in a 6.6 KV MOCB at 2X210 MW thermal power plant,
the breaker exploded and 4 workers 2 engineers expired due to
heavy flash over in breaker cubical resulting in deep burns of the
employees (70 to 90%) . The accident reason concluded was the,
breaker was in closed condition and the operating staff was trying
to rack in the breaker force fully. The operating staff was not prop-
erly trained for electrical operation and there was no interlock to
prevent rack in operation when the breaker is in close condition.
However mechanical interlocking is provided by the manufacturer
and utility jointly in all the switch gears. To avoid similar type of

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accidents, the engineer in charge should think the safety aspects of

his jurisdiction and must implement them without any hitch.
B. Fire hazards in industries/ residential areas
The Electrical faults seem to be the major reason for industrial
disasters as most of the fire accidents are caused by them. For ex-
ample, arcs that results from flash over or short circuits can incept/
ignite a fire which may misshape the equipment or a shop or the
industry as a whole. A fire can also cause violent explosions in
atmospheres that contain flammable gases, vapors or combustible
dusts. The main factors contributing to the increasing fire acci-
dents in industries may be:
• Overheating of current carrying elements.
• Ageing of the material/ components.
• Use of sub-standard quality of electrical gadgets.
• Improper maintenance.
• Overheating of flammable materials placed close to electrical
equipment.
• Ignition of flammable materials as a result of arcing.
Out of above, the major factor is Overheating of current carrying
elements. The three main independent modes of electrical heating
that leads to electrical fires are:
a. Excessive current
This may be due to overloading of the system i.e. drawl of excessive
current by the equipment or by short circuiting and simultaneously
failure of protection system.
b. Poor Connection
The poor connections are caused by any of following reason i. Lugs
improperly crimped to the cables
ii. Lugs of higher than recommended size used for termination.
This results loose cable to lug joint
iii. More than two higher size cables being terminated at one stud
reducing the contact area. This results due to problem in tighten-
ing the bigger size cable on single stud
iv. Proper size washers not being used
v. The palm surface area of the lugs reduced by drilling oversize
hole or by matching the lug palm leading to inadequate cross sec-
tional area of the lugs for transfer of current.
vi. Use of lower thickness nuts causing reduction in contact area in
case of clamp connection on studs coming out from transformers

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vii. Space between links and terminal being taken care by bolts/studs
not meant for carrying the current
viii. Formation of oxide layer or corroded layer leading to higher
resistance
ix. Looseness in the terminal screw, bolts, nuts, etc
x. Bimetallic/plating not used for termination of aluminum over
copper, copper based alloys
xi. Large size aluminum cables terminated in motor terminal box
where limited surface area is available due to copper motor leads
and brass screw
c. Failure of Insulation
Weakening of insulation is also one of the reasons for overheating. It
is generally due to deterioration of insulation material, poor main-
tenance, climatic conditions etc. Weakening of insulation incepts
leakage current which gradually increases and if protection device
is not of appropriate rating, leakage current may starts arcing that
may ignite the fire.

6 FIRST AID TO VICTIMS AND PRE-

VENTIVE ACTIONS AGAINST ELEC-
TRIC HAZARD
A. First Aid to Victims of Shock
The Electricity is very fast, travels at the speed of light and there-
fore no time to take corrective action. The rescues of victims depend
on the prompt action.Following steps should be adopted immedi-
ately
i. Isolate the source of power at that point on priority
ii. Make the victim free from live conductor by use of dry wood,
dry cloth, Bakelite or any of available non conducting material
iii. If the victim is not breathing, pump his heart artificially by use
of your palms on the chest. With no loss of time, arrange ambu-
lance and medical help from nearby Doctor.Simultaneously give a
mouth to mouth respiration to activate the heart
iv. If the victim is breathing, allow him to inhaul fresh air. Also
cool the burn parts with running water. Admit him in hospital and
keep close watch for minimum eight hours

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B. Prevention of electric shock

i. Never touch any electrical circuit unless and until it is not
switched off. Prior to start of work ensure the supply is isolated
ii. For isolation of electrical equipment correct equipment must be
isolated. Accidents have been reported in 132KV, 220KV switch-
yards where the bays appears to be similar and the operation staff
happens to make such mistakes.
iii. Generally high voltage equipment have inductance/capacitance
in the circuit and as such these equipments do have stored energy
in them even though supply is cut off. These equipments must be
properly earthed before start of any maintenance work.
iv. Use of safety appliances such as rubber hand gloves, electrical
safety shoes for operation of isolators/ AB switch is mandatory
v. Electrician must use series lamps for circuit checking
vi. System earthing should be checked once in a year and watering
must be done in summer season
vii. All hand tools/machines must be properly earthed
viii. Electrical wiring must be done according to relevant IS
ix. Protection devices such as fuse, MCB, breakers etc are generally
used to interrupt the circuit in the event of circuit current exceeds
certain limits. The recent trend is to use residual current device or
ground fault circuit interrupter against the human electrocution.
This anti electrocution device operates in the event of earth fault
having leakage current of less than 5mA and is readily available in
the market. The working principle is based on differential current
as shown in the diagram.

Figure 1. Earth fault Leakage Current Detector

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x. Fuse, MCB, Earth interrupter, earth fault relay etc used as

protective device should be of proper rating and must be checked/
tested once in a year,
C. Prevention of electric fires
i. The wiring/ cabling should be of proper rating and must never
be overloaded. There should be monitoring of current, voltage,
smell/deterioration of insulations etc
ii. Proper earthing must be ensured as stated above (III a)
iii. Spring pressure type switch/ sockets should be used for residen-
tial/commercial purpose to avoid any loose contact. These type of
switch/sockets are available and one of the manufacturer is Legard
iv. Proper protection devices should be implemented as detailed
above in Para VI B x.
v. For commercial shops/industries which works only day time,
the main switch should be provided at the entrance and should be
switched off when the premises are closed. For essential devices
like fridge, CCTV systems a separate circuit should be used with
suitable protection.
vi. Generally the fire ignites as a result of loose connection which
results in overheating and arching. An arc fault circuit interrupter
must be used to detect the arc in the electrical circuit. The device
detects any arching i.e. sparks where electricity is being conducted
through the air and converted to heat and shuts off the supply or
outlet before any damage can be done. This can be set at suitable
level taking account of any in use arc level.

7 CONCLUSION
Though the electricity provides means for luxurious life but it is
equally dangerous and hazardous too, if not handled properly. The
rate of fire accidents and electrocutions is in increasing order all
over the world and it may be reduced considerably if personals using
its applications and involved in its operation and maintenance are
educated and trained properly for its handling. The protection used
in electrical system cant prevent the hazards; they may take place
at any place at any event but if proper protections are used and
maintained properly, the extent of damages to equipment, property

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or the human beings can definitely be reduced.

References
[1] Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Fed-
eral Register, 29 CFR 1910, Subpart I, Personal Protective
Equipment, 1910.132, General, Final Rule June 30, 1993

[2] The OSH Act, December 29, 1970

[3] Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), CPL

02-00-124, Multi-EmployerCitation Policy, December 10, 1999

[4] National Fire Protection Association, NFPA 70E, Standard for

Electrical Safety in theWorkplace, 2015 Edition.

[5] ANSI/IEEE C2 - National Electrical Safety Code (NESC),

2012 Edition.

[6] National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), NFPA 70E

Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace,2015 Edition

[7] National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), NFPA 70 Na-

tional Electrical Code (NEC), 2014 Edition

[8] American National Standards Institute (ANSI), ANSI C2 Na-

tional Electrical Safety Code (NESC), 2012 Edition

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