Welcome to a new series of posts on the topic of test and certification. This post is by Chris Rouse, Safety Manager at TRaC.We all use a large number of electrical items that work reliably and safely every day. As problems are so rare many people get blasé about the need for electrical safety regulations, but recently I saw some sobering statistics.
I was shocked to see UK government figures showing 17% of all fires in domestic premises in England and Wales are caused by electrical faults (resulting in 15 deaths and around 1100 non-fatal injuries).
The HSE also reports that around 1000 electrical accidents at work occur each year and around 25 people die of their injuries.
In addition to the human cost of these faults and accidents, companies are vulnerable to legal action if their equipment is faulty.
Regulations such as the Low Voltage Directive, 2006/95/EC and NRTL certification scheme in North America may seem bureaucratic, but as someone who works every day in the test and certification industry, I feel a little bit safer knowing that these tests will eventually reduce the risk of fires and accidents.
(Picture - Fire engine by Pedro Kwezi, under Creative Commons Attribution Licence)
Previous Certification & Test entries:
* Certification & Test: Why bother with vibration testing?
* Certification & Test: Do I really need earthquake testing?
* Certification & Test: Differences between earthquake and vibration testing?
* Certification & Test: Safety - it's a complex business!
* Certification & Test: What's the point of a Notified Body?
* Certification & Test: The difference between Bluetooth and ZigBee testing?
* Certification & Test: Is above 1GHz the new Wild West?
* Certification & Test: Where have all the ZigBee products come from?
In addition to the human cost of these faults and accidents, companies are vulnerable to legal action if their equipment is faulty.
Regulations such as the Low Voltage Directive, 2006/95/EC and NRTL certification scheme in North America may seem bureaucratic, but as someone who works every day in the test and certification industry, I feel a little bit safer knowing that these tests will eventually reduce the risk of fires and accidents.
(Picture - Fire engine by Pedro Kwezi, under Creative Commons Attribution Licence)
Previous Certification & Test entries:
* Certification & Test: Why bother with vibration testing?
* Certification & Test: Do I really need earthquake testing?
* Certification & Test: Differences between earthquake and vibration testing?
* Certification & Test: Safety - it's a complex business!
* Certification & Test: What's the point of a Notified Body?
* Certification & Test: The difference between Bluetooth and ZigBee testing?
* Certification & Test: Is above 1GHz the new Wild West?
* Certification & Test: Where have all the ZigBee products come from?
Comments (3)
17% of all fires caused by electrical faults is an unbelievable statistic! how awful!
Thanks for the post, these safety precautions are SO important, i think people need to realise this more.
Thanks again
Posted by Its so important to use Arc Flash Protection | March 16, 2010 12:20 PM
Posted on March 16, 2010 12:20
It is surprising to me that the number is not higher, considering how ignorant people are about what is/isn't safe electrically. They then try to save a little by buying the cheapest, uncertified, stuff. Oats that have been through the horse do cost less, people! Now how do we get people to be more knowledgeable?
Posted by Mike Harris/Compliance Department Co. | May 8, 2010 5:47 AM
Posted on May 8, 2010 05:47
17% seems low in my opinion, it would be interesting to see the stats for other causes, smoking I'm guessing is the top cause.
But breaking down that 17% a little more, would that include things such as electric chip pans or covering an electric heater with a blanket, which aren't really electrical faults? Or is that purely electrical failures?
Posted by Electrical safety guy | October 20, 2010 12:38 PM
Posted on October 20, 2010 12:38