Electrical Safety Tips for the Office

Health and safety is a vital concern for every business and business location, whether multi-storey construction projects or small single-room office spaces. There are many hazards about which staff and even executive managers may know very little. Electricity is chief amongst them – and can be fatal if encountered without due care.

Electricity is dangerous at the best of times – even in administrative and office-based environments where the only employee access to electricity is via outlets and extension cords. Your office should have a robust health and safety policy in place, that identifies and mitigates the risk of injury by electricity

Keep Electricity and Water Separate

One of the fundamental ways in which electricity can quickly become a fatal hazard is through contact with water. Water is a good insulator in principle, but the various minerals and chemicals in household and commercial water supplies are themselves extremely good conductors. This means that when a live electrical wire touches water, it can conduct electricity to anything touching said water.

As such, wet hands or puddles beneath extension cords prove incredibly dangerous. Water should be kept from electrical sources and supplies at all times. In the event of a water leak by a power source, the source should be given a wide berth and a designated officer tasked with turning off the electricity supply.

Check and Maintain Wiring

Wires and cables are a common point of failure for electronic devices. Their failure can put employees and visitors in harm’s way, especially where frayed cables leave live wires visible. There is also an endemic trip hazard for cables not properly organized.

Cable management can reduce the risk of exposure to frayed wiring, with interventions like the installation of a wire duct tray allowing cables to run along walls and ceilings, out of the way. These management solutions can reduce the likelihood of cables fraying from flexion; they also make repairs and replacements simpler overall.

Avoid Overloading Outlets

Conventional 110V power outlets are frequently broken out into multiple outlets through the use of extension cords. The more devices plugged into these outlets, the bigger the current draw. Not only will your extension cord be rated for a specific maximum current, but so too will your outlet.

Drawing too much current can result in sparking, melting and even fire risk. This is because the high volume of current produces heat energy. Surge protectors can prevent outlets from being overloaded, but there should be a firm maximum on the number of devices plugged into each individual outlet.

Train Your Staff

Lastly, your staff should be well trained in the various ways that electricity can harm or kill. With the importance of following strict company policies on handling electricity drilled into employees, incidences of accidents will fall.