Electrical safety

Yesterday I passed SFS6002 electrical safety course and got SFS 6002 käytännössä book. SFS 6002 electrical safety training is for all electrical work in Finland engaged in compulsory education, which must be renewed every five years. Now I know somewhat more than before on electrical safety related to electrical installations.

SFS6002 is a Finnish standard how electrical work should be performed safely. It is based on European general standard EN 50110-1 (Operation of electrical installations – Part 1: General requirements) plus Finnish national additions to it.

If you want to get your hands on the original European EN 50110-1 standard, you need to buy it. There are also free information on standard available: British edition of the standard BS EN 50110-1:2004 can be found on-line.

 

760 Comments

  1. Tomi Engdahl says:

    TRAINING: Arc Flash Safety for Electrical Panels with Gene Reed
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TtX2LA_WTU

    CED Solution Consultant Network MCC Specialist Gene Reed discusses arc flash safety for electrical panels, including warning labels, approach boundaries, PPE categories, and more.

    Reply
  2. Tomi Engdahl says:

    What is Arc Flash?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6iJN6kN-Is

    Working with energized equipment can be a serious hazard if everyone isn’t informed on the basics of electrical safety. This fun, informative arc flash explainer video explains the basics to clear up the confusion.

    Reply
  3. Tomi Engdahl says:

    480 volt arc flash
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFw8t7tG1Y0

    No Look Listen Smell Arc Flash MCC Doors Closed
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lbiYAMsOEY

    This video emphasizes that when energized electrical equipment is in an abnormal condition there is a higher probability of an arcing fault and arc flash occurring. This worker should have used a Look, Listen & Smell simple philosophy. The worker did detect an abnormal condition at least three (3) times, but did not react appropriately. Had he reacted appropriately he would not have been exposed to an arc flash flash.

    Reply
  4. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Isolating a Disconnecting Circuit Breaker using live line working
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfwpF68Di8k

    As it becomes more and more common with live working, performed by special trained staff, the question has been raised if it is possible to use the manual links in the DCB-design for live working.

    Important notice:
    This is carried out by the national distribution company in Sweden, thus following all applicable laws and regulation. Regarding PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), the maintenance crew strictly follows the rules and regulations set for this kind of work, which includes the equipment used. All safety procedures are not shown in this video.

    Reply
  5. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Arc flash survivor interview
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv6mQE0Mfsk

    Electrician Ed Manthei recounts his experience with arc flash, which left him with 50/50 chance of surviving. The arc flash occurred while changing out a breaker on an eye-line panel-board.

    After verifying that the wires were dead, he tied off the loose wires. The arc flash occurred shortly thereafter.

    Reply
  6. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Do you know where your next short circuit could occur?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEtpq5Ud6mg

    Fluke Thermal cameras identify hot spots in electrical equipment. Hot spots are a clear indication of loose or corroded connections.

    Reply
  7. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Killer Screwdriver
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGXQNLq19FQ

    Neon tester/ terminal driver gets tested on a few thousand volts.
    Not a good prospect if you were on the end of it, and you had it in your hand and inadvertently made contact with a few thousand volts.
    Strongly advise to use a proper insulated screwdriver for terminals.
    Use a proper voltage tester like a fluke with 2 probes to get a definitive answer to weather there is voltage or not.
    Always ensure that your test equipment is rated for the voltage you want to test or work on.
    Where ever possible do not work on live equipment moving wires about.

    Reply
  8. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Grounding – Safety Fundamentals (1hr:13min:19sec)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpgAVE4UwFw

    Reply
  9. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Living Safely With Electricity – Electrical Safety for Non-Electrical Workers (Emotive Video)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H0S-Th0ndo

    Electrical safety begins at home!

    Many of us underestimate just how dangerous electricity can be. This is evident in the fact that 20 people die in Australia every year from electrocution…..75% of these are non-electrical people. On top of this, over 600 people are hospitalised every year due to electrical injury. Again, mostly non-electricians.

    This video is aimed at making people think twice about the choices they make in relation to electrical safety and how those choices could impact on their friends and family.

    Reply
  10. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Feeder Taps, NEC 2011 – 240.21(B)(1) (13min:22sec)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJRSrB4E7dY

    Reply
  11. Tomi Engdahl says:

    10 Shocking Facts About Electrical Safety by ESA
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE7R9AF0Wpw

    This year in Ontario, roughly 2,000 people will end up in the emergency room because of an electrical injury. And more than three quarters of these cases will be urgent. Sadly, some people will die from electrical contact and it can happen any time. Learn how to spot potential electrical risks and how to avoid them to keep your family and home safe.

    Reply
  12. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Warnings related to outlets and extension cords in USA:

    The #3 Reason for residential house fires is electrical outlets
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63vzHhCOku8

    Reply
  13. Tomi Engdahl says:

    NFPA70e Arc Flash and Qualified Worker Training
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi1nhT0oYV8

    Sample clip.
    Training for anyone whose job requires them to work on or near high voltage energized electrical parts. Highly interactive individualized instruction.

    Reply
  14. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Arc Flash – explained!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsqUyalrbc0

    What is Arc Flash?
    How to Prevent, Protect and Assess Risk.
    How can Electrical Safety UK Assist with your Risk Assessment? visit us at http://www.elecsafety.co.uk

    Reply
  15. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Avoiding electrocution (Featuring real shocks.)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR6g38Pxwog

    The majority of electric shocks are painful and surprising, but not fatal. It takes a good electrical contact between two parts of your body between a live source and a return path to allow high current to flow through your body. By understanding electricity and how it flows in differing quantities through many paths of resistance you can avoid putting yourself at risk of a fatal shock.
    The safety industry implies that all electrical equipment should be locked out and tagged out before working on it, but in reality that is not always possible, although definitely a better option in the case of easily identified faults.
    Much of the current wall of “one size fits all” safety legislation has come about due to the rise of all-trade building and facilities maintenance companies and their use of unskilled labour for economy. They often do minimalist in-house training before making their new “experts” sign liability waivers to avoid any legal repercussions.

    Reply
  16. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Overloaded wires
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8GiuM-gABY

    This is what happens if you dont use the specified fuse wire or circuit breaker in your house switch board.

    Test of 10, 12 and 24 gauge wires at 100A !!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DhzWPoSYoQ

    Wahh!! it smell really bad now in my lab !!

    Comment:

    Lab is noticeably and dangerously practical to let novice understand when presumably picks the low gauge wire with high current consumption equipments. Like what you did. Thanks.

    Reply
  17. Tomi Engdahl says:

    A Bright Arc (6 of 7): Contact with a Power Line
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvlk_73bSvc

    This video deals with the dangers of working near overhead and underground power lines. Dramatic footage and computer animation show what can happen if you or someone on your jobsite accidentally contacts an energized power line.

    Reply
  18. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Panasonic microwave destroyed by blown bulb.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmcg_cVO_1s

    A simple bulb failure causes a chain of events that turns a microwave oven to scrap.

    Reply
  19. Tomi Engdahl says:

    NEC 2008 – Bonding 277V and 480V Circuits 250.97
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvzk-7gu4UU

    Reply
  20. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Electrical arc flash caused by overloaded transformer
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCZax3vIslo

    be carefull with idiots controling your electrical plants

    Electric arc caused by overloaded transformer Part 2
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMpVbnWpe0o

    Reply
  21. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Measuring Prospective Fault Current (PFC) at the Origin of a Single Phase Supply (Live Test)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6tOWa86dGE

    Student training aid for the live test measuring prospective fault current PFC using a MFT Megger tester. Includes a full demonstration of how to measure PFC current. This test is shown being done under controlled condition in a college workshop.

    Reply
  22. Tomi Engdahl says:

    How dangerous are LiPo batteries? || Overcharge, Overdischarge, Short Circuit
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osfgkFyq7lA

    In this video I will show you how important protection circuits are for LiPo batteries and what will happen if you accidentally overcharge or overdischarge your battery or even create a short circuit.

    with a great power comes a great responsibility.

    Reply
  23. Tomi Engdahl says:

    EPRI Distribution Research Arc Flash
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZP47mlELSc

    Arc-Flash Hazard Warning 110.16 (18min:15sec)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_mzKyze4Vk

    Reply
  24. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Available Fault Current Label 110.24 (15min:13sec)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfepqZMKKck

    Reply
  25. Tomi Engdahl says:

    MIT1025 Step Voltage Test demo
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqzWSYZAQG0

    Video # 4 of 7 in the Insulation Testing Above 1 KV series.

    Reply
  26. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Touch and step potentials
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYAlcofFkww

    This video shows the touch and step potentials that may affect the human body. This video provides an insight of the topic

    Reply
  27. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Wrong Voltage – Wrong Country
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JYfLgsu1sQ

    Bonus Clip: 120 Volt Blender getting 240 volts and more!

    Reply
  28. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Don’t make contact with overhead power lines
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uws5o3hq4Es

    Using a hot dog to symbolize the human body, SMECO’s safety experts show what happens when the hot dog makes contact with power lines.

    Reply
  29. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Karmivat kuvat todistavat – kotoasi voi löytyä yleinen sähköriski: ”Pitäähän näistä ihmisille tiedottaa”
    https://www.iltalehti.fi/asumisartikkelit/a/66ce2436-362f-4d35-8ce2-7872c4c03030

    Reply
  30. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Home>Over Head Lines
    Over Head LinesPower SystemProtection
    Electrical Shock Hazards & Its Effects on Human Body
    https://www.electricaltechnology.org/2018/08/electrical-shock-hazards-its-effects-on-human-body.html

    Reply
  31. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Overloaded 2.5mm² TPS cable
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-MkXdp1IVQ

    3 meter run of three core TPS 2.5 mm² connected to a 42 Volts transformator.
    I was trying to visualize the magnetic repulsion between the three conductors.
    The current through the TPS was around 140 (cold) – 120 (hot) Amps.

    Reply
  32. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Motor Branch Circuit Short Circuit And Ground Fault Protection (13min:31sec)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc8vW826zmY

    Branch-Circuit Short-Circuit and Ground-Fault Protection

    Reply
  33. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Dangerous Device – Neon Mains Testing Screwdriver
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLAJ-keFmpk

    How not to test for mains voltage, and why you should never use one of these neon screwdriver testing efforts for anything.

    Reply
  34. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Dangerous Extension Lead in Use – 6 Amps Melting
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCS_CTBxu5U

    The dangerous extension lead is connected to a moderate load. Even with only 6 amps the temperature rises and in 4 minutes has reached 300C and completely destroyed the cable.
    The plastic casing is flammable and continues to burn until it’s all consumed by the fire.

    Comments:

    These garbage mains accessories are even worse here in the US, where we’re too much of pussies for real voltage… An 1800w heater here is pretty much all an entire room can take, and the current is double of what it would be in 240v countries…

    its also a waste of copper cause u need thicker cables everywhere for the same power (dont get me started about the transformers on every power pole that are still around somewhere)

    here we run 16A at 230V through a 3 core 2.5mm2 cable or wires in conduit, (sometimes thicker depending on the cable length to compensate power loss and to make sure the short circuit current will trip the breaker or fuse)

    This extension lead is extremely dangerous and we must deal with it! starts hydraulic press

    That plastic would have put out cyanide compounds and fumigated the householder in their bed
    Probably not cyanide. That only comes from things which contain nitrogen (like nylon). I think that may be polypropylene or polythene.

    Keep up the good work.
    Killing an extension cord rated for 16A by applying 6A is just epic. (it should normally have a security margin of 50%, in other words to be able to withstand 24A….

    Never seen an extension lead with wires this thin. They are probably rated 2 amps at most, definitely not 16.

    Great video. I really don’t fully grasp why people persist in buying such trash. Especially as it has the potential to imperil their property and even their lives and those of their loved ones. Such products should only be sourced from reputable manufacturers.

    I think because people just read ’16A, my heater is 13A, should be fine’ and also many thinks ‘if it’s legal to sell it’s checked by rulemakers and safe to use. The real question is why we still can find this s…tuff on the market.

    The largest cause of electrical fires in US is cheap mostly Chinese extension cords with heaters plugged in. Rather than ban them, we have to pay for Arc Fault circuit breakers now. Hmmm, more money for electrical component manufacturers. Nah, it’s only about safety!

    A “perfect” product for electric short and burning house
    I live in Indonesia and many products like this one coming from China and the result is many case home burning by electric short
    That’s why I like to diy from expensive and reliable material for making extension lead

    Satisfying watching one more peice of dangerous Chinese junk removed from circulation.

    Reply
  35. Tomi Engdahl says:

    POWER POLE ELECTRICAL FIRE (ARCING AND FLASHING)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOQEBqdCQeM

    An excavator struck an underground electrical line. The over current caused arcing and flashing on the overhead line.

    Reply
  36. Tomi Engdahl says:

    A tale about loose cables and power lines
    https://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/living-analog/4461700/A-tale-about-loose-cables-and-power-lines

    Although I had disconnected the amplifier, I had not reckoned with an overhead power line that was maybe 20 feet above the roof. That power line was coupling enough energy into the disconnected zip cord to nail me when I came into inadvertent contact.

    Fast forward 57 years and now I’m a grandpa. I have been noticing in this neighborhood that at many locations, there are dangling lengths of utility cables being left unconnected, draping to passerby level with exposed copper. Many of them look like coaxial cable, but not all of them do.

    With all that exposed and accessible copper, in proximity to overhead power lines and recalling my past experience with the zip cord, I fear for the shock hazards that these derelict cables present to passersby. The possibilities for accidental physical injury are alarming.

    Reply
  37. Tomi Engdahl says:

    The Presto Hotdogger
    http://blog.kevmo314.com/presto-hotdogger.html

    Tired of cooking your hot dogs the plain old boring way? Fear not! You can electrocute them! The most interesting thing about that article though, at least to me, was the multiple mentions of the Presto Hotdogger.

    Fast forward to 1960, Presto develops the Presto Hotdogger, which basically takes electricity directly from your wall outlet, and pumps it into a hot dog! The appliance itself can cook up to six hot dog simultaneously, and actually does not have a power switch. Instead, to turn it off, you just unplug it. On the bright side, it cooks your hot dogs in 60 seconds, and it does indeed cook them quite well. Do they taste good? Well, that’s a different question. Over the next ten years, these Hotdoggers continue selling, but at some point, Presto stops producing them.

    I’d guess that it had something to do with the introduction of the consumer countertop microwave oven, which was introduced in 1967.

    Of course, there could be a variety of other reasons the Hotdogger stopped selling and no future iterations were produced, but the microwave seems to be a much more versatile option to cooking food

    It uses the hot dog as a resistor between the two electrodes, so it’s effectively heating the water inside the hot dog. Similarly, a microwave does the same thing. But even though a microwave produces the same product, there’s something cool about electricuting hot dogs that I can’t quite pinpoint.

    Turbo charging a 120V Presto hot dogger on 250V.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2ZZbuOeNmw

    These things work by applying full mains voltage directly to the hot dogs via the spikes in their ends so the current will be much higher with a higher voltage.
    It cooks them very efficiently, with just a little bit of arcing and burning at the ends.

    Reply
  38. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Fake Fuses and Flex
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InpT_QMXaZ8

    20 amp BS1362 fuses that should not exist, and an example of some grossly undersized fake 0.75mm² 2 core flex.

    Reply
  39. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Can I let go of 10mA mains (240V 50Hz) current? (Do NOT try this!)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5R-KBa18ME

    Possibly one of the scariest electrical safety videos I’ve made. It’s commonly believed that the point at which you can’t let go of live metalwork is around 10mA of AC current, although the exact value will depend on the cross sectional area of your limbs. Smaller people will be affected at lower currents.
    I decided to test this in a controlled manner by giving myself a series of progressively stronger electric shocks from 240V AC at 50Hz via good quality cascaded current limiting resistors.

    DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS YOURSELF. It carries a huge risk of death if you make a mistake or if you have a high susceptibility to electric shock. This demonstration was carried out in a controlled environment with significant knowledge of the variables involved.

    Reply
  40. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Can I replace my 15 amp breaker with a 20 amp?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqcJFfWYiAI

    Can I replace my 15 amp breaker with a 20 amp? My breaker keeps tripping and I need to replace it with a bigger breaker. Many people will replace a breaker or fuse with a larger one, particularly in older homes.

    He spends the whole video saying “no” you can’t.

    Reply
  41. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Näin sähkökeskus lämpökuvataan
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pQ-zs48o-A

    Sähköön liittyvät tulipalot ovat yrityksen merkittävin vahinkoriski. Infrapunakameralla tehtävän lämpökuvauksen avulla on mahdollista huomata poikkeamat sähkökeskusten ja sähkölaitteiden lämpötiloissa, ja näin voidaan estää tulipalojen syttyminen. Nyt myös If tekee kuvauksia. Katso, kuinka sähkökeskus lämpökuvataan.

    Reply

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