Electricity, being one of the basic necessities of life, is provided to mankind via various ways. Considering its increased demand, scientists and engineers have come a long way experimenting and discovering new and advanced ways of generating power. However, as much emphasis is given to electric power distribution to buildings, households, industries, etc. protective measures that ensure consistent and safe electric power supply are considerably ignored.
While electric power distribution systems are developed, designed and installed, there is need to have protective arrangements in place to prevent electric hazards, which are fatal many times.
Causes of Electric Menaces
Attached to electricity are some risks, such as short circuits, and buildings/homes catching fire. Many of these perils are the outcomes of insufficiently protected electric installations. Some hazards also arise when an electrical system’s design is unable to carry heavy electrical load. Inadequacy of switchboards, or their poor construction also form two significant sources of electric hazards.
In addition, it is also important to check if portable outlet devices in use are suitable. A damaged and fragile construction cabling can also lead to huge havoc. Moreover, we often don’t realize that electronic and electrical appliances have varying power consumption and ignoring this fact also puts one’s life at stake.
From improper installation to inadequate and inferior switch boards, there are quite many sources that invite dangerous and deadly hazards and one way to avert these risks is to give substantial importance to having a proper defense system.
Safety Measures to Manage Electric Disasters
Are you aware of how many electric devices are used by a household? On average, there are more than fifty electric devices in every house. More the number of electric devices and their usability, higher is the power consumption. The increased dependence on electricity, therefore, has made power generation and supply a major challenge for electric power producers and providers.
However, despite consistent advancements in electric power production methods and distribution systems, every year a large number of electricity related incidents occur worldwide causing one loss of million dollars. Nevertheless, it is possible to avoid this huge monetary loss if following safety measures and arrangements are done in offices, homes and other buildings:
RCCB (Residual Current Circuit Breaker)
What if someday you have direct or indirect contact with damaged and faulty terminal equipment? In that case, RCCBs can safeguard you against dangerous and high voltage currents because these circuit breakers safely and rapidly disconnect the protected circuit from the network when a specific residual current is surpassed. RCCBs are considered protective device because they can detect different types of residual current waveforms and can be combined with other protective devices. Moreover, they are used in all networks ranging up to AC 240/415. One limitation of RCCB Type A is they don’t support modern equipment such as heavy industrial equipment and home appliances like washing machines. These machines and equipment, however, can be supported by RCCB of other type.
Overall, the RCCBs provide high resistance against tripping, ensuring safety at the same time.
ARC Fault Detection Unit (AFD)
While RCCBs are good enough to prevent fires caused by ground fault currents, they can’t be trusted to detect perilous arc faults. In case of these dangerous faults, having AFD becomes very useful and effective in controlling any serious hazard. Actually, it offers several advantages. First it is capable of shutting down the circuit in few seconds, and secondly, its installation is easy and quick.
Residual Current Monitors (RCMs) & Arresters
Large industries and manufacturing units can’t afford even slightest of power shutdown because it affects entire production and various processes. In this situation, RCMs offer a great defense against immediate system shutdown and also indicate faults.
Arresters, on the other hand, are ideal for different hazard zones in buildings and facilitate surge protection as well.
Last, but not the least, it is important to verify who are installing and distributing electric power system in your building. If they are accredited and professionals, lower are the chances of electric hazards since they will provide the best electrical services.
Electricity makes our life easy, but it comes along with certain dangers and if electric power distribution systems are unreliable and there are no protective measures in place, hazards caused by electric devices and wires can lead to some serious consequences in the form of loss of lives and property.