Free advice for young electricians

[Tradie]

The 6 most important tips for every electrician:

1/ Always use insulated tools, especially screwdrivers with a sleeve, it might save your life one day. I know we are suppose to isolate, test and test and test again, but trust me you going get caught at some point, they dont make 1000V insulated tools for electricians to work on isolated installations. They are there to protect you at ALL times.

2/ Make sure you understand the type of supply. Our supply being a 5 wire, 400/230 VAC bonded at the start point of the transformer. (no earth spike and no permanent bond)

3/ Make sure you understand the earthing arrangement. Our earthing arrangement is a TN-S, which means that our earth and neutral is separated and only connected at the star point of the supply transformer, which means that all our inverter installations must have a neutral earth bond relay built into the inverter or a sperate neitral/earth bond must be installed before as close as practically possible to the inverter load output.

4/ Make sure you understand the classification of the equipment you are installing. This classification applies to everything, not just inverters, light fittings, extractor fans and appliances.

5/ If it has a danger sign, looks or smells like it can catch on fire or explode, get someone to identify if the area requires a classification.

6/ Make sure your have the correct qualification to work on the electrical installation, if the glands look long and expensive, the panel has many bolts securing the lid and it is heavy, best you make sure it not a hazardous location, if you are not an MIE.

Get these 6 things right and you should be ok.

[Tradie]

If there is a fire, switch off, dont try disconnect the circuit, because you dont want to switch off and might inconvenience some people. That explosion almost cost me my eye sight.

If someone tells you that the power is off, no matter how qualified, skilled, experienced, test the wires and make sure it is not connected to a control system or backup system. That thermostat could drop below the set point and switch on the power. the delay timer could be counting down. The water level could be dropping, there so many things that could go wrong, use the 1000 V insulated tools and always treat everything as if it is live.

When someone tells you to do something because they are responsible for your safety while on site, listen, I warned a person 3 times and they all laughed, I got the call that I was expecting and yes he fell and lost the use of both his hands.

If your gut is telling you to walk away, get up and walk away, as recently as the 10th of last month, I was working on a site and got that gut feel that I need to move, Left and went to another site, 4 hours later I returned the site and tree about 20 m tall had fallen down in the same location where we had been working and my vehicle would have been crushed.

If you are tired and dont feel right while working especially with dangerous tools and equipment or at height, just step away and take a break.

Safety inductions courses are not designed to make your life difficult, they are real life experiences that have happened, resulting in lessons learnt learnt.

Probably the most important tip, stay away from impatient people, they are extremely dangerous.

Working in the construction industry, you will see some of the most horrific accidents, people get burnt, fall from height, loose body parts and die, it is not a game.

Safety regulations are there to keep you safe.

I have never ever made someone do something I that I have not done myself, dig a hole, climbing a 30 light mast and change lamps hanging on a safety harness, where the pole is swaying 1.5 m side to side, crawling into confined spaces, slide along overhead power line with 2 steppies lads changing droppers on the 3.3 kv train lines, climb into a machine to work (it doesnt sound that crazy, but if you seen people get sucked into the machine) etc etc.

[Tradie]

The most common accidents I have witnessed on construction sites:

1/ Ladder not being supported at the base, which results in the ladder sliding out from under the person.

2/ Accidents caused by people who had removed safety guards from machines.

3/ Wearing gloves, while working with rotating machines, beware of the drill press, I almost lost my fingers when the bit hooked the glove, fortunately for me, my E Stop button is at the top of the drill press, A quick headbutt switched it off, if that Estop wasn't in that location I could have lost my fingers. I have seen some hectic accidents with drill presses.

4/ Welding, While working in a Pharmaceutical plant in Cape Town, the lad working with me thought he was tough while welding stainless steel, Later that night I had to take him to hospital.

[Justloadit]

Standing pose is also important when working with rotating machines, know your centre of gravity, never lean against the work as you may slip into the cutting blades.

[Tradie]

Things they don't teach you at training school, you quickly learn

Standing pose is also important when working with rotating machines, know your centre of gravity, never lean against the work as you may slip into the cutting blades.