Everyone likes to do carpentry, gardening, painting and even plumbing. But when is comes to electrical wiring, most people are afraid to work on it because of fear, fear of electrical shock even if it increase the home’s equity and gives people the satisfaction from the beautiful work you completed.
Electrical safety is without question, the most important aspect of any electrical work. And just like anything we do in life, fear comes from ‘not knowing’. Imagine what you could accomplish if you could perform home wiring safely and confidently. Imagine saving thousands of dollars over the years, if you could do-it-yourself!
It is very important to have a common sense approach and it requires your total, undivided attention. It is very important not to be in a hurry and always leave enough time. Make sure you have a detail plan before the project started and you have allow plenty of time to finish the project. Or at least when you have to leave and come back later, always find a appropriate stopping point and you can live without the circuit being off for some time.
Anything can conduct electricity if the conditions are right even with an insulator (A conductor allows the flow of electrons, and an insulator resists the flow of electrons). When you turn off the power to a breaker, tape the breaker off. A contractor is required to lock it off by OSHA rules and tag it out. The contractor needs to put red tags and devices to lock the breaker to prevent it from being turned on. (If you have your panel cover off, remember that even when you turn breakers off, there are still energized components in the panel itself!).
In your home, at minimum put tape over the breaker, then close your service panel cover, and put a piece of masking tape across the cover, or a sign that says, “Do Not Open,” or “Danger”, or something similar, so anybody who approaches that panel will immediately know what’s going on. Furthermore, inform your family members that you are doing electrical work so that others are completely aware that you are working on the electrical system.
If you are working with fuse panels instead of breaker panels; when you remove a fuse, use only one hand to remove it. Put your other hand either in your pocket or behind your back; it’s a good practice to develop anyway. What that does is keeps you from grabbing a circuit with two hands and providing a path for the electricity to flow through your heart. Now, electricity can still flow through one hand and one foot and pass through your heart, but if you’ve taken the other precautions I mentioned above, you will minimize your exposure to that hazard.
Another very important aspect of safety is tool use. It is always a good practice to purchase quality hand tools like lineman pliers, screwdrivers, wire strippers and other hand tools that you will need for your electrical work. For instance, Good wire strippers will prevent you from nicking the wires. Quality screwdrivers will prevent slipping out of screw heads or rounding out, also look for ones that comes with led light build it, in case you are working in a dark area. Good tools will improve the quality of your work, but will also improve your confidence as well. So spend a little bit more to get quality tools, not to mention they will last longer and save you money on the long run.
In conclusion; when talking about electrical safety we are talking about good common sense and using good tools. Also taking personal responsibility for your own safety and everyone in the house.
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