An electrician is your first and foremost friend whenever the electrical circuit or wiring of your house is showing problems and needs immediate repair. A local electrician is contacted immediately during an electrical emergency, short circuit, sparks or lightning flashes from the meter box, emerging burning smell from the electrical wires etc. Since a local electrician takes care of all these aspects, he himself should follow safety measures and protocols in order to avoid and prevent accidents.
Some occupational hazards which are faced by a local electrician and the corresponding safety measures are discussed below:
- Electricians are exposed to accidental injuries during any kind of short-circuit or repairing of faulty wiring.
- They can receive minor and major shock due to direct physical contact with an energized circuit or due to voltage fluctuations caused due to a faulty wiring system
- Their eyes and skin are prone to burns and injuries owing to the accidental exposure of massive heat, light and electricity coming from a faulty source
- Sometimes they may even experience a flash with a blast.
Safety Measures
For all these reasons, electricians must be well-trained and experienced to avoid such accidents.
- Lockout and tug out processes are used to ensure that the electrical circuits are de-energized before starting the work.
- They should wear flash-resistant clothing and shoes to avoid accidents due to flash exposure.
- Earthing is very important while dealing with an electrical circuit. Grounding clamps and chains online conductors, thus, ensures that a conducting source is perfectly de-energized.
- Various kinds of gloves, boots, hats, and other personal protective equipment are available. This possesses insulating rubber liners and non-conductors of electricity, which ensures safe handling of electrical equipment by a local electrician and prevents them from shock.
- In case a system cannot be de-energized at all, insulated tools can be used
- High-voltage transmission lines can also be replaced and repaired while energized.
Working Conditions of A Local Electrician
The working condition of local electricians varies depending on their specialization. An electrician needs to be physically fit in order to accomplish his work which includes climbing up ladders, lifting heavy tools and machinery etc. They may sometimes be needed to work on a scaffolding and may also need to shift quickly to different postures like bending, squatting, kneeling, stretching to reach out to difficult locations. They may also need to spend a lot of their time under strong sunlight in the daytime and even go to work locations are not clean and are damp and dirty. Local electricians who mostly take care of household electricity, generally do not need to work in adverse situations. But industrial electricians may have to endure the heat, light and severe sound of the industrial power plants.
Reciprocity
An electrician’s license is valid in the state where his license was issued. But other states of the same country recognize the license given by some other states, which is referred to as interstate reciprocity participation. Some instances are mentioned below:
- The electrician’s license in Arizona, Nevada, Utah etc. is recognized in California.
- Similarly, licenses in Arizona, California, and Utah are recognized by that in Nevada.
- The licenses of Hampshire and Vermont at the master level are recognized by Maine.
- The licenses at New Hampshire, North Dakota, Idaho, Vermont, Wyoming at the journey level are recognized by Maine etc.
Thus, local electricians need to follow safety protocols thoroughly to prevent unnecessary accidents that can harm them and the house owners where they work. If they maintain the safety rules, things can shape up well.
