Workplace hazards exist in every industry, but more so for industrial, marine, offshore, oil and gas, and petrochemical industries. The severe environments of their locations — the outdoors, in the middle of the ocean, and rugged landscapes with extreme temperatures and high pressures — make these sites prone to electrical hazards, among other things.
Strict rules and regulated safety standards must be enforced to ensure the safety of all workers and to avoid disastrous incidents that can result in massive losses for the company. As such, high-quality standards must be observed on-site, from the screening of materials procured for everyday use to the implementation of work-safety best practices.
Preventive Measures Against Electrical Hazards
Workplace accidents may sometimes be beyond our control, but we can influence the odds in our workers’ favour. Preventive measures, like the ones below, will protect your workers and company from electrical hazards.
- Purchase industrial-grade, heavy-duty insulated wire – Cables for electric power transmission in industrial sites must be capable of carrying the high voltages needed on-site. Moreover, they should be of superior quality and unquestionable durability. Rubber insulated H07RN-F cables are an excellent example. They have a temperature rating of -30oC to 60oC for fixed installations and can endure as low as -15oC when flexed and as high as 85oC in fixed protected venues.
- Conduct regular cable inspections – Electrical wiring systems in industrial sites are vulnerable to high and low temperatures, moisture, and rapid wear and tear. Cracks and tears in the rubber insulated power cables can expose the copper wiring, inviting electrical mishaps when they get in contact with conductors. Inspectors must anticipate the rate of wear and tear and locate and replace frayed wires immediately.
- Perform routine inspection of all equipment, especially before use – All workers should receive training on equipment inspections. Work safety, after all, is not the sole responsibility of safety officers or the management. It has to be second nature for everyone who works in high-risk environments to observe, inspect, and follow protocols for reporting and mitigating potential high-risk situations.
- Strictly implement the following electrical safety best practices:
- Install protective shields or barriers over exposed electrical conductors.
- Install circuit breakers or fusers on multi-plug adapters.
- Explore technologies that can monitor electrical systems to supplement manual inspections.
- Keep electrical equipment away from liquid hazards (e.g., drinking water dispenser, doorways that catch sea spray).
- Immediately decommission or take out for further inspection any piece of equipment whose inspection results exceed safety thresholds.
- Remove roadblocks to a swift and efficient communication system so that safety advisories will immediately reach all workers on the floor or on-site.
It may be impossible to remove 100% of electrical hazards in an industrial site, but you can manage them and keep the risks to a minimum.
You can begin by purchasing high-quality electrical cable supplies from a reliable supplier. Cable Source is a trusted industrial and marine cable supplier. Though based in Singapore, we ship supplies to customers throughout the Asia Pacific. Contact us to inquire about availability and pricing.
