HSE Guidance

Electricity can kill. Each year about 1000 accidents at work involving electric shock or burns are reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Around 30 of these are fatal. Most of these fatalities arise from contact with overhead or underground power cables.

Even non-fatal shocks can cause severe and permanent injury. Shocks from faulty equipment may lead to falls from ladders, scaffolds or other work platforms. Those using electricity may not be the only ones at risk: poor electrical installations and faulty electrical appliances can lead to fires which may also cause death or injury to others. Most of these accidents can be avoided by careful planning and straightforward precautions.

This leaflet outlines basic measures to help you control the risks from your use of electricity at work.

What are the Hazards?

The main hazards are:

• contact with live parts causing shock and burns (normal mains voltage, 230 volts AC, can kill);
• faults which could cause fires;
• fire or explosion where electricity could be the source of ignition in a potentially flammable or explosive atmosphere, eg in a spray paint booth.

Assessing The Risk

Hazard means anything which can cause harm.

Risk is the chance, great or small, that someone will actually be harmed by the hazard.

The first stage in controlling risk is to carry out a risk assessment in order to identify what needs to be done. (This is a legal requirement for all risks at work.)

When carrying out a risk assessment:

• identify the hazards;
• decide who might be harmed, and how;
• evaluate the risks arising from the hazards and decide whether existing
• precautions are adequate or more should be taken;
• if you have five or more employees, record any significant findings;
• review your assessment from time to time and revise it if necessary.

The risk of injury from electricity is strongly linked to where and how it is used. The risks are greatest in harsh conditions, for example:

• in wet surroundings – unsuitable equipment can easily become live and can make its surroundings live;
• out of doors – equipment may not only become wet but may be at greater risk of damage;
• in cramped spaces with a lot of earthed metalwork, such as inside a tank or bin – if an electrical fault developed it could be very difficult to avoid a shock.

Some items of equipment can also involve greater risk than others. Extension leads are particularly liable to damage – to their plugs and sockets, to their electrical connections, and to the cable itself. Other flexible leads, particularly those connected to equipment which is moved a great deal, can suffer from similar problems.

More information on carrying out risk assessments is available in other HSE publications.