Health & safety bulletin
Exposed Electrical Components
15th February 2008
The photos below show the situation that BP's electrical maintenance contractor found on a service station in Birmingham this week when they attended due to a reported electrical fault on the MID.
The panels had been removed by impact damage and an Xmo Strata
crew attended in November to survey the damage.
The sign engineer reported that these panels could not be re-fixed to the sign, and that he had left them in a locked area behind the store, as he had not enough space on the van to take them away with him.
At the time of the survey the electrics had been turned off by the site staff, so the engineer removed the tubes and taped a bag over the sign to attempt to protect it from the elements.
BP's electrical maintenance contractor has now correctly disconnected and isolated the power.
Under no circumstances should a sign be left with exposed
electrical cables and components. A plastic bag taped around the MID is clearly
inadequate and not fit for purpose, especially when looking at the exposed
nature of this MID - the wind probably destroyed the bag within hours.
The circuit was not locked or otherwise isolated to prevent it being re-energized, this again is unacceptable. Where there is any risk of water ingress into or onto electrical components, or any risk of people coming into contact with components, then the circuit should be switched off and locked off. Consider the worst thing that could happen - maybe a child could put his hand in and touch a live component? If there is any doubt, contact your supervisor or an Xmo Veritas electrician. In the photos it can be clearly seen that there are exposed cables in a public area where children could easily reach them.
If you come across any site that has missing panels exposing electrical equipment, report it to the office immediately as a near miss. That way we can be sure to address the issue and could potentially save somebody's life.
Locking the switch at the board, so that the power cannot be switched on again, is sufficient and a sign fitter can do this. If you are in any doubt that this will remain as a solution, please report it to the office and we will send an electrician to disconnect the neutral.