Last edit: 03/03/2023
The severity of injury from electrical shock depends on the amount of electrical current and the length of time the current passes through the body.
For example, 1/10 of an ampere (amp) of electricity going through the body for just 2 seconds is enough to cause death.
The amount of internal current a person can withstand and still be able to control the muscles of the arm and hand can be less Than 10 milliamperes (milliamps or mA). Currents above 10 mA can paralyze or “freeze” muscles.
Currents greater than 75 mA cause ventricular fibrillation (very rapid, ineffective heartbeat).
This condition will cause death within a few minutes unless a special device called a defibrillator is used to save the victim.
Heart paralysis occurs at 4 amps, which means the heart does not pump at all. Tissue is burned with currents greater than 5 amps.
Whenever you work with power tools or on electrical circuits, there is a risk of electrical hazards, especially electrical shock.
Anyone can be exposed to these hazards at home or at work.
Workers are exposed to more hazards because job sites can be cluttered with tools and materials, fast-paced, and open to the weather.
Risk is also higher at work because many jobs involve electric power tools.
According to a Statistics Census in the USA of Fatal Occupational Injuries Research File for 1992–2005, electrocution is the fifth leading cause of work-related deaths for 16- to 19-year-olds, after motor vehicle deaths, contact with objects and equipment, workplace homicide, and falls. Electrocution is the cause of 7% of all workplace deaths among young workers
aged 16–19, causing an average of 10 deaths per year.
We do risk Analysis related to the Electrical Risk focusing on the real aspects that infuence such a risk and minimising the paper work that becomes sometime a burden for the company who commissioned the work.