Hazard Knowledge

Fire and rescue service personnel are at risk of coming into contact with electrical equipment and components at operational incidents, which can result in electrocution. Contact with electricity can cause serious physical injury or prove fatal.

Electrocution can occur in a number of ways:

Direct contact	Direct contact with live electricity is potentially lethal. This can be from direct or alternating current, as well as static discharge from domestic or industrial supplies.
Arcing	Electricity can 'jump' through air, smoke or a column of water. The higher the voltage the more likely, and the further, the electricity may 'jump'. Arcing can also generate intense heat and ignite flammable substances in the vicinity.
Flash down (flashover)	High-voltage electricity has the potential to cause death or serious injury to a person in the vicinity through 'flash down'. This is also referred to as 'flashover' in the electricity industry. The flash down hazard particularly applies to higher voltage overhead power lines. However, as it is often not possible to identify the voltage carried by a conductor, all high-voltage overhead lines should be assumed to be capable of creating this flash down situation. Flash down may also occur due to carbon tracking, fire or a column of water from a monitor or jet.
Carbon tracking	Thick smoke with a high carbon content may be generated by fires including rubber tyres or plastics or by wildfires. High-voltage electricity can find a path to earth through this type of thick smoke.
Re-energising circuits and equipment	Substations generally have automatic switches, which are programmed to attempt to re-energise circuits that have been broken. Some re-energising may also be caused by human error. Therefore, it should not be assumed that a circuit is isolated.
Residual charge	Certain high current equipment, including transmission overhead lines, high-voltage equipment and photovoltaic cells, are not made safe by merely switching off the supply. They may still carry a significant residual charge that is sufficient to cause a fatal injury. This residual charge may remain until the equipment is made safe, usually by the electricity company.
Electrical feedback	Electrical feedback is a relatively new phenomenon that can occur when electricity supplies in the road or on an industrial estate, are thought to have been made safe and have been disconnected by the electricity supplier. However, domestic and commercial premises producing their own electricity can feed it back into the national grid, thereby re-energising the dead cable.

Refer to the supplementary information for:

• Electricity basics
• Domestic power supply
• Electricity generation in the UK
• High-voltage networks (national grid)
• Sealing end compounds
• Substations
• The difference between a single-phase and a three-phase power system
• Three-phase high-voltage systems
• Three-phase low-voltage systems
• Transmission towers (pylons) and wooden poles

National grid

Power stations produce electricity at 25kV. Electricity is sent through the national grid network at 400kV, 275kV and 132kV.

Step-up transformers are used at power stations to produce the very high voltage needed to transmit electricity through the national grid power lines. These high voltages are too dangerous for use in homes and businesses and therefore step-down transformers are used locally to reduce the voltages to a safe level, resulting in the following supplies:

Large industrial consumers - 33kV

Rail network - 25kV to 33kV

Small industrial consumers - 415V to 11kV

Residential and small commercial - 240V

Overhead power lines and transmission towers

Overhead lines carry various voltages and are usually uninsulated.

Low-voltage (up to 1000V) lines are suspended by wooden poles and arranged into either:

• Vertical arrays of up to six lines (with the lowest cable being the neutral)
• Single lines with live and neutral cores (known as concentric cables)

Some high-voltage (greater than 1000V) lines may also be suspended by wooden poles. These can be identified as they are:

• Usually in either a horizontal array of two or three lines, or in a six cable array with three lines on each side of the pole
• Separated from the wooden pole by circular insulators

Transmission towers (often referred to as pylons) have an array of three cables (or sets of cables) to each side of the tower. Each side of the transmission tower represents three phases of electricity; however, each side of the transmission tower may have a different origin and may be operated by a different distribution network operator (DNO).

Overhead lines are normally uninsulated; if an object gets too close, it is possible that electricity will jump over a distance to reach earth via the object.

It should be assumed that an overhead power line can be fatal. Equipment, appliances and personnel should be kept away from the power lines at all times. Undulating surfaces cause the distance between overhead power lines and the ground to vary; this can result in personnel inadvertently coming too close to lines.

High-pressure jets coming into contact with an overhead line with horizontal conductors may cause them to clash together, resulting in arcing. This could lead to conductor breakage, resulting in live conductors falling to the ground. Water can also cause heated porcelain insulators to shatter, creating needlestick or projectile hazards.

High-pressure jets contacting overhead conductors may also result in earth leakage through the water stream to ground. This may cause the branch to become live, with potentially fatal consequences.

Health and Safety Executive – electrical definitions

It is important that fire and rescue service personnel understand electrical terminology when discussing isolation of electricity supplies with electricity distributors or any attending electrical engineers. Failing to understand this terminology may increase the risks encountered.

The definitions in the table below provide the explanation for words and terms used in this guidance. Note that these terms are definitions from the Electricity at Work Regulations (1989):

Charged	Means that the item has acquired a charge either because it is live or because it has become charged by other means such as by static or induction charging, or has retained or regained a charge due to capacitance effects even though it may be disconnected from the rest of the system.
Dead	Not electrically 'live' or 'charged'
Designated competent person (also known in some industries as 'authorised person' or 'senior authorised person')	A competent person appointed by the employer, preferably in writing, to undertake certain specific responsibilities and duties, which may include issuing and receiving safety documents such as permits-to-work. The person must be competent by way of training, qualifications and/or experience and knowledge of the system to be worked on. Note: On a nuclear site, the designated competent person would be referred to as the 'duly authorised person'.
Disconnected	Equipment (or a part of an electrical system) that is not connected to any source of electrical energy
Electrical equipment	Includes anything used, intended to be used or installed for use, to generate, provide, transmit, transform, rectify, convert, conduct, distribute, control, store, measure or use electrical energy
High voltage	Voltages greater than 1000V AC or 1500V DC. Voltages below these values are low voltage.
Isolated	Equipment (or part of an electrical system) that is disconnected and separated by a safe distance (the isolating gap) from all sources of electrical energy in such a way that the disconnection is secure, so that it cannot be re-energised accidentally or inadvertently
Live	Equipment that is at a voltage by being connected to a source of electricity. Live parts that are insulated and exposed so they can be touched either directly or indirectly by a conducting object are hazardous if the voltage exceeds 50V AC or 120V DC in dry conditions.
Live work	Work on or near conductors that are accessible and live or charged. Live work includes live testing, such as using a test instrument to measure voltage on a live power distribution or control system.
Low voltage	Voltages up to 1000V AC or 1500V DC. Voltages above these values are high voltage.

Note: on a nuclear site, the designated competent person would be referred to as the duly authorised person.

The Energy Networks Association has produced Safety Information for the Fire Service. This contains information on emergency situations involving electricity, along with important contact numbers for electricity companies. It contains a rescue flow chart that may assist with risk assessments.

Buildings under construction and demolition

Personnel attending fires in buildings under construction or demolition may be presented with electrical hazards that differ depending on the type of construction or demolition site, such as:

• Electrical systems that have been partially or completely isolated
• Temporary electrical supplies
• Portable generators
• Uninterrupted power supplies (UPS), which could range from small units to large rooms containing lead acid batteries

 

 

Dangerous wiring 

This hazard may exist where the wiring has: 

• Been damaged 
• Been carried out incorrectly 
• Deteriorated with age 

If power cables are damaged or inappropriately repaired and they come into contact with unprotected steel framing, scaffolding, water run-off or equipment, personnel may be at risk of electrocution. 

Performing rescues of casualties 

If there is a casualty who is affected by electricity at ground level, it may be necessary to consider performing a rescue. 

However, working within the 5m exclusion zone for high-voltage electricity presents a significant risk of electrocution to personnel.