Electrical work in the work place

[fithawk]

Hi. I'm a caretaker with remedial electrical experience at home. I have been asked to replace a socket in my School. My question is can I?

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[EFLImpudence]

Jobwise - If this is part of your duties and in your contract of employment and you are duly insured by your employer, then yes.

Legally - Changing a socket, presumably because it is damaged, is allowed by anyone.

Life - However, if you are asked to do anything more involved I would be very wary, if I were you. If anything goes wrong, it won't be 'their' fault.

 

[crystal ball]

Do you have access to test equipment to test the new socket, and also to test for dead before you start working on it

 

[Taylortwocities]

The use, inspection, maintenance and repair of electrical equipment and installations in schools and colleges is legally required to be managed effectively.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 place a duty on employers to carry out risk assessments, which involves identifying hazards in the workplace, including those electrical.

The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, which apply to all educational establishments, require employers to assess activities taking place on or near electrical systems that may lead to danger and/or personal injury.

These regulations make it clear that the maintenance and repair of electrical equipment must be carried out by competent persons under a planned programme of work . Many local authorities undertake this work for their schools.

It may be reasonable, however, for teaching and non-teaching staff to undertake a primary and routine inspection of electrical equipment prior to use by them or by students. This is to establish that the equipment at least looks to be in good working order, eg examining a plug before connecting it to the power supply.

All staff should be fully trained in the use of any electrical equipment they will be operating.

All educational establishments should have a written policy specifically relating to electricity. It should also detail the visual checks to be conducted by all staff before using any electrical equipment.

I lifted this from a teaching union web site.

Its all a matter of
1. If your local authority allows you to do this work. I would suggest you get writen guidance from the Board of Governors or headteacher.
and
2. That you are competent to do the work. And to test it PROPERLY afterwards.

With respect, I would suggest that carrying out

remedial electrical experience at home

in no way qualifies you to do any electrical works outside your own house.

 

[flameport]

You probably could replace it, but I would suggest you do NOT.

Other than the reasons already listed by EFLImpudence, another problem is that if you do replace it, those in charge of the school will likely then see you as someone who can repair/replace electrical items. You will then be asked to do other electrical things, which can lead to you doing work which you are neither qualified or competent to do so.

Saying no now is easy. Saying no when you have done a dozen minor items won't be so easy.

 

[westie101]

As a school is classed as a workplace this request will come under the Electricity at Work Regulation 1989. Those asking you to do the work (and you) need to confirm that the regulations will be complied with.

 

[JohnW2]

Do you have access to test equipment to test the new socket ....

As a matter of interest, what tests would you feel it necessary to conduct after you had replaced a socket because of, say, superficial impact damage? Are you perhaps implying that you would feel it necessary to test the circuit/wiring to which the socket was connected (something which would never have happened had the socket not suffered traumatic damage)?

Kind Regards, John

 

[elrobbo82]

"As a matter of interest, what tests would you feel it necessary to conduct after you had replaced a socket because of, say, superficial impact damage? Are you perhaps implying that you would feel it necessary to test the circuit/wiring to which the socket was connected (something which would never have happened had the socket not suffered traumatic damage)?"

i would recommend an earth fault loop impedance test when socket was refitted due to the fact that the connections have been remade. you should confirm that the earths are connected and that you confirm correct disconnection times for the protective device. carrying out this test will also confirm that there are no excessively high resistance joints that could cause fire. all electrical work should be carried out by a competent person with reference to the electricity at work regulations 1989.

 

[westie101]

Before it even gets to the testing stage questions about the correct design of fitting should be asked, it's location why it needs replacing etc.

As an ex school governor it was apparent t me at the time that school governing bodies are woefully under trained in these areas and owing to budget constraints often try to find a less costly way of doing jobs!

 

[JohnW2]

i would recommend an earth fault loop impedance test when socket was refitted due to the fact that the connections have been remade. you should confirm that the earths are connected and that you confirm correct disconnection times for the protective device. carrying out this test will also confirm that there are no excessively high resistance joints that could cause fire.

I rather suspected that's what you meant. I should perhaps point out that I was asking the question in a general sense, not specifically to a workplace, but I imagine your answer would probably have been much the same in relation to a domestic installation - is that the case?

As I've sure you will have understood, I asked the question because I was interested to know how far you would feel it necessary to go with testing 'the circuit' just because you had replaced a socket. Given that, as you say, the cables will have been reterminated in the new socket, I suppose it's reasonable to at least check the EFLI but, if one is going to adopt that reasoning, it's difficult to see where one would stop. For example, one could argue that one may have damaged insulation during the work, so that IR testing was required and, if the socket were on a ring final, that the ring continuity needed to be checked. In fact, one would more-or-less end up completely testing the entire circuit.

As a supplementary question (probably more for others than yourself), I suppose the question which was in the back of my mind related to what testing the 'average electrician' (whatever that means!) actually would normally do after simply replacing a broken socket.

Kind Regards, John.

 

[westie101]

Though the loop impedance test should show it I would suggest equally important is a polarity check!

 

[OwainDIYer]

As a supplementary question (probably more for others than yourself), I suppose the question which was in the back of my mind related to what testing the 'average electrician' (whatever that means!) actually would normally do after simply replacing a broken socket.

Kind Regards, John.

The "average electrician" can stand up in court and show his C&G certificates, say that he worked according to his training and took reasonable care and skill following normal industry practice.

A "caretaker" without qualifications will get roasted and the employer will probably be only to happy to shift the blame from them to their employee.

And especially somewhere like a school, I would be asking myself "can I test and certify that this socket I am installing, even if it's a replacement, meets all current regulations?" If not, I'd put a blanking plate over it to make it safe (if the circuit can't be locked off) and call the employer's electrician on duty.

 

[sparkiemike]

As an electrician I would expect to carry out some testing to make sure the accessory is safe to use, otherwise what value do you add that the caretaker could not have done himself.

This issue was covered in issue 172 of NICEIC's Connections magazine.

Replacement of accessories The replacement of an accessory, such as a socket-outlet, ceiling rose or lighting switch, on a like-for-like basis may be regarded as maintenance rather than installation work.

However, NICEIC expects 'Approved Contractors, Conforming Bodies and Domestic Installers undertaking such maintenance work to carry out essential inspection and testing to ensure that the replacement accessory is safe to use before being put into service.
As a minimum, tests to confirm that shock protection has been provided are essential. These essential tests are:
:- a test to establish the earth fault loop impedance [the value of which needs to be,checked against the characteristics of the protective device)
:- polarity, and
:- where an RCD is used for fault protection or addition protection, the correct operation of the RCD.
A record of the replacement of the accessory, including the results of inspection and testing, should be issued for the benefit of both the person ordering the work and the contractor. The Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate is the most appropriate form available from NICEIC for providing such a record. However, other suitable means of recording the information (such as on a Works Order) are not precluded.
NICEIC Area Engineers may wish to sample the records of the replacement of any accessories, in whatever form those records are kept.

 

[JohnW2]

Though the loop impedance test should show it I would suggest equally important is a polarity check!

Quite, that is close to being the most fundamental test of all and, ironically. one that many a DIYer would actually undertake!

From what I recall, one might have to be quite vigilent to notice incorrect polarity when undertaking an EFLI test with some types of meter. I'm pretty sure that in the case of an L/N reverse, at least some Fluke meters 'internally swap' the connections and continue the test, the only indication of the reverse being a little symbol which pops up in the display - but I may be remembering that incorrectly.

Kind Regards, John.

 

[JohnW2]

The "average electrician" can stand up in court and show his C&G certificates, say that he worked according to his training and took reasonable care and skill following normal industry practice.

Indeed. That's why I was interested in knowing what testing such a person would do. Do you feel that any work on any final circuit should be followed by a 'full test' of all characteristics of that circuit?

Kind Regards, John.