Electrician error kills plumber

[chapeau]

Voltage seems to have nothing to do with it, the electrocution rates inc (industrial) are considerably higher in the US than they are in Europe.

Really - I would suggest very strongly the Voltage has an awful lot to do with it.

stats suggest not.

The stats are very misleading in the UK.

More deaths in the US could be due to poorer H&S procedures in the workplace. They tend to have far more overhead supply wires than you find in the UK. The standard of electrical installation in the home is poorer.

But all other things being equal, the lower the voltage the lower the risk.

 

[EddieM]

Voltage seems to have nothing to do with it, the electrocution rates inc (industrial) are considerably higher in the US than they are in Europe.

Really - I would suggest very strongly the Voltage has an awful lot to do with it.

stats suggest not.

The stats are very misleading in the UK.

More deaths in the US could be due to poorer H&S procedures in the workplace. They tend to have far more overhead supply wires than you find in the UK. The standard of electrical installation in the home is poorer.

But all other things being equal, the lower the voltage the lower the risk.

So? more deaths per capita in the US than Europe. anything over 90v is potentially lethal, your point is?

And yes the electrical supply in the states is truly laughably bad !!

 

[joe-90]

It's the current that kills you.

 

[chapeau]

... your point is?

I thought I already made it

 

[Hysteresis]

It's the current that kills you.

That is absolutely true, but current requires a voltage to drive it.

Ohms Law I=V/R.

No Voltage - No Current - No Deaths, but not an acceptable situation in todays environment so we get into the area of Acceptable Risk, what is acceptable to one is unacceptable to another, makes for disagreement and argument..

There seems to have developed an awful lot of pointless argument here, maybe for arguments sake, but it is without doubt and indisputable that the higher the voltage the greater the risk.

If you question that statement then it is time to terminate this thread.

 

[pred]

I was told that at the turn of the century a young girl had been electrocuted when she switched on her washing machine the kitchen fitters had just fitted, her father was an M.P. within a matter of weeks a bill was rushed through that any non qualified person playing with electrics would be fined £5,000, I think this should be more widely policed and more people fined.

 

[pred]

Why did we follow "The Meister Race" down the road of colour identification? brown live???? RED! DANGER! LIVE!

If we still had the original red & black would this accident have happened??

 

[chainsaw_masochist]

I was told that at the turn of the century a young girl had been electrocuted when she switched on her washing machine the kitchen fitters had just fitted, her father was an M.P. within a matter of weeks a bill was rushed through that any non qualified person playing with electrics would be fined £5,000, I think this should be more widely policed and more people fined.

Coincidentally some also ask whether Part P was introduced following the death of MP’s Daughter in 2004?

 

[EddieM]

It's the current that kills you.

You need the volts to pass the resistance of your body to "administer" the amps. You can pick a car battery up quite safely by its terminals. Similarly, you can receive a 1,000,000 volt static shock to no ill effect.

The UK's wring systems is generally regarded as the safest in the world, unlike the US, which is utterly backwards.

 

[peterperfection]

It's the current that kills you.

You need the volts to pass the resistance of your body to "administer" the amps. You can pick a car battery up quite safely by its terminals. Similarly, you can receive a 1,000,000 volt static shock to no ill effect.

The UK's wring systems is generally regarded as the safest in the world, unlike the US, which is utterly backwards.

Very True.
In USA even the light switches work other way round - 'UP is ON and Down is 'OFF'.
Edit due to me getting it the wrong way round

 

[Dave54]

Why did we follow "The Meister Race" down the road of colour identification? brown live???? RED! DANGER! LIVE!

If we still had the original red & black would this accident have happened??

I'm fairly sure that this is a historical thing. Most supplies in this country pre WWII were DC. 240V + and - with the black as ground. Domestic supplies were either the positive or negative line with the black at earth potential giving 240V. I think the red and black "live and neutral" were just inherited from that system.

As far as the voltage thing is concerned, it's not a good idea to think that any voltage above a few volts is "safe" IMO. I think the lowest voltage recorded electrocution. (From a long ago lecture) was something like 40V. This was someone who had got into an industrial electrolytic bath barefoot and touched the busbars. An unlikely situation maybe, but it goes to show that bathrooms and wetrooms could still be dangerous if there was an uncleared fault condition with a centre tapped 110V supply. In my opinion, and with all due respect to others, the "safety" of an electrical system lies in it's proper design, installation and testing.
Any form of energy carries some risks in it's use.

 

[Whitespirit66]

There seems to have developed an awful lot of pointless argument here, maybe for arguments sake,

You're relatively new to to this forum, aren't you?

 

[Hysteresis]

There seems to have developed an awful lot of pointless argument here, maybe for arguments sake,

You're relatively new to to this forum, aren't you?

If 5 years is new - then Yes!!!!

 

[peterperfection]

There seems to have developed an awful lot of pointless argument here, maybe for arguments sake,

You're relatively new to to this forum, aren't you?

I'm sure 'H' will soon get the hang of it

 

[peterperfection]

There seems to have developed an awful lot of pointless argument here, maybe for arguments sake,

You're relatively new to to this forum, aren't you?

If 5 years is new - then Yes!!!!

''Touch'e''