Electricity And The Law

By Author: Alex Web
Total Articles: 1
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Electricity is one of human kind great achievements. It can heat our homes, boil the water in our kettle or provide lighting in dark times of the day.

Electricity is also very dangerous. Many people, mostly in underdeveloped countries, die from the effects of electricity.

However, we can change this by making sure that all of our electrical installations are safe and reliable.

But how can we make sure that this happens? What can we do to ensure safety in electricity?

The answer lies in lows and legislations.

Britain’s Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is one of the firs statutory regulations dealing with this problem. Among many other things, it relates to electricity and is a legislation from which spring a number of other Regulations covering specific areas.

The following Regulations are most closely related to electrical installation work:

- Personnel Protective Equipment at Work Regulations (PPE) - requires employers to provide suitable PPE for their employees.

- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) - requires ...
... employers to control the risks and take precautions regarding hazardous substances

- Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 (EAWR) - This places a responsibility on any person who has control of an electrical system to ensure safety

- Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 (CDM) - This deals with safe systems of work on construction sites

- The Building Regulations - These Regulations relate to all aspects of building construction and are known as Approved Documents or Parts. Part A, Part B, Part E, Part L, Part M and Part P are related to electricity systems within buildings.

Electricity at Work Regulations 1989

The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 was introduced on 1 April 1990. It placed duties on employers to ensure that employees engaged in such work activities on or near electrical equipment implement safe systems of work, have technical knowledge, training or experience to carry out the work safely, and are provided with suitable tools, test equipment and personal protective equipment appropriate to the work they are required to carry out.

The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, are statutory regulations and were set up under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

BS 7671

BS 7671:2008 Requirements for Electrical Installations come in to effect on 1st July 2008.

BS 7671 is commonly known as the 17th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations.

The Regulations apply to the design, erection and verification of electrical installations.

The Regulations in BS 7671 are non-statutory. They may, however, be used in a court of law in evidence to claim compliance with a statutory requirement such as the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.

Both the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 and BS 7671 cover a lot more than mentioned here. In order to find out more about these regulations please visit Sparkyfacts.co.uk.