Electrical Safety

• Every year in India tens of thousands of people are killed or injured from contact with electricity.

• Some of these people are young Children.

• The more you know about how electricity works, the better you can keep yourself, your friends, and your family safe!

Facts About Electric Shock

• Electricity is always trying to get to the ground. Like all good travellers, electricity takes shortcuts whenever it can. If something that conducts electricity gives electricity an easy path to the ground, electricity will take it!

• You can never tell when contact with electricity will be fatal, but you can be sure it will always hurt.
   
• Electric shock can cause muscle spasms, weakness, shallow breathing, rapid pulse, severe burns, unconsciousness, or death.
   
• In a shock incident, the path that electric current takes through the body gets very hot. Burns occur all along that path, including the places on the skin where the current enters and leaves the body.
   
• It's not only giant power lines that can kill or injure you if you contact them. You can also be killed by a shock from an appliance or power cord in your home.

How Electricity Can Hurt You!

• Water is an excellent  conductor. You can become electricity's path to the earth if you are touching water that touches electricity. Electricity would travel through the water and through you to the ground.
   
• This is why it's so important to keep all electrical appliances away from water, and to make sure your hands are dry and you are not standing in water when you touch anything electrical. It's also the reason no one should ever use water on an electrical fire, but should use a multipurpose fire extinguisher instead.
   
• Appliances have protective insulated cords and coverings to keep you from contacting the electricity inside. It's important to use appliances and cords the way they were designed to be used so you don't damage the insulation or contact live electrical parts. If a live wire inside an appliance, toy, or power tool touches the inside of the device and you touch the device, it would be like touching a bare live wire. You cannot tell from the outside if there is a problem inside, so you should always act as if there were danger of shock.

Trees and Power Lines

• Trees near  power lines  are dangerous! When a tree grows close to a power line, it can create shock hazards, power outages, and fires:
   
• If a tree branch falls on a power line, it can cause a power outage. Electricity will go off in any homes or businesses served by the power line until the electric utility (EB) can remove the branch and fix the line.
   
• If a tree branch touches a high-voltage power line, electricity from the line can make the branch so hot it catches fire. From there, the fire can spread to nearby trees, plants, or buildings
   
• Snapped or Downed  power lines  can hurt or kill you, even if they do not spark or hum.
   
• If you see a snapped power line, stay very far away. Do not even get close to anything that is touching the line, like a tree, fence, vehicle, etc.
   
• Circuits do not always turn off when a power line falls into a tree or onto the ground. Even if they are not sparking or humming, fallen lines can kill you if you touch them or the ground nearby. Stay away and call the nearest  EB office.

What to do on Electric Shock!

• If someone has been shocked, there's a chance they may still be in contact with the source of the electricity. Do NOT touch the person or anything he or she is touching. You could become part of electricity's path and be shocked or even killed! Take these steps:

1. Tell an adult to turn off the main power to the house.

2. Call for a Doctor. Tell them it is an electrical accident.

3. When the victim is not in contact with the source of electricity and you're sure there is no danger, tell an adult to give first aid for electrical injury.

4. Don't touch burns, break blisters, or remove burned clothing. Electrical shock may cause burns inside the body, so be sure the person is taken to a doctor.
 

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