Exposed electrical supply in burnt out lamp post

Our “fault of the week” posts are published to show the sort of dangerous electrical faults that our Veriserv engineers are finding every day of the week whilst carrying out routine electrical inspection & testing at our customer’s premises. Exposed electrical supply and burnt out wiring & control gear was found within this lamp post.

We hope that in posting examples we will raise more awareness and hopefully this will lead to fewer electric shocks and electrical fires

In this example the dark nights just got darker for this public entertainments area in the Black Country. Exposed electrical supply and burnt out wiring & control gear was found within this lamp post during the planned electrical inspection by Veriserv. On closer inspection though, there was considerable damage within the lamp post as the incoming supply cable was still found to be live. Immediate action is called for when a defect like this is identified, particularly so when the equipment is situated in a publicly accessible area.

In this instance the Veriserv engineer isolated the lamp post at the supply origin, notified the site contact and investigated other lamp posts to identify if the defect has occurred elsewhere.

It’s a legal requirement for any property owner to provide a safe place for persons within a public accessible area. To satisfy this requirement suitable and proper inspection and maintenance must be carried out at regular intervals. Veriserv are specialists in the areas of Electrical Inspection & Testing and Fire Alarm Testing & Maintenance.

Electric shocks are generally more dangerous as the voltage increases however in the UK all mains voltages supplying your home or company premises are sufficient to kill or inflict a serious injury.An electric shock can cause;

    • the heart to stop or beating properly
    • the person to stop breathing properly
    • muscle spasms
    • electrical burns
    • an electrical fire

More information can be found by visiting the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) website.

There are electrical standards and approved codes of practice, the details of which can again be found on the HSE website.

 

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