Electrical Safety and Health at Work
What you must know
Safety questions test your understanding of isolation and lock-off, proving dead, and safe systems of work. Know the hierarchy of risk control, the purpose of a risk assessment, and the need for permits where appropriate. Understand the dangers of arc flash, stored energy, and working near live parts, and the correct use of personal protective equipment as a last line of defence. Know first-aid basics for electric shock and burns, and the reporting of accidents and dangerous occurrences.
Traps
Examiners test whether you know that switching off is not the same as isolation - you must isolate, lock off, and prove dead. Another trap is treating PPE as the primary control rather than the last resort. Questions may ask who is responsible for safety: the answer is shared between employer and employee, not one party alone.
Worked example
Before working on a circuit, the safe sequence is: identify the supply, isolate, lock off and tag, prove the tester on a known source, test for dead at the point of work, and re-prove the tester. Only then may work begin. If the question describes skipping the prove-dead step, that is the error.
Rule of thumb
Isolate, lock off, prove dead - in that order, every time, and never rely on a switch position alone.