Codebreakers #60

Need help with cracking those EICR codes? The technical team at NAPIT, with the help of the 18th Edition Codebreakers publication, answer your latest coding queries. Click on the photos for a closer look!

LYNN: I WOULD CLASS THIS AS AN ‘INTERESTING’, IF NOT SHOCKING, INSTALLATION! THIS WAS INSTALLED IN MY DAUGHTER’S HOUSE BY A ‘SO-CALLED’ ELECTRICIAN. CAN YOU SEE WHAT’S WRONG?

One of the biggest issues we face in our industry is either a lack of competence or a lack of correct competence. We can all be competent in one aspect of work but lack training or competence in another area.

It’s vital that you ensure that you and your employees are competent to carry out the work you undertake as a business. It’s easy to accept work, but underestimating the competence required to fit the equipment required can prove very dangerous. Likewise, if you accept work and assume your employees have the same competence as you, or if you think they do, you are asking for trouble without making sure.

The three-phase fused switched isolator is, or should be, a pretty simple and straightforward item to install. That said, if you are unfamiliar with it or similar equipment, it can be a daunting task and will lead to serious problems when installed incorrectly. If installed correctly, when the isolator is turned off, the line conductors are separated from the fuse holding assembly so that they can be replaced, removed or checked for routine maintenance.

The installation in the photo shows both the supply and load conductors connected directly to the fuse-holding assembly and the neutral link bar. This has two effects: firstly, the switch isn’t operating anything, as the switch section is at the rear, which is where the supply and/or load conductors should be connected, so in this configuration, the fuse assembly is constantly live regardless of the switch’s position.

This leads to the second issue: there is access to live parts when we expect them to be isolated, which means the upstream device will need to be isolated to allow work to be carried out. Taking the need to check for dead each time we touch any conductors, it would only take a moment’s distraction to forget, and the consequences could be fatal.

When coding this, even though it’s secure and only accessible by a competent person, it has a real potential for danger if you think you’ve isolated it, but it isn’t. These devices come with installation instructions, which would have pointed out the correct way to install, and these clearly haven’t been followed.