First Aid And Accident Prevention

FIRST AID AND ACCIDENT PREVENTION

ccident Prevention No matter how carefully a system is engineered, no matter how carefully employees perform their tasks, and no matter how well trained employees are in the recognition and avoidance of hazards, accidents still happen.

dividual Responsibility The person most responsible for your own personal safety is you. No set of regulations, rules, or procedures can ever replace common sense in the workplace. This statement should not be constructed to mean an employer has no responsibility to the safest practical work environment, nor does it mean that the injured person is at “fault” in a legal sense.

TABLE 5.1 Employee Safety Behavior Determine the nature and extent hazards before starting a job Each employee should be satisfied that conditions are safe before beginning work on any job or any [art of the job

All employees should be thoroughly familiar with and should consistently use the work procedures and the equipment that will be employed in the performance of the job at hand

While working, each employee should consider the effects of each step and do nothing which might endanger themselves or others

Each employee should be thoroughly familiar with emergency procedures

TABLE 5.2 Recommended Safety Credo

“If cannot be done safely, it need not to be done!”

Installation Safety Design

Proper design of electrical system is composed of the parts-selection, installation and calibration.

Selection Electric equipment should be selected and applied conservatively. That is, maximum rating must be well in excess of the quantities in which they companies only manufacture the highest-quality equipment. Equipment is tested per manufacturer’s procedures by independent laboratories such as Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL). Equipment that is rated and labeled by such organizations should be used in electrical systems to help ensure safety. OSHA, NEC, * and NESC requirements should be considered as minimum criteria for safe selection.

Installation Equipment should be installed in a safe and credible manner. Adequate work spaces for safety clearance should be allowed, safety barriers should be provided when necessary, and electrical installations should never be mixed with areas which are used for general public access.

Calibration Equipment always should be properly calibrated. For example, protective devices should be calibrated so that they will operate for the minimum abnormal system condition. Equipment that is improperly calibrated can result in accidents as through the equipment had been improperly selected to begin with.

Electrical Protective Devices Protective maintained equipment is hazardous. For example, circuit breakers can explode violently if not properly maintained. Equipment be periodically inspected and tested. If deficiencies are observed, the equipment must be repaired, adjusted, or replaced as required.

Power System Studies A short circuit study determines the magnitude of the currents that flow for faults placed at various buses throughout the power system. This information is used to determine interrupting requirements for fuses and circuit breakers and to set trip points for the over current devices. A coordination study is performed to make the certain the over current devices in a system will trip selectively. Selective tripping means that the only the nearest upstream device to the short circuit trips to clear the circuit.

TABLE 5.3 NEC Requirements for Short-Circuit Analyses and Coordination Studies Location in 1993 NEC

Item

Definition

Interrupting Rating. The highest current at rated voltage that device is intended to interrupt under standard test organizations.

Article 110

110-9. Interrupting Rating. Equipment intended to break current at fault levels shall have an interrupting rating sufficient for the nominal circuit voltage and the current that is available at the line terminals of the equipment. Equipment intended to break current at other that fault levels shall have an interrupting rating at nominal circuit voltage sufficient for the current must be interrupted. 110-10. Circuit Impedance and Other Characteristics. The overcurrentprotective devices, the total impedance, the component short-circuit withstand ratings, and other characteristics of the circuit to be protected shall be so selected and coordinated as to permit the circuit protective devices that are used to clear a fault without the occurrence of extensive damage to the electrical components of the circuit. This fault shall be assumed to be either between two or more circuit conductors, or between any circuit conductor and the grounding conductor or enclosing metal raceway.

Article 240

240-12. Electrical System Coordination. Where an orderly shutdown is required to minimize hazard(z) to personnel and equipment, a system of coordination based on the following two conditions shall be permitted: Coordinated short-circuit protection Overload indication based on monitoring systems or devices.

TABLE 5.4 ANSI/NFPA 70B Requirements for Short-Circuit Analyses and Coordination Studies Location in 1990 ANSI/NFPA 70B

Paragraph 5 - 4 . 3

Item

An up-to-date short circuit and coordination study is essential to safety of personnel and equipment. It is necessary to analyze the momentary and interrupting rating requirements of the protective devices. That is, will the circuit breaker or fuse safely interrupt the fault or explode in attempting to perform this function. Another phase of the study is that of developing the application of the protective devices to realize minimum equipment damage and the least disturbance to the system in the event of the fault.

FIRST AID 1. Act quickly!!! You may be the only one person that can prevent a death. 2. Do not administer first aid that you are not qualified to administer. Injuries can be aggravated by improperly administered first aid. 3. Get qualified medical help quickly. Paramedics and emergency first aid and should be summoned as soon as possible.

TABLE 5.5 General First Aid Procedure Act quickly Survey the situation Develop a plan Asses the victim’s condition Summon help if needed Move the victim if danger is imminent Administer required first aid Shock Electrical Burns

eneral First Aid Act Quickly . Remember, you may be the only person between the victim and death. Whatever you do, do it quickly. This does not imply that you should act impetuously. Your actions should be planned and methodical, but you should not waste any time. Do not attempt to perform procedures for which you have no training or experience. Improperly applied procedures can be deadly.

Survey the Situation . Remember that your purpose as a first aid giver is to help the problem, not contribute to it. If you are injured in the process of administering first aid, you cannot help the victim. If your preliminary assessment indicates that you need to wear safety clothing, put it on first, then administer the aid. Table 5.6 lists key points that should be checked before you rush in.

TABLE 5.6 First Aid Checklist

Is the circuit still energized? Is the victim contacting the circuit? Are noxious gases or materials present that may cause injury?

Is fire present or possible?

Develop a Plan . After the initial survey of the situation, develop the plan of attack. The specifics of any given situation will vary; however, the following guidelines should be used.

•If the victim is in immediate danger he or she should be moved to a safe position. (See the later section on moving the victim and later sections on rescue techniques.) •If the victim is non-responsive asses his or her condition and respond accordingly. (See the later section on assessing the victim’s condition.) •If the victim is responsive, make him or her as comfortable as possible and summon aid. Do not abandon the victim until aid has arrived. •Constantly monitor the condition of the victim. Electric shock can cause delayed failures of heart rhythm.

Assess the Victim ’ s Condition . The procedures to be used in administering first aid depend on the condition of the victim. If the victim is responsive, no action may be required. Table 5.7 lists the procedures to perform if the victim is awake and responsive.

TABLE 5.7 What to Do If the Victim Is Responsive Ask the victim what is wrong Assess the victim’s condition and treat injuries as best as possible. Treat the worst injuries first When the victim is out of immediate danger, or if you are unable to help because the injuries are beyond your abilities, summon help

Attend to the victim(s) and keep them safe until help arrives When help arrives, give the first aid and workers your assessment of the situation and standby for help

TABLE 5.8 The ABCs of First Aid Airway Breathing Circulation Doctor

One of the biggest surprises to those who have not worked with accident victims is that the trauma if the accident can induce severe bleeding through the mouth and/or vomiting. Be prepared for these conditions before working with an injured person. When you have prepared yourself for this situation, begin the ABCs.

•A-Check the victim’s A irway. Figure 5.1 illustrates the correct way to clear an injured person’s airway. Remember to avoid moving the victim and to keep the victim’s spine straight to avoid aggravating an injury. Caution: An accident victim may suffer from involuntary muscle reflexes and other such as spasms. The strongest muscle in the human body is the jaw. Because of this, rescue workers should put their fingers into the victim’s mouth only when absolutely necessary. Start by opening the victim’s mouth as shown in Fig. 5.1. Search the mouth for foreign matter or other objects which may blocking the air passage. Many times the victim’s tongue may be blocking the air passage. To fix this problem, put your hand behind the victim’s neck, gently pull the jaw forward, and if required, carefully tilt the head back. If the air passage is clear and the victim is still not breathing, you should perform resuscitation. •B-Check the victim’s B reathing. First, check to see if the victim is breathing. This can be done by observing his or her chest to see if it is moving. Then place your ear close to the victim’s mouth and nose and listen carefully. If the victim is breathing but choking or gurgling sounds are heard, proceed to the next step which is clearing the airway.

•C-Check the victim’s C irculation. Circulation should be checked by feeling for the victim’s pulse at the carotid artery as shown in Fig. 5.2. To find the carotid artery, place your fingertips gently on the victim’s larynx. Gently slide the fingers down into the groove between the windpipe and the muscle at the back of the neck. The carotid artery is located in this area. Gently feel the pulse. Table 4.9 shows the steps to take for the various combinations of problems that may be found. •D-Summon the D octor. After the victim’s condition has been stabilized, summon help. If the resuscitation efforts are proving unsuccessful, the first aid giver may want to summon more qualified assistance even though the victim is not yet stabilized.

Summon Help If Needed . One of the most difficult decisions is to summon help. If help is not summoned soon enough, the victim may die. On the other hand, if the first aid giver leaves to summon help, the victim may die. No concrete rules can be given here; however, the following guidelines may help: •Relieve any immediate danger to the victim before summoning help. •Perform the ABCs before summoning help. •If the victim is not breathing or has no pulse, perform resuscitation before summoning help. •If anyone else is in the area, yell or call for help while performing the preliminary accident assessment. Remember that the first aid giver is in charge of the victim until more qualified help arrives. Do not abandon the victim if immediate aid is required.

TABLE 5.9 How to handle Unresponsive Victims

Breathing-pulse normal

Make victim comfortable. If help has not been summoned, do and stand by until it arrives.

No breathing-pulse normal

Perform mouth-to-mouth-resuscitation until breathing is restored or until help arrives and takes over.

Breathing-no pulse

Perform heart-lung resuscitation (CPR) until pulse is restored or until help arrives and takes over.

No breathing-no pulse

Perform heart-lung resuscitation (CPR) until pulse is restored or until help arrives and takes over.

Move the Victim If Danger is Imminent. Unless they are in imminent danger, accident victims should be moved only when necessary and only by personnel who are qualified to move them. A victim of violent injury, such as a fall, may have spinal or other internal injuries. Moving such a victim could cause increased problems including paralysis or even death. Moving an injury victim is discussed in detail in the Rescue Techniques section of this handbook. First Aid for Electric Shock . Electric shock is one of the most difficult of all injuries to diagnose. In some cases, even the injury is fatal no external signs may be visible. Table 5.10 lists some of the clues and symptoms which may be present when a victim has received an electric shock.

TABLE 5.11 Precautions for Performing First Aid on an Electric Shock Victim Do not touch any energize wires with any part of your body or with any conductive tools or equipment

Do not touch a victim who is still in contact with an energized wire any part of your body or with conductive tools or equipment

Do not try to move any energized wires unless you are qualified to do so. Qualified in this instance means that you are trained in the performance of such a procedure and are able to avoid electrical hazards

TABLE 5.13 First Aid Procedures for Unconscious Electric Shock Victims With Symptoms Immediately Check If Try wounds tothe coolare ABCs burns seek .evident If medical with theorsterile victim burns aid is arenot compress evident breathing , coverorthem has with heart irregularities sterile dressings perform resuscitation as described later in this handbook

TABLE 5.12 First Aid Procedures for Conscious Electric Shock Victims Who Exhibit No Symptoms Keep the victim still and quiet. Remember that heart and respiratory problems can be delayed in electric shock victims

Monitor the victim’s condition for at least ½ hour

If the victim continues to show no symptoms, take them to a doctor for a thorough examination

First Aid for Electrical Burns . Electrical burns may be internal and/or external. External burns are caused by the intense heat of the electric are coupled with the current flow, while internal burns are caused by the current flow heating the tissue. Internal burns are virtually impossible to diagnose in the field. The symptoms of internal electrical burns are identical to the symptoms caused by severe electric shock. In addition to the symptoms described in Table 5.10, the victim may also experience significant pain caused by fire or other heat sources. For both internal and external burns, the first aid techniques are identical to those given in Tables 5.12 and 5.13. The treatment of burns is a very specialized medical procedure. Be certain to seek specialized help as quickly as possible.

rst Aid for Electrical Burns

Electrical burns may be internal and/or external. External burns are caused by the intense heat of the electric are coupled with the current flow, while internal burns are caused by the current flow heating the tissue. Internal burns are virtually impossible to diagnose in the field. The symptoms of internal electrical burns are identical to the symptoms caused by severe electric shock. In addition to the symptoms described in Table 5.10, the victim may also experience significant pain caused by fire or other heat sources.