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While a common sight in just about every Australian home or business, not everyone understands the concept or their importance – so how do safety switches work?
Most of us have experienced some form of electric ‘shock’, where electricity causes our body to experience pain or trauma. If we are fortunate, the extent of that experience is limited to tingles or jolts of pain from static electricity build up, discharging through our bodies. When we are working around electric circuits, capable of delivering high power to loads, electric shock becomes a much more serious issue, and pain is the least significant result of shock.
As such, safety switches are a means to ensure that we can reap the benefits of electricity whilst doing so in a manner that limits exposure to any potential hazards, accidents or mishaps. By law, safety switches protecting power points and lighting circuits must be installed in all new homes and in buildings where electrical circuits are altered or added. Although the exact legislation varies between the different states and territories, the general rule of thumb is that if your home is older, it may not be protected by safety switches. In order to understand their importance and potential benefits, exactly how do safety switches work?
A safety switch is a device that quickly switches off the electricity supply if an electrical fault is detected, to minimise the risk of electricity-related fires, electric shock, injury and death. For both renters and homeowners who already have one pre installed or are considering getting one, the unit is simply attached to the dwelling’s existing circuit breaker.
Electricity is transported throughout a home or business through wiring, and almost always consists of three cores – active (red), neutral (black) and earth (green). The active core is responsible for sending the electricity, the neutral core returns the electricity, and the earth core connects to any exposed conductive surfaces, which more or less offers the first line of protection.
In a normal state of function, all electricity sent by the active must return in equal volume via the neutral. A safety switch utilises both the active and neutral cores, and heavily relies upon the earth despite it not being mandatory to its functionality. A safety switch is essentially a monitoring device, and can measure the flow of sent and returned electricity through the neutral and active cores.
When in action, the installed safety switch is triggered by the unit detecting a change in the flow of electricity through the circuit that it is fitted to. A broad variety of issues or problems can cause the safety switch to be triggered, with common examples including the following.
For the latter, this is not that uncommon after heavy rainfall. A leaking pipe in a wall cavity can cause safety switches to trip, and occasionally even a sprinkler hitting an outdoor power point. While a wide variety of unusual conditions can cause the safety switch to take action, it’s presence alone can be a game changer when it comes to avoiding a potential disaster.
Electricity is a wonderful form of science, and without it, we would quite literally still be living in the dark ages. However, it’s important to follow the recommended safety procedures in order to both harness its power, and protect the residents of your home or business. If your home doesn’t already have a safety switch or the one you have isn’t working correctly, then it’s important to consult with a licenced professional – but where do you find them?
Here at Shield Electrical, we are a Brisbane based electrical contracting company, and we pride ourselves on being shockingly good at watt we do. For us, friendly and reliable customer service isn’t just a nice add on – it’s how we do business.
Our team of dedicated and energetic electrical industry professionals are committed to providing the highest levels of customer satisfaction possible. Whether you’re on the hunt for an electrician for domestic services, residential, commercial and industrial construction, security systems or even just further energy saving tips, get in touch with us at Shield today to source practical solutions that don’t break the bank.
