Electrical Safety for Telecom Products

Electricity is an essential part of modern life; it is certainly the world's most widely used source of energy. Since electrical equipment is readily available due to the advent of new technologies, electrical safety has become a very important issue.

Implementation of safety standards for Telecommunications equipment depends on the type of equipment, its usage and the environment where it operates. For equipment with metal enclosures, a protective earthing wire is usually provided which is electrically connected to all exposed metal parts. If the enclosure is made with plastic or non- metal material, electrical safety is achieved through the insulation provided by the enclosure itself.

Potential Electrical Hazards

Electricity is a safe and efficient source of energy if the equipment is designed and used appropriately. However, if it is poorly designed and used unsafely, it can pose a number of risks to the health and safety of the user. Some of the potential electrical hazards are electric shock, fire, explosion, radiation and noise.

Electricity seeks the easiest path to ground through any conductor. Since the human body is mostly made up of water, humans are good conductors for electricity. In a shock incident, the path that electric current takes through the body gets hot. Burns may occur all along that path, including the places on the skin where the current enters and leaves the body. Severity of the electric shock depends on many factors such as frequency of the current, voltage / current ratings and duration of electric flow

Electrical Safety Factors

Electrical equipment safety is dependant on many factors. The main ones are design, manufacturing, proper usage and environment. Certain components of electrical equipment such as transformer, mains cable, power plug etc are considered as "Safety Critical" components. From a user point of view the following points are helpful to ensure that the equipment being used is safe:

• Check electrical cords periodically and do not use equipment with damaged cords or plugs.

• Do not use electrical equipment in wet locations or when the equipment is wet

• Do not modify electrical equipment except in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications and only by authorized/qualified personnel

• Remove an electrical mains cord by the plug only; do not pull on the cord.

• Do not use water to extinguish an electrical fire, switch off the mains supply

Compliance with Electrical Safety standards assures you that the equipment has been designed and manufactured correctly and uses high quality components.

At Emirates Telecom Lab we inspect/test ELECTRICAL SAFETY FOR TELECOM PRODUCTS

A word document of a Safety Article can be downloaded here