Can't Make It Up.

[MeFil]

Met a friend today who told me about an incident that happened at the school she teaches at this week.

Picture a school cafeteria with those chrome barriers that they use to divide the queues up between the tills.  A pupil decided to swing his feet of the ground by holding on to two of the barriers and lifting his feet of the floor. They weren't that close together, but close enough for him to try.  Apparently he was the first person to try this as when he grabbed hold of both rails he received an electric shock.

Now the head teacher was called who thought that the boy was making it up and was showing off. So to prove his point he grabbed hold of both of the barriers and received an electric shock as well and immediately started complaining of feeling unwell.

A second member of staff thought that the shock the head received couldn't have been that bad and to test his theory grabbed hold of the rails....receiving an electric shock in the process.

The caretaker had been called by this point and not trusting the pupil or the teachers decided to hold both rails to see what happened.  yes....he received a shock.

The fire brigade were then called who found that the floor fixings of one of the barriers had penetrated a buried cable and was live, 240v to earth.  The pupil, teachers and caretaker were all taken to hospital for tests and treatment. 

The barriers had been installed for 5 years.

 

[Blue Duck]

You really can't make it up! :slap

Thanks for that, cheered me up

 

[NozSpark]

:shakehead

 

[MeFil]

I know...

 

[ProDave]

They should buy the caretaker a neon screwdriver.

 

[kerching]

Common sense should dictate that two,people getting zapped would indicate some form of fault.,to allow another two people to go,the same way is a tad stupid. BUT they are teachers so not all that bright!

Daughter is Deputy Head of Department at a school,in Oxford...so I have some experience in teaching stupidity

On the other hand....Wife got smacked so hard in the face by a FIVE YEAR OLD that it knocked a contact lens out.....and thatbwas last week

Just saying

 

[ProDave]

Now let's speculate. Had one of them died, who would be in court? the electrician that signed off the wiring that included the buried cable? or the guy that screwed the rails to the floor (possibly some time later)?  No doubt they would need to blame someone,

 

[MeFil]

I've been thinking about that.

No idea how old the installation is, but assume it's didn't require rcd protection when installed. Cables may have been buried in plastic conduit. Adequate protection?? The electrician would have no idea anything would be drilled into the floor at some time in the future.

Could you blame the people who installed the barriers. No idea of the buried cable, would they even think they could be an exposed conducive part?? Should they have even thought about earthing them?

Now, periodic inspection. 5 year interval for schools. Should this have been picked up during a test?

Would you get the wandering lead out at test all exposed metal work in a building like this... ?

Brings home the importance of testing and in service inspection.

 

[NozSpark]

I don't think that this would have ever been picked up during a PIR,,, you would never expect a freestanding item like this to become live

 

[binky]

come across a few similar things over the years screws through cables in kitchens mostly, can sit there for years with no harm being done. Testing would probably show high resistance on the line conductor, but it isn't guranteed it would show up at all.

 

[ProDave]

Time we amended the regs to require a dirty great earth bond to all exposed metal items.

 

[Steve3948]

Why would you call the Fire Brigade ?

 

[ProDave]

Why would you call the Fire Brigade ?

Because they seem to set our wiring regulations these days?

 

[MeFil]

Probably because people kept being electrocuted...

 

[Blue Duck]

Why would you call the Fire Brigade ?

because the electricity police weren't avaliable?

:lol:

back in the day would people have called the LEB?

 

[kerching]

Why would you call the Fire Brigade ?

B and q were closed

Tony cable was doing a comedy double act

Emma C was "tied up......."

And as said before.....the regs are now being dictated by Trumpton

Our regs have to fall in line with the EEC.....BUT we have 100 and .200 regs do differentiate between ones that a PURELY for UK

So obviously plastic CUs do not spontaneously conduct in other countries!

Would it not be strange if it was found that the CUs caught fire due to incompetence of the installer or by the Manuf producing shite?.....that would never happen thought as we are so well policed!

....well i say "policed", i actually meant 'dry reamed at every opportunity by the people who are meant to be covering our backs NOT lining their pockets'

 

[Blue Duck]

Too freaking right!

 

[Evans Electric]

I've worked on loads of new schools and the modus operandi was to lay steel conduit across the floors for sockets  and if its an upper floor lighting conduits were laid for the floor below .   So quite a bit of conduit on those floors .

All covered by a 2 inch floor screed .

Not that easy to drill through steel conduit without realising .  

The queue of people lining up to reach between the two barriers is human nature .........like the Wet Paint sign ... everybody touches it to see if its dry :lol:

 

[Steve3948]

So should we be fitting labels on fuseboards, saying "In case of Electrical fault, call local Fire Brigade"  :slap

 

[Andy™]

no, it should be 'in case of fire, call the plumber'