[ Index ]
The ISB Project is an effort to identify and communicate to concerned parties the hazards associated with electrical systems to served facilities.
It also gives ideas on how to control, mitigate, or eliminate them.
Here is an incomplete list of hazards that we must be concerned with.
- An electrical shock or "tingling" is felt.
- In the shower.
- In the bathtub.
- At any sink.
- Washing dishes.
- Moving wet clothes from washer to dryer.
- Adults, children or animals complain or vocalize when walking barefoot, whether indoors or out.
- Burns.
- Circuit breakers and similar protective devices are are slow to respond to faults.
- Destruction.
- Excess heat.
- Extended, abnormal electromagnetic fields from unbalanced voltages.
- False sense of security based on weak or nonexistent components.
All can be strengthened with periodic monitoring, improvements, and repair.
- Fire.
- Flashover, especially indoors.
- Injection of noise into an otherwise quiet environment can harm, overload, and cause undesired operation of sensitive equipment.
- Injury.
- Loss of life.
- Missing ground.
- Oxidation.
- Presence of an improperly grounded neutral conductor.
- Reduced quality of life due to annoyances stemming from electrical problems, such as bad reception, failure to function, and unintended operation of equipment.
- Videocassette recorder.
- Radio.
- Cable television.
- Satellite television.
- Regular broadcast television.
- Telephone line connection.
- Computer.
- Printer.
- DVD player.
- Compact disk player.
- Other computing or digital devices.
- Garage door opener.
- High-value appliance.
- Rodent damage.
- Stress on electrical supply and grounding systems promotes premature breakdown of these systems.
- Earth movement causes physical stress that increases damage over time.
- Stress also comes from flashover and from high amounts of electron flow over small conductive bodies.
- Stressful current flow is often characterized as abnormal, unplanned, and uncontrolled.
- Some causes and examples of stressful current flow:
- arc fault
- ground fault
- improperly grounded neutral
- missing ground
- short circuit
- lightning strike (direct and indirect)
- overcurrent
- power surge
- Ultraviolet (UV) light exposure ( λ = 10 nm to 400 nm
).
The presence of any one hazard can build into more by setting the prerequisite conditions to invite other hazards.
It is best to investigate and fix any hazards as quickly as possible in order to ensure maximum safety to occupants and others whose lives are exposed to the hazard.
Many electrical hazards can simply be addressed with appropriate bonding, grounding, isolation, and repair at the point of the hazard.
A strong ISBP nearby can facilitate such measures.
The GCP model reminds us that gaps permit hazards inside a facility, and that these hazards can be controlled, mitigated, or eliminated with strong ISBP and PEP, which together "arrest," "redirect," or "divert" hazards to true earth ground before they can affect the occupants.
The GCP model also shows us where to look for hazards and where we can close gaps in the grounding cone of protection at any facility served by a GES and ESE.
Summary
The ISB Project identifies and communicates information about electrical and fire hazards.
Understanding the nature of these hazards gives ideas on how to avoid, control, eliminate, mitigate, and prevent them.
The GCP model is an additional tool for evaluating the impact of a hazard.
Given time, any one hazard can build into more.
Repair hazards immediately upon detection.
