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Posted By Manny
Can anybody out there tell me if there is any legislation prohibiting the permanent use of extension cables?
I'm looking at office areas with insufficient wall sockets due to the increase in IT equipment.
Manny
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Posted By Salus
Hi Manny, no there is not apart from trip hazards, PA Testing and visual inspections
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Posted By Alan Hoskins
Although there is no specific regulation, extension leads should be treated as temporay because they are more vulnerable to damage/faults than fixed installations.
Also, multi-gang outlets laying on the floor are susceptible to foreign objects entering unused sockets. I know of an example where a paperclip caused a minor electric shock incident.
Alan
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Posted By Tabs
Not aware of any such legislation - it is covered by guidance only.
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Posted By Sean Warburton
Hi Manny,
On a slightly different note, our current insurers have prohibited us from using the cube style multi domestic style connectors, as a result it is our policy not to use such adaptors. These have been known to start fires, it may be worth just checking with your insurers.
Staff tend to bring them in for radios kettles etc :)
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Posted By Harry Mooney
Manny,
I work in a College where I have managed to have adaptors banned (though I still find an odd one when doing inspections)for fire safety reasons, and an acceptance that multiblock extensions will not exceed 3 metres mains cable length. We are currently undergoing a major refurbishment, and it is hoped that the additional electrical outlets being provided for each area should then allow the removal of 99% of extension leads. Maybe then I will be able to stop holding my breath I do the audits.
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Posted By Malcolm Fryer
Manny
Most issues have been covered above.
I would only add that most never read the rating marked on the reel and only the few seem to understand that this rating is achieved when fully unwound.
Can be of use as a temporary solution but often they become permanent.
Avoid whenever possible and if in a hostile environment avoid using above a centre tapped 11o volt supply.
Malcolm
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Posted By J Knight
HI folks,
Just a quick note on cube style multiplpugs; as well as being a fire risk they can pivot partly out of the wall and compromise earthing, leading to an electric shock risk. This is especially likely if they are stacked on top of one another. I recall sometime in the 1990s reading something in SHP about a legal firm that killed their office boy in this manner,
John
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Posted By Bob Shillabeer
Harry Mooney is spot on ban the damb things they are a menace in the work environment. They can overload the main power supply and create a fire risk that would not normally arise. They are prone to electric shocks (heart failure) and lead to people over doing it by using two or more of them together. Ban them, kick rear ends if you find them and tell people why.
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Posted By Ron Hunter The electric shock risks associated with use of multi-gang adaptors in workplaces for connecting IT equipment tends to be UNDERSTATED. There is a real risk under fault conditions of potentially lethal current flow,with direct contact at extranneous metal parts. This reference probably explains this better than I ever could - http://www.cda.org.uk/megab2/elecapps/pub142lo.pdf
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Posted By Merv Newman
I am not an electrician, so no expertise however I have noticed for a long time that architects have no idea when it comes to the number of circuits or sockets. They always underestimate. I think the house I was born in had a total of 4 sockets. None in either kitchen or bathroom. (pre-war build)
We had our offices rewired about 4 or 5 years ago. One dedicated circuit and 4 sockets per workstation. And all sockets installed above desk height. Including data and telephone sockets. No trailing leads but you should take a look behind this computer !
We did the same when we built this house over twenty years ago. Umpteen (20, I've just counted) circuits and sockets all installed at 1 metre height, usually hidden behind the curtains. Look, when I get old (soon, soon) I don't want to be bending my back to unplug the television at night.
Extension leads ? Six monthly PAT in an office situation, 3 monthly in an industrial environment. Minimum.
Merv (just off to watch Carol Vordeman. Back later)
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