Safety Switch – Residual Current Device
Call 1300 874 353
Safety Switch are lifesaving electrical safety devices that can be either fixed and portable.
Safety Switches are also called RCD’s, RCBO’s or ELCB’s (Earth Leakage Circuit Breakers).
They are designed to detect any disruption to the normal electrical flow through the electrical wiring or appliances.
What causes an Safety Switch to trip?
There are a number of reasons why a safety switch trips, most times it’s because of a faulty appliance or someone has contacted an electrical wire and electricity is about flow through them not the wires.
TSG Electrical & Fire Contractor will inspect, test and tag your workplace Fixed and Portable RCD’s in accordance with AS/NZS3760 and state based WHS or Electrical Safety legislation.
Safety Switch’s are tested 2 times a year.
- 6 Monthly – A simple push button trip test
- 12 Monthly Operating Time test to ensure your RCD switches off the power to your circuits within the recommended time frame.
NOTE: Some providers only complete the push button test without doing the yearly Operating Time test, experience has shown some clients have never had a yearly Operating Time test complete at all.
(DON’T BE TRICKED by your current provider)
Under WHS Regulations in many states and territories, the installation, testing and tagging of RCD’s is mandatory for all circuits protecting items in a hostile environment.
Having safety switches instated and inspected by an Electrician, can save all the over testing and tagging & in some cases no testing and tagging is require or very little in office areas (as little as every 5 years)
Quick Tip, who can test what Safety Switch.
Fixed Safety Switch – Electricians only.
Generators with Fixed Safety Switch – Electricians only.
Electrical appliances with Fixed Safety Switch – Electricians only.
Portable Safety Switches
(Little Orange box connected to a lead) – Electricians or Test and Tag Technicians.
Only Electricians can address issues with Safety Switches to protect your employees, customers or the public.
Inspection of safety switch’s is a lot more then just plugging a tester in a power-point, some boxs look like the real box but are for home handyman, not tradesman who need more protection.
If a Safety Switch has tripped, is faulty or is the incorrect type, it MUST be tagged out.
(as per Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017-Chapter 4, Part 4.7, Division 3, Clause 149.)
Tag out is a labelling process that is always used when lockout is required (Safety Switch Fault or incorrect type).
The process of tagging out a system involves attaching or using an indicator (usually a standardized label) that includes the following information:
Why the lockout/tag out is required (repair, maintenance, etc.).
Time of application of the lock/tag.
The name of the authorized person who attached the tag and lock to the system.
Note: ONLY the authorized individual who placed the lock and tag onto the system is the one who is permitted to remove them. This procedure helps make sure the system cannot be started up without the authorized individual’s knowledge, as this could result in death or injury to others.
What is the difference between a safety switch and a circuit breaker?
Safety switch:
• protects people from electrical shock
• detects and interrupts a ground fault
Circuit breaker:
• protects electrical wiring and systems in your home
• detects circuit overload (short circuit)
• detects a high current fault
Areas serviced Blacktown, Seven Hills, Castle Hill, Penrith, Grandville, Silverwater, Parramatta & Wetherill Park just to name a few.
Call 1300 874 353