Unsafe Acts

Unsafe Electrical Equipment

Myths and Misconceptions

Unsafe Acts

An unsafe act is a violation of an accepted safe procedure which could lead to an accident.

Examples of unsafe acts:

• Operating without authority, failure to secure or warn
• Making safety devices inoperable
• Failure to use personal protective equipment (PPE) such as rubber gloves and helmet
• Servicing equipment in motion

Reasons for the above unsafe acts:

• The person does not know the proper thing to do
• The person does not want to perform the job in safe recommended way
• The person does not care about his own safety
• The person is in a hurry
• The person wants to show-off to his fellow employee or to his supervisor

Avoid the following unsafe acts:

• Failure to de-energize and use lockout and tagout hazards during maintenance and repairs
• Use of defective and unsafe tools
• Not verifying if power is already off when performing repairs and maintenance
• Replacing or using wrong size of fuse
• Failure to use protective devices such as rubber blanket, hose or hoods when working on equipment too close to energized parts/lines
• Not draining off stored energy in capacitors