Axcess Industries knows that electricity is very powerful force and can be very dangerous. Unintentional contact with electrical current can cause severe injuries or death, as can the arc flash created by an electrical short. Since the Safety Force is strong with SafetyEd, he has come up with a list of ways the dark side of electricity can cause injuries and fatalities. You should always keep in mind when dealing with electricity.
· Electricity generates heat as it travels through body tissues. This heat can cause external burns on your skin where the electrical current enters and exits your body. The heat can also cause internal burns and other major damage to muscles and other internal tissues.
· Electricity flowing through your body can replicate or interfere with the signals being carried through your nervous system. In some cases, this can paralyze your muscles for the duration of contact with the electrical current. As a result, you could lose your balance and fall off a ladder, scaffold or other elevated working surface and suffer an injury.
· Electrical current running through your body can also restrict your ability to breathe normally, because it can paralyze the muscles used to expand your lungs. In some cases, it can even interfere with the nerve signals that regulate the rhythm of your heart, which can then cause your heart to fibrillate (or beat irregularly) or go into cardiac arrest.
· An electrical arc flash, which occurs as electricity travels through the air as an electrical short occurs, heats the air in the immediate area to super-hot temperatures. This arc flash can severely burn on your skin, as well as sear the inside of your lungs if you inhale the superheated air. The extreme temperatures generated by an electrical arc flash can even melt metal, plastics, and other materials, sending molten particles spewing through the air.
