Electrical Safety

ALADIN Individual Voltage Alarm With Headlamp For MV Overhead Lines 10-400kV

ALADIN | The Helmet Mounted Voltage Detector

Individual Voltage Alarm With Headlamp

• uploaded by Chris Dodds - Sales Marketing Manager Thorne & Derrick International

MV Medium Voltage Overhead Lines 10-400kV

P&B Weir together with Thorne & Derrick introduce an innovative new electrical safety product to the UK market – ALADIN is an individual voltage alarm with headlamp suitable for use with MV overhead lines in the voltage range of 10-400kV.

The electrical safety device is designed like a headlight to be attached on helmets or hard hats and complies with European Directives EN 61000-6-2 and EN 61000-6-4.

ALADIN is extensively used throughout the Rail, Renewable, Data Centre, Transmission & Distribution, Oil & Gas and Utility sectors for safe working around Medium & High Voltage Electrical Equipment, Switchgear, Substations, Cables & Overhead Lines with typical operating voltages 11kV 25kV 33kV 66kV 132kV 400kV.

Improved electrical safety levels for workers operating near live equipment

The personal electric field detector combined with professional headlamp provides the user with an audible safety alarm offering an additional level of safety for workers operating near energised equipment e.g during maintenance, rescue operations, painting and pruning.

The frequency of the audible alarm increases as the detected electric field increases. Example situations where the ALADIN provides improved electrical safety:

• Misunderstanding: the operator approaches a danger zone
• Voltage unexpected return. mistake during an operation on disconnected network
• Involuntary approach: quick move in direction of energised area during operation
• Diversion: the operator is distracted and moves towards a high potential energised conductor unconsciously

Calibration & Testing | The Aladin has an auto-test function but can also be checked by placing it in contact with an unshielded low voltage element such as a wall outlet or power cord.

ALADIN is suitable for outside and indoor medium voltage electrical equipment.

ALADIN is supplied in a cardboard box with a universal charger and micro USB cable, interface for fitting to a helmet, an elasticated band and four hooks, a reinforced protective case and users’ instructions.

ALADIN – MV Overhead Lines 10-400kV

ALADIN Advantages

• 360° detection around the wearer : the ideal position of the detector on top of the protective helmets makes detection of an electric field equally effective, whether it is located in front of or behind the wearer
• Smart Mute exclusive feature: smart alarm:
  – It is used to silence the warning sound once at working place, the device is remaining in vigilance and still measuring the electric field
  – The warning sound will automatically restart in case of increase of the level of detected electric field (closer or sudden presence of voltage)
  – Acts as an additional fencing which can be set at the working place
• Wide voltage range from 2kV to 400kV
• Integrated professional dual-beam LED headlamp
• Compact and lightweight
• No influence of the electromagnetic fields
• 2 types of light are available :
  − 1 light for remote vision (overhead lines, poles, …)
  − 1 light for closer vision (walking trip, working place, …)
• Light and compact device
• Rechargeable by standard micro USB 5 V plug

ALADIN

Technical Specifications

Individual Voltage Alarm With Headlamp For MV Overhead Lines 10-400kV

PB WEIR PORTABLE EARTHING & ELECTRICAL SAFETY EQUIPMENT

• Substation Earthing – Line End & Earth End Clamps
• Substation Operating Poles & Sticks
• Link Box Earthing Kits
• Network Rail PADS Approved Operating Poles
• Network Rail PADS Approved 25kV OLE Electrified Lines AC & DC Portable Earths
• Transmission & Overhead Line Portable Earthing EHV 132kV 275kV 400kV
• Westminster Voltage Detectors
• Distribution Line Earthing Equipment
• Buchholz Relays

The Aladin Range of Personal Alarms for Voltage Detection 

ALADIN provides extra safety level for workers operating near energized equipment (during construction, maintenance, rescue operations, painting, pruning) up to 400kV.

Aladin 50kV 400kV Voltage Detectors

Aladin 10kV 69kV Voltage Detectors

Aladin 2kV 400kV Voltage Detectors

PB WEIR – DISTRIBUTORS, STOCKISTS & SUPPLIERS

PB Weir Substation Earthing and Transmission Line Earthing Equipment include line end clamps, earth end clamps, portable earthing leads and operating poles for high voltage substations, overhead power line and transmission line applications – voltages include 11kV, 33kV, 66kV, 132kV up to 400kV.

Thorne & Derrick provide competitive prices and fast delivery from stock for the complete range of PB Weir substation earthing and transmission line earthing equipment.

➡ Read More Here: PB Weir Working With Thorne & Derrick – Portable Earthing & Electrical Safety Specialists

LV, MV & HV JOINTING, EARTHING, SUBSTATION & ELECTRICAL EQPT

Thorne & Derrick International are specialist distributors of LV, MV & HV Cable Installation, Jointing, Duct Sealing, Substation & Electrical Equipment – servicing UK and global businesses involved in cable installations, cable jointing, substation, overhead line and electrical construction at LV, 11kV, 33kV and EHV.

CBS ArcSafe & Thorne & Derrick

Providing Arc-Flash Protection With Remote Circuit Breaker Racking Devices MV HV

• Press Release: Chris Dodds - Sales & Marketing Manager with Thorne & Derrick International

Remote Racking

Thorne & Derrick International, the Specialist Distributors of LV HV Jointing, Earthing, Substation & Electrical Eqpt have signed a MOU to undertake the Sales Distribution & Marketing of the CBS ArcSafe range of Remote Circuit Breaker Racking products – this product range provides arc-flash protection with remote circuit breaker racking devices for LV MV HV power systems including high-risk aging assets.

The CBS ArcSafe range of remote racking products covers 95% of global switchgear market applications – we will be servicing the UK market with site training, demonstration and visits.

This UK agreement augments our Electrical Safety product range to ensure the safe installation, operation and maintenance of LV MV HV substations, underground cables and overhead line conductors from 600V up to 420kV.

CBS ArcSafe offers the electrical industry’s largest inventory of remote racking and switching solutions for switchgear – the systems operate without modification to existing electrical equipment and allow authorised technicians and personnel to operate equipment from a safe distance of up to 300 feet.

➡  view catalogue.

CBS ArcSafe | the highest quality remote operation equipment for protection of people’s lives and plant operations against arc flash hazards.

THORNE & DERRICK

Thorne & Derrick are national distributors of LV, MV & HV Cable Installation, Jointing, Substation & Electrical Equipment – servicing businesses involved in cabling, jointing, substation, earthing, overhead line and electrical construction at LV, 11kV, 33kV, 66kV and EHV. Supplying a complete range of power cable accessories to support the installation and maintenance of low/medium and high voltage power systems.

Key Product Categories: Duct Seals | Cable Cleats | Cable Glands | Electrical Safety | Arc Flash Protection | Cable Jointing Tools | Cable Pulling | Earthing | Feeder Pillars | Cable Joints LV | Joints & Terminations MV 

Electrical Workforce | Are There Problems In The UK Electrical Industry?

The Electrical Workforce Ratio Guidance And Composition

• Republished with the kind permission of Derek Thompson from Electrical Training Trust 

SparkSafe Ltp has emerged from the Electrical Training Trust.

Established in 1998 by employers, Electrical Training Trust has championed the development of employer-Led Level 3 electrical apprenticeship training and adult worker upskilling.

Electrical Workforce Composition

We analysed eleven recent UK Public Sector construction projects with a combined value of circa £200 million to ascertain the composition of the electrical workforce.

The projects ranged in value from £500K to £60 million. Each of the projects is considered to be complex in scope as they:

• require significant coordination and cooperation with others
• make use of industrial pattern materials and techniques
• have an impact on the public
• involve professional design services
• require compliance with exceptional standards
• require a high-level health and safety management

SparkSafe workforce ratio guidance recommends a 50% minimum cohort of Qualified Electricians (QE) where complex electrical work is to be undertaken. None of the projects in the sample meets the proposed recommendations. Eight of the eleven projects are reported with a QE worker percentage between nil and 25%.

Summary of electrical work

• Three projects operated without a QE worker
• Four projects operated with a QE cohort of 15% or less
• One project (circa £30 million) relied on a 47% cohort of Apprentice Electrician (AE)
• The most significant value project (circa £60 million) was contingent on 75% of the electrical workforce operating below a QE licence level

Quality improvement and control measures are likely to be undermined when the model becomes over-reliant on disproportionate use of semi-skilled, under-qualified, or apprentice workers to carry complex and skilled tasks. Exceptions do exist. High-quality, close supervision, and other control measures may off-set the accumulation of defective work, reoccurring snagging lists, and latent defects. However, the trend, if unchecked, in this and other building service sectors, will continue to wither, an already ailing construction industry.

Historical toleration of this model has progressively shifted the Client prerogative to one of necessity and acceptance in terms of workforce composition in parts of the UK. Skilled labour shortages, lack of CPD drivers, and other demographic factors point to an industry that presently struggles to field a match fit team for industrial and commercial projects.

Extended supply chains and health and safety checks at the gate, have blurred Client insight into the occupational identity and qualitative make-up of the contractor’s workforce.

Nevertheless, projects are completed, commissioned, and eventually handed over.

So, what are the problems?

• A decline in quality and standards is widely reported throughout the industry. Clients are often forced to contend or accept failing and inconsistent standards by the industry to gain timely possession of their project.
• Failure to correct the problem means that it will become worse. The virtuous loop of sustainable skill training is replaced by a vicious circle which depletes the industry with a feed of semi-skilled and under-qualified workers.

Photo : Electrical workers undertaking cable terminations by Hobi industri on Unsplash

Conclusion

The resolve of many responsible Electrical Contractors to maintain traditional standards has been eroded as other existing, and new enterprises adjust working practices to win contracts, build turnover and attempt to stay in business. Who could blame them! Discipline and restraint by the industry are poorly regulated. Insolvency and/or prosecution are the primary checks and balances for the UK electrical contracting industry.

Attempts at self-regulation have broken down as competitive instincts and market forces, compel the supply chain to find ways of getting around the national conventions of the industry.  Industry-led, self-help efforts must continue. Responsible trade and industry bodies must be encouraged, supported and be subject to constructive criticism in their efforts to do the right thing. Nevertheless, the ultimate authority and influence over the behaviour and development of the industry is the Client.

The findings of our analysis flow from an absence of specification and scrutiny concerning the dynamics and composition of the contractor’s workforce ratio. A greater effort by specifiers and designers is usually placed on material specification. Whereas the competency of those who install those materials is often presumed and unchecked.

High spec materials and low-tech installers don’t make sense!

The striking imbalances across the sample projects are the immediate product of the industry, not the Client. However, by using their buying authority, responsible Clients can halt the decline, reinstate the virtuous loop, and help produce a much-needed win-win outcome for the UK going forward.

WORKFORCE RATIO GUIDANCE

Why was this developed?

Electrical EqUipment – Thorne & Derrick

Thorne & Derrick International are specialist distributors of LV, MV & HV Cable Installation, Jointing, Duct Sealing, Substation & Electrical Equipment – servicing UK and global businesses involved in cable installations, cable jointing, substation, overhead line and electrical construction at LV, 11kV, 33kV and EHV.

THORNE & DERRICK Product Categories: Duct Seals | Cable Cleats | Cable Glands | Electrical Safety | Arc Flash Protection | Cable Jointing Tools | Cable Pulling | Earthing | Feeder Pillars | Cable Joints LV | Joints & Terminations MV HV 

Electrical & Hybrid Vehicles | Improving Electrical Safety for the EV Industry

• uploaded by Chris Dodds - Thorne & Derrick Sales | Marketing Manager

According to Mckinsey & Company under the current growth trajectory, EV producers could almost quadruple production in 2020, moving 4.5 million units, around 5 percent of the overall global light electric vehicle market.

This rapid increase in the number of electric and hybrid vehicles has introduced and imposed specific electrical safety regulations upon the EV industry.

For example in France, the electrical safety regulations are now codified according to UTE C 18-550 (♦) to provide clear legislative guidance on the responsibilities of the EV industry to prevent electrocution and electrical injury to workers. 

Thorne & Derrick can support the implementation of electrical safety precautions with automotive manufacturers, dealership networks and garage repair specialists – products specifically designed to prevent electrocution of mechanics:

EV Safety Products 

• PPE | Electric Arc Face Shields, Insulating Gloves & Undergloves
• Floor Protection | Insulating Matting
• LV Test & Measurement | Voltage Detection & Testers (12V to 1200V DC)
• LV Live Working Tools
• Lock Out Tag out & Warning Signs
• EV Electrical Vehicle Safety Catalogue

♦ UTE C 18-550 (Electrical safety instructions for operations on vehicles and motor vehicles with thermal, electric or hybrid motorization having on-board electrical energy). 

Electrical Risk Prevention & Safety Kits for EV Industry

Thorne & Derrick stock and supply EV Kits for electrical risk prevention – contact us for further information or to place an order.

• CATU KIT-VE-S1 Obstacle Safety EV Kit
• CATU KIT-VEH EV Safety Signage Kit
• CATU KIT-VE-D EV Car Servicing & Breakdown Kit
• CATU KIT-VE-BCL Instruction Kit
• More Information

Safe Working On Electrical & Hybrid Vehicles

Catu Electrical Safety Equipment Stockists

Do you know that by 2030 electrical vehicle sales will represent 40% of the total sales in Europe & China? This impacts the maintenance approach and safety equipment requirements to enable the industry to work safely. Therefore, CATU as specialist manufacturers of Safety Equipment for the prevention of electrical risks has designed some dedicated kits including insulated tools for live operations, PPE for providing comfort of use and voltage detectors. Discover our complete solution set in the e-mobility brochure.

CASE STUDY

West Midlands Police approached Thorne & Derrick with a requirement for Electrical Safety Kits for forensic collision investigation at life changing and predominantly fatal road collisions. Training has been upgraded with vehicle examinations of electric / hybrid vehicles but no safety equipment had ever been provided. Thorne & Derrick rectified this EV safety shortcoming when the risk was identified by a new member of staff and the CATU KIT-VE-BCL has been adopted by the police force.

Based in the UK, Thorne & Derrick International are the largest Stockist Distributor of CATU Electrical Safety Equipment protecting workers on underground cables, overhead powerlines, switchgear and substations at LV, MV and HV.

Voltage Testers | What Are Your Options for Verifying Absence of Voltage?

Voltage Testers: An Article by Panduit

What are your options for VERIFYING Absence of Voltage?

Safety is everything.

Workers MUST comply with safety regulations that require a voltage verification test when servicing electrical equipment

But how can you be safe and be sure the circuit is de-energized?

What if the only method is complex and exposes you to the very danger you’re trying to avoid?

Find out how a team of engineers with fresh thinking and years in the lab resulted in an entirely new product  – the absence of voltage testers (AVTs) ­– and positive proof the power is off.

Voltage Testers – Your Options

1. Portable Test Instruments – Portable voltage testers are usually a hand-held device used to detect the presence and absence of voltage. They require a manual and time-consuming process, increasing the risk of human error. They are susceptible to user misinterpretation and process failures, which may expose workers to electrical hazards.
2. Voltage Indicators – These are typically installed devices. When functioning properly, voltage indicators warn of the presence of voltage but do not guarantee its absence. When your voltage indicator is not illuminated, the system is de-energized. However, how can we be sure? There could be something wrong with the installation. There’s no way to know for sure that your equipment is de-energized with just a voltage indicator.
3. VeriSafe AVT – Verisafe AVT uses active indications to tell you when your equipment is de-energized, so you know that the absence of voltage has been verified. The push of a button activates VeriSafe AVT’s automatic absence of voltage test. Here’s what the colour indicators mean when using the VeriSafe Absence of Voltage Tester…
   • Red – There is a voltage present in your equipment
   • Yellow – The absence of voltage could not be confirmed, be careful
   • Green – Absence of voltage has been verified

For the task of verifying the absence of voltage, VeriSafe AVT is both a voltage tester + voltage indicator. Be sure the light is green with VeriSafe AVT.

Panduit VeriSafe – Absence of Voltage Tester

Verisafe is UNIQUE and safety is Important.

Panduit’s fully automated, permanently mounted and first-of-its-kind industry compliant tool, VeriSafe AVT – both indicates the presence and absence of voltage.

The VeriSafe absence of voltage tester minimizes risk by verifying the absence of voltage before equipment is accessed. VeriSafe’s automated process and single-step activation are standardized to avoid missteps in execution and sequence. It is further constructed to resist factors that could affect its accuracy and functionality – such as mechanical or electrical failures from wear, mechanical shock and environmental extremes.

Through years of development and collaboration with industry groups, the team was able to reach proof of concept and eventually create an absence of voltage tester that performed exactly as they hoped. All that was left was for the new AVT (absence of voltage tester) product category to be defined in an industry-standard and for the safety requirements to be published.

In 2016, UL published the first-ever AVT safety and listing requirements in UL 1436.

In 2017, the VeriSafe AVT was released and now offers workers an easy, safer way to get positive proof the system is de-energized before accessing or working on electrical equipment.

Now, all it takes is a press of the test button, and a moment to wait for the green light. And, as everybody knows, green means go.

With over 60 years of infrastructure experience, our team recognized the need for a safer – and easier – way to verify a circuit is de-energized. The change our engineers had in mind was to eliminate exposure to live circuits – either by accident or during an absence of voltage test. That would mean no more hand-held meters, and no need to interact with known-live circuits as part of the test.

Thorne & Derrick International, Specialist Distributors of Electrical Safety Equipment, are Panduit Partners.

Request your VeriSafe demo from Thorne & Derrick today.

VeriSafe – Request a Demo

Thorne & Derrick

T&D are Specialist Distributors to UK Distribution Network Operators (DNO’s), NERS Registered Service Providers, ICP’s and HV Jointing Contractors of an extensive range of LV, MV & HV Jointing, Earthing, Substation & Electrical Equipment – this includes 11kV/33kV/66kV joints, terminations and connectors for both DNO and private network applications.

Contact our UK Power Team for competitive quotations, fast delivery from stock and technical support or training on all LV-HV products.

Key Product Categories: Duct Seals | Cable Cleats | Cable Glands | Electrical Safety | Arc Flash Protection | Cable Jointing Tools | Cable Pulling | Earthing | Feeder Pillars | Cable Joints LV | Joints & Terminations MV HV 

 ➡ More: VIDEO How To Verify Total Absence of Voltage By The Push Of a Button

Voltage Testers | Portable Earthing | Insulating Sticks | Gloves | Insulating Matting