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The main purpose of electrical safety signs is to protect the user and anyone else who may be harmed as a result of equipment failure or malfunction from electric shock. In addition, safety posters prevent actions that lead to breakdown of devices and also serve to indicate the workplace.
The classification accepted today divides electrical safety signs used on electrical installations and in the area where they are located into the following types:
- according to the nature of the recommendations: warning signs;
- prohibition posters;
- prescriptive;
- indicating signs.
- permanent, installed directly on equipment and electrical appliances, their components and adjacent structures;
The image of each sign is regulated by state standards that determine the color of its parts (border, edging, background), shape, size and motto - text that carries key information.
Difference between signs and posters
The main difference between them is their purpose. In short, the function of signs is to inform about permanent factors, for example, to warn maintenance and repair personnel about the possibility of accidental contact with live structural elements. Accordingly, fixed places are provided for the location of these electrical protective equipment.
ES signs can be made of metal or dielectric materials; it is allowed to paint them or apply a film with a pattern. In the first case, when a metal base is used, the installation is carried out at a safe distance from live elements.
These safety equipment are displayed in accordance with their intended purpose. Unlike signs, they can be permanently located or portable.
Warning
Warning posters are designed to inform people of the risk of being near apparatus or equipment that, if energized, could cause injury. In addition, they are hung in situations where it is necessary to exclude the possibility of activating separators, buttons, switches, keys and other switching devices in electrical installations in order to avoid supplying voltage to the electrical equipment on which work is being performed. Also, warning posters are placed during repairs and other work to remind about the rules and requirements of electrical safety.
Two danger symbols
A permanent sign, depicted as a yellow equilateral (36 cm) triangle with a black border, on which a black lightning bolt is depicted. Serves to alert you to the potential danger of being in a certain place or to prevent any other actions. They are hung on the doors of electrical installations and equipment of any voltage class, and in the security zone of cable lines.
A permanent sign, distinguished from the previous one only by a white background. It is installed for the same purpose on concrete enclosing structures of open switchgears and reinforced concrete supports of high-voltage power lines.
STOP! VOLTAGE
A portable rectangular sign with a black inscription and an image of a lightning bolt (according to GOST R 12.4.026). Used on electrical installations of various voltage classes. In conditions of repair or installation work - on the fences of the working area and adjacent chambers.
TEST is life threatening
Portable poster with black inscription and an image of a red lightning bolt on a white background with a red border. Serves to alert you to the risk of electric shock during high voltage testing. During preparation for testing, posters are placed directly on the equipment and its enclosures.
Danger! Keep out
A portable sign indicating the risk of walking and walking on structures leading to live parts of equipment. It is made in the form of a black inscription and a red lightning bolt on a white plate with a red frame.
By nature of application
This classification for electrical safety posters and signs allows you to determine whether the device will be installed on a permanent basis or whether it is portable. The first, for the most part, include signs, for example, voltage indicators, which are a triangular information plate with a stylized image of lightning.
Stationary
Of the types listed above, these include the signs given in paragraphs 5 and 6, as well as the warning poster from paragraph 10
Portable
All other posters that were discussed are portable, that is, those that are installed in new places.
It makes sense to create sets of portable posters only when standard maintenance or repair of electrical network components or equipment powered by it is performed. In such cases, you can take a certain number of mandatory, prohibitive or other safety posters and signs, including “danger to life” signs, in advance.
Do not turn on! People working
Plate code:
SES01
Plate type:
prohibition sign
Installation locations:
The sign is posted on electrical installations up to and above 1000 Volts. They are hung on the drives of disconnectors and load switches, on keys and remote control buttons, on switching equipment up to 1000 V, which, if switched on incorrectly, can supply voltage to the workplace. For connections up to 1000 V that do not have switching devices in the circuit, the poster is hung near the removed fuses.
Plaque placement:
to the oil switch control key (Fig. 1) and to the removed fuse blocks (Fig. 2).
Rice. 1. Portable sign on the oil switch control key
Rice. 2. A portable sign is placed on the removed fuse blocks
Design:
· flat;
· voluminous.
Sign material:
self-adhesive film, PVC plastic, galvanized metal, composite. The image on the signs is applied using solvent printing technology with paints that are resistant to environmental influences.
Surface types:
· photoluminescent (Fig. 3);
· Reflective.
Rice. 3. Photoluminescent sign
Durability requirements:
1) mechanically strong, without deformation (deflection) when placing and removing a load of 0.2 kgf/2 min;
2) the surface is smooth, uniform, without inclusions;
3) resistant to alkalis, fuels and lubricants, detergents, water, solar radiation, acids according to the parameters of GOST 9.403;
4) heat- and cold-resistant; climatic version for outdoor placement no less than cat. 1, UHL (from minus 40 to plus 60 °C), and under these conditions bubbles, peeling, and cracks should not form.
Dimensions of the plate according to GOST
SES01 plate shape parameters:
1) GOST 12.4.026-2015
:
· geometric shape - square, rectangle;
· clause 6.3.3.7 indicates that the smaller side of the rectangle is related to the larger one as 2:1. Edge width - 0.025 of the smaller side, cm; border width - 0.025 of the larger side, cm;
· clause 6.3.4.1 contains the formula for height (equal to the vertical side):
,
where L is the identification distance;
Z - distance factor (40, 65, 25 at illumination, respectively, 150–300, 300–500, 30–150 lux);
2) the average size under normal lighting, standard Z = 40 and L = 25 is in the table. 3 GOST 12.4.026-2015
;
3) permissible deviations and corner roundings GOST 12.4.026-2015
:
· clause 6.3.4.7 recommends a permissible deviation of ±2%;
· clause 6.3.4.8 allows rounding of corners (for squares the radius is 0.04 sides, for rectangles - 0.02 smaller sides);
4) signs with a reflective coating and photoluminescence must be no less than 125% of the average dimensions. Designs with illumination over 500 lux are more visible, so for them the identification distance is doubled, and the size can be halved.
Example
What is indicated on the plate
The SES01 plate is marked with the words “DO NOT TURN ON! People are working."
Prescriptive posters
Prescriptive posters are used to indicate workplaces (locations of work) in electrical installations, as well as safe approaches to them.
“Work here” - indicates the workplace.
“Get in here” - used when the workplace is located at a height, indicates a safe way to climb to the workplace
Directional poster
“GROUNDED” - indicates that a certain section of the electrical installation is grounded and that it is inadmissible to supply voltage to it. It is hung on the drives of switching devices. If directional and prohibitory posters are used simultaneously, the directional poster is hung on top of the prohibition ones.
The poster dimensions are 200x100mm or 100x50mm with a white border width of 13mm and 5mm, respectively. The inscription is made in white letters on a blue background.
Working with electrical installations requires responsibility, increased attention, and compliance with certain rules set out in regulatory documentation. Separate paragraphs are devoted to protective equipment, including electrical safety posters. What are they, what categories are they divided into and what are they intended for?
You will learn everything about posters that prescribe and prohibit activities during equipment repairs or electrical installations from our proposed article. We will tell you what types of posters are divided into and what shape they have. We list and describe the main and additional types of visual warnings.
Posters as means of protection
Brightly colored images with explanatory inscriptions or symbols are called posters or safety signs. They have a certain geometric shape: rectangular, triangular, square.
Posters are needed to warn both workers and bystanders about the potential hazards posed by electrical installation equipment. Some posters directly prohibit performing certain actions, others carry an informational load, others allow and order work.
To make posters or signs catch the eye, contrasting or signal colors and their combinations are used for the background and inscriptions: red/white, blue/white, black/white, black/yellow
The document applies to any means of protection used by organizations of various forms of ownership - both state enterprises and private property, especially if the voltage in electrical installations is above 1000 V.
The main document in which you can find information about posters and safety signs on electrical safety is SO 153-34.03.603-2003. It is called “Instructions for the use and testing of protective equipment used in electrical installations”
Workers involved in work in electrical installations must be provided with protective equipment, including posters, and explained how and where they should be used in order to ensure the safest possible working conditions. Portable signs must be part of the inventory that field teams are armed with.
Like other means of protection, signs and posters need to be properly stored and transported, and permanent ones must be in proper condition, that is, clean, dry, undamaged, with clearly readable inscriptions
Posters and signs are made in accordance with GOST. Unlike tools and clothing, they do not require markings and do not need to be numbered or otherwise marked.
