FAO DIYers

[Andy78]

Press Releases News : Electrical Safety Council


An article from the Electrical safety council about the dangers of overconfidence and lack of knowledge when it comes to electrical work in the home.

Electricians say they are spending an increasing amount of time repairing such blunders and are concerned that ‘Dive-in DIYers’ are endangering themselves and their families. This is a serious concern – someone dies as a result of an electrical accident in their home every week in the UK, and electricity is the cause of 350,000 serious injuries each year, as well as half of all house fires.


And FAO forum members

The overconfidence partly comes from relying on the advice of unqualified friends or family (half of those surveyed said they do this) or seeking help online where the advice might not be appropriate – two fifths of people say they use Google to get tips and the same number use online video tutorials, such as on YouTube.

 

[Kate]

Have you reported something?

im guessing yes

 

[Sintra]

Nothing in the last few weeks anyway.

 

[amo]

They shouldn't have relaxed the part p laws this year then, they are the giving the diyers even more freedom and contradicting professional advice

 

[davethsparky]

With regards post 65 it is irrelevant how many deaths are caused by other means, this has no bearing on this at all.
28 deaths from electric shock is 28 too many, full stop!

You cannot just compare it to those other figures and say its ok as there were less deaths than there were through other means. Every single death is a tragedy and should not have happened. Or has the value of human life been reduced to a statistic?

 

[Andy78]

to protect against danger, injury, and damage to persons, property and livestock.


I love it!! Its like an electrical oath!

Im going to have that printed on my pick-up. It will be like the american police cars!! Protect, honour and serve (I may have made the last two words up :/ )

When I turn up to a job it scrolls in front of my eyes like Robocop. It's my primary directive.
Reg 131.1

 

[Guitarist]

The vast majority of us don't slate DIY'ers because they are taking work away from us...We get frustrated because every single day we see damage and potentially lethal situations caused by someone "having a go" to save a few quid. We do this job because it's something we care about, and it's upsetting to see it belittled to the phrase "it's not rocket science". Be that as it may, it still has the potential to destroy lives if not carried out and TESTED correctly.

 

[Dan]

I'm up for it either way but it seems the DIY area is simply a wanted area. By the DIY but also a lot of qualified sparks too.

Let's give it a bash and see what comes of it. I'm sure we'll shape it to something awesome for both. We do have enough opinions about it to contribute to the shaping of it, by the looks of it. ;-)

 

[Andy78]

I'm up for it either way but it seems the DIY area is simply a wanted area. By the DIY but also a lot of qualified sparks too.

Let's give it a bash and see what comes of it. I'm sure we'll shape it to something awesome for both. We do have enough opinions about it to contribute to the shaping of it, by the looks of it. ;-)

You should come to one of our monthly parties with the neighbours.

 

[Dan]

You should come to one of our monthly parties with the neighbours.

I've already been mate. I was wearing the anon mask screwing somebody who's keys were quite big. They came out the bowl first. Not a bad catch.

 

[Andy78]

I've got to remember to take the shed and garage keys off the main bunch next time.

 

[richy3333]

And what action is taken ? I receive patronising reply, defending the individual who posted the offensive post. Which was inappropriate and if used in the workplace would have resulted in disciplinary action being taken.

Decolad69

That's more than I recieved. I've reported a post before and heard nothing. Just the tumbleweed running through my mind...

 

[guest119]

I knew this would spark a bit of debate up. It would be great if we had to get a "license to operate" in our trade, but as yet such a system is not around. It would be great if all DIYers knew their limits, but they never will.

In the meantime however we can do little positive things to help educate the public, like getting behind the campaign I linked to in the first post. Stick a link to it on your facebook page, post it on your company website.
It's a well written piece that stops short of scaremongering but highlights the dangers. As an industry we should be aiming to educate and inform our customers, and help improve their safety.

It's not a lot, but any chance to promote our industry should be taken as I see it.

Iicense to operate, JIB card, still the measure.

Boydy

 

[Andy78]

Card holder myself mate and proud of it. And agreed it is the industry standard. I just wish there was a legal definition for it.

 

[telectrix]

will never happen while the scam providers are making millions out of sparks. when is everybody going to stand up and fight these parasites? answer is never, because proper sparks have cushy work in the industrial sector and can stick 2 fingers up to part pee.

 

[Stevesplatto]

The 'not rocket science' ref was not intended to belittle the trade. However the basic hand tool skills required are not extensive if we're honest. Most of the trade is about knowledge of method and regulations.
In a domestic situation I wouldnt say that electrical work at a handtool level is more difficult than say soldering and bending pipework. The main danger for DIYers in a domestic situation is wrongly specified materials materials and method and no test gear to check work. I think advising DIYer properly rather than patronising them somehow representing our trade as 'beyond the wit of mortal man' will provide them with information to judge if they have the skills and equipment to call themselves a 'competent person' and judge if that tradesman they've hired as bona fide. Not providing good advise is unlikely to have a positive outcome IMHO.