Gill Nowell | International Women's Day 2021

Gill Nowell | International Women's Day 2021

Ben Cass
To celebrate International Women’s Day we’ve interviewed data-driven innovation expert at ElectraLink and Director of Electric Vehicle Association (EVA) England, Gill Nowell. Selected as one of the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) Top 50 Women in Engineering in 2020, she’s a regular speaker and panelist on electric vehicles and data-driven transition to net zero.
Recycling Workwear for a better world

Recycling Workwear for a better world

Ben Cass

Dedicated to its corporate and social responsibility of reducing the company’s carbon footprint, SKANWEAR is constantly looking to develop innovative sustainable solutions in order to minimize its impact on the environment. One such initiative that enables the company to take steps towards achieving this aim is their newly introduced Garment Recycling Scheme.

Think with your senses – Head, Hand, Face Protection

Think with your senses – Head, Hand, Face Protection

Ben Cass
Because of the extreme heat experienced in an arc flash, it impacts upon your entire body and everything you need to wear. For this reason it is important to ensure that all areas of your body are covered with both arc rated clothing and personal protective equipment (PPE) that will protect you from the heat energy.
Arc Flash Protective Clothing

Do I need Arc Flash Protection?

Ben Cass
If your company employs workers that operate on or near to electrical sources, then it is a requirement to have a comprehensive understanding of the NFPA 70E regulations. Within Article 110 of these regulations, the general safety requirements for working with electricity are detailed. Read on to understand whether you are required to wear Arc Flash Protection.
Fiona's Interview: Celebrating International Women in Engineering Day 2020

Fiona's Interview: Celebrating International Women in Engineering Day 2020

Angus Long
This week’s spotlight interview is with Fiona Downie, Technical Field Advisor for Controls at FieldCore. Thank you to Fiona for such an honest and motivational story. Showing that taking advantage of all kinds of influences outside of traditional education can spark that early interest and idea of a career in a STEM industry and how important raising awareness of these possibilities is, to encourage everyone, not only females, to consider engineering as an exciting future career. "At the end of the day you can’t be what you don’t know about or can’t see in everyday life."
Sharon's Story: Celebrating International Women in Engineering

Sharon's Story: Celebrating International Women in Engineering

Women in EngineeringAngus Long

We hope you enjoy this weeks interview with Sharon Incerti, Cable Development Project Manager at WSP, a lady who pushed for what she wanted right from the start of her career during a very different looking industry in the UK during the 1980s. 

Sharon relishes the mentorship she can give others to achieve their full potential and after interviewing Linsey for last weeks spotlight, the warmth and appreciation for her Industry career mentor Sharon was so apparent. A big thank you to Sharon for such a great message and words of advice. 

Linsey's Story: Celebrating International Women in Engineering Day

Linsey's Story: Celebrating International Women in Engineering Day

Women in EngineeringAngus Long

The second interview in our series to celebrate #INWED shines the spotlight on Linsey, Project & Development Engineer for Wootton and Wootton. 

A big thank you to Linsey for sharing such a fascinating journey to her current role in a smaller size business, with such a wide remit. Fantastic words of advice and also shows how important female mentors and role models are for inspiring and guiding future female generations “We can do anything a man can do…”

Sandie's Story: Celebrating International Women in Engineering Day

Sandie's Story: Celebrating International Women in Engineering Day

Women in EngineeringAngus Long

The first in our Series of interviews celebrating International Women in Engineering Day featuring our female colleagues in engineering is with Sandie Jones, IAMA Field Service Engineer at ABB UK.

For anyone considering an engineering pathway, a great piece of advice from Sandie: “grasp all of the Education that you can that is on offer with both hands – the key to success is Education”.

Arc Flash Blast from a Solar Panel

5 Arc Flash Solar Panel Risks for Industry Personnel

Ben Cass

The risk is so pronounced within the Solar Industry due to the DC circuits found within typical PV installations, which can both generate and sustain arcs. DC circuits present a greater challenge than AC circuits due to the constant-current source rather than constant voltage, which makes calculating arc energies difficult.

So just what are some of the biggest Arc Flash risks for Solar Industry Personnel?

Arc Flash Safety Procedures

Arc Flash Safety Procedures

Ben Cass

If you’re already familiar with what an Arc Flash is and what type of training, you might need to have in order to protect yourself from it the next thing you might be wondering is if there are any specifically related to Arc flash Safety Procedures.

In this article I’ll be going over the top 2 Arc Flash Safety procedures that you need to know in order to protect yourself and your team from Arc Flash.

Arc Flash Training

An Introduction to Arc Flash Training

Ben Cass
Arc flash training is made up of all the practical skills and knowledge one would need to navigate safely through various workplace electrical hazards. Topics could range from a 120 volt lighting circuit, to a 2300 volt starter, all the way to a 138 kilovolt transmission line.
What is Arc Flash PPE?

What is Arc Flash PPE?

Ben Cass

In our last article we discussed what an arc flash really is and why you don’t want to be exposed to one, but we didn’t really talk about how to protect ourselves from one.

This week we go into detail on a particular segments which could save your life during an Arc Flash Event, Arc Flash PPE.

Arc Flash Blast/Explosion

What causes an Arc Flash?

Angus Long
When working on or near electrical equipment you need to become familiar with the hazards associated with that particular work. You may already have a good understanding of shock hazard but what about arc flash?
Personal Protective Grounding for Worker Safety

Personal Protective Grounding for Electrical Safety

Ben Cass
In an industrial setting, personal protective grounding is something that can be easily overlooked. It is also something that is widely misunderstood.

In fact, in most places temporary protective ground cables are not even thought of as PPE, but that is exactly what they are! Notice the title refers to personal protective grounding, well you are the person and it’s for that very reason you need to understand these next few concepts.
Man Wearing Rubber Insulating Gloves

Can rubber insulating gloves protect you from Arc Flash?

Dan White
This weeks topic, Do electrician’s rubber insulating gloves offer any protection from Arc Flash? Interestingly enough, even though you probably won’t find a label on the glove that says so, rubber insulating gloves used in conjunction with leather protectors do offer sufficient protection from arc flash burns.
How to choose Arc Flash PPE

How to choose Arc Flash PPE

Ben Cass
Once you’ve determined whether or not you will be faced with an Arc Flash Hazard, you’ve carefully reviewed all the steps of the job, you have your tools required, and have selected any necessary equipment to get the job done, then it’s time to choose your Arc Flash Personal Protective Equipment (Arc Flash PPE).

But what do you need to consider before you pick it out? Well, we have chosen 3 key concepts to look at before you don the “space suit” and march out for lift-off.
Heat Tested Flame Resistant Clothing

How does Flame Resistant Clothing work?

Ben Cass

Flame Retardant garments are a necessity for any employee who may be at risk of coming into contact with Electric Arc Events, Flash Fires or combustible dust explosions to protect the skin against burns and minimise the risk of injury.

Burns are a common health & safety issue in some workplaces, especially those that work with naked flames, chemicals and high temperatures.

Treated vs Inherent Fabric

What's the difference between Treated Fabric and Inherent Fabric?

Ben Cass

The main difference between these two fabrics is the process that is used at the final stage in order to make the product flame resistant, but which type of fabric should you opt for given your working environment?

Arc Flash Check

What is an Arc Flash Blast?

Ben Cass
Arc Flash Blast is a low frequency, high consequence event and is caused when electrical conductors are either unintentionally short between phases or earth. To most people working with electricity, they have never even heard of an arc flash let alone seen one. Yet they can have devastating, life-altering effects.