PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-685
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 685
DECEMBER 2009
40
PS 685
DEC 09
Dear Half-Mast,
I arrived at my new unit last week
and soon noticed we did not have an
electrical safety board. My CO says it
is not required. I thought it was. What
do you say?
SGT W. H.
PS has recommended electrical safety boards as long as PS has been making
recommendations. We still recommend them. However, in the decades I have
traveled from post to post, I have seen some problems with these boards.
First, they are often treated as static displays. They gather dust and become a
part of the landscape. In the event of an electrical emergency, the board would not
immediately come to mind as a source of lifesaving equipment.
Next, many of the boards I have seen are missing equipment. Things that we
recommend for the board like gloves and flashlights have a way of walking away
from the board and not walking back.
Also, the location of many of the boards is puzzling. I have seen boards located
in hallways and at the far end of maintenance bays, where little or no “electrical
emergency action” will happen.
So, let’s go back to square one.
First, whether you use a display board or have another system to contain
your electrical emergency equipment, you must have the gear and it must be
easily accessible.
That means you might need more than
one board or more than one electrical
emergency equipment station. You, the
NCO in charge, with the help of your
maintenance chief and CO, need to look
at your entire area of electrical safety
responsibility. Assess how many boards
or stations you need. Get your post safety
of±ce to help you.
At each critical location, you should
have a hook to grab, pull away and save
a person who is being electrocuted. Too
many units have one hook on the safety
board. Often, it’s so far away that by the
time you retrieve it, well, it’s too late to
use it. Lack of available hooks have led
to some Soldiers risking their lives to
“bulldoze” a friend being electrocuted.
Too often they get a jolt, too!
Here’s how to make a
lifesaving hook, shown on
page 3-10 of TB 385-4:
“Safety boards are permitted for use to store/
prominently display emergency equipment.
If used, safety boards should be made to be
easily recognized and familiar to personnel.
Safety boards that are used for storing and
displaying emergency kits should be painted
white with a 2-inch green border. Likewise, it is
recommended that the board title contain white
lettering on a green rectangular background
and the positions of the items be designated in
black letters on a white background.”
Electrical Safety…
5
/
8
” dia. metal
Bolt and nut (2)
Flat portion
under nuts
1-
1
/
4
” dia. hot
stick stock or
hardwood
Rubber tip
Do We
Need
a Board?
So, in short, it
is
not
required
to have an
electrical safety
board to display
the safety
equipment…
Sergeant W. H.,
The information about
electrical safety boards
is in Para 3.8.9 of TB 385-4,
Safety Requirements for
Maintenance of Electrical
and Electronic Equipment
(01 July 08). Here’s what it
says…
Safety Hook
8”
2”
60”
…but it
is
required to
have the equipment, that
would be on the board,
on hand and ready to
use if your facility is
exposing personnel to
50 volts
or higher.
685.40-41.indd
1-2
10/16/09
5:45:18 PM
Click here for a copy of this article to save or email.
Back to Top Back to Top
