Managing electrical supplies safely

Few will doubt that electrical supplies in healthcare premises need to be designed and maintained to standards exceeding those encountered in domestic premises. Alongside the need to ensure continuity of electrical supplies – hence the importance of properly maintained emergency standby generators to ensure that vital medical electrical (ME) equipment and building services systems can operate without interruption – patients may be particularly vulnerable to electrical hazards during medical procedures, due to the attachment to the skin of applied parts of ME equipment, and/or their introduction into the body. Here Al Rufaie, BSc CEng MIET FIHEEM, who has 40 years’ electrical industry experience, including over 10 years at the Department of Health providing electrical technology and safety guidance to the NHS, covers these elements, and details the patient protection requirements and various classifications of medical locations.

This article mainly reflects the contents of IET Guidance Note 7 (Chapter 9), published in October 2015 (available as a free download from the IET website). This Guidance is a commentary on Section 710 ‘Medical Locations’, which is incorporated in the Requirements for Electrical Installations – Part 7 (Special Installations or Locations) of BS 7671: 2008 Amendment 3 (2015). It is not a standalone section, and should be read in conjunction with Parts 1-6 of BS 7671:2008 incorporating Amendment No 3 (2015). Section 710 is based on the published standard IEC 60364-7-710: 2002, as modified by CENELEC standard HD 60364-7-710 (March 2012), plus additional Regulations and provisions to satisfy the UK healthcare requirements.

The requirements consider various medical locations in healthcare premises, and are intended to ensure that electrical installations are safe for patients and medical staff. They refer mainly to hospitals, private clinics, medical and dental practices, healthcare centres, and dedicated medical rooms in the workplace.