The amount of maintenance work being performed by electrical contractors in a plant setting is on the rise. Corporate outsourcing of this type of work is the prime contributor to the expanding role of the electrical contractor in the maintenance and repair operations (MRO) marketplace. Having the correct test and measurement tools and using them safely is vital, especially considering national statistics that indicate electrician fatalities account for nearly 1/10 of all occupational deaths (1,000) each year. Of those, nearly 50 deaths are due to electrocution. Knowing what test or measurement tools to use can mean the difference between life and death. Since part of your job is taking electrical measurements, some of these measurements will be of live power. And even when you're testing "inactive" circuits, chances are there's current flowing nearby. But what if there was suddenly a lot more electrical energy in those circuits? Circuits that were designed for lightning strikes and other conditions can cause sudden power surges of thousands of volts. They don't last long, which is why they're also called transients. However, they're very dangerous. The strength of the transient surge decreases as it flows through a wire system. But if the electrical contractor isn't using the correct meter, it could mean big trouble. A surge could vaporize the tips on his test leads, increase an arc from the conductors to his test lead, explode the multimeter or even cause an arc blast.
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