HSE Safety Notice Issued | Lubrication of Circuit Breakers

This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's H&S Adviser, Georgina Watson, on behalf of Slough Borough Council's Associate Director and Education & Inclusion, Johnny Kyriacou. This is for the attention of all schools.

An investigation into an explosion of a HV circuit breaker indicated that recently carried out maintenance may have been a causal factor.

The incident resulted in catastrophic failure of the HV circuit breaker leading to fire/explosion and could have resulted in fatal injuries. Maintenance of HV and low voltage circuit breakers typically involves both the cleaning and lubricating of the operating mechanism.

The HSE investigation found that the same product was used for both maintenance activities, but evidence shows that the product was only suitable for cleaning and NOT lubrication.

It is essential that the correct product is used for each task.

View the safety notice for full details.