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Protection against stray electrical currents
From astronauts to accountants, plumbers to police, everyone has the right to return home safely from work. That’s why we develop and implement innovative solutions that help ensure a safe workplace for our people every day.
For plumbers on the tools, the working environment is always changing, requiring continual reassessment of the work and the safety measures required to mitigate risk.
The Plumb Guard, or Plumber’s Voltage Meter, provides our technical officers performing plumbing work between the mains network and customer property boundary a reliable control measure as they work with metallic pipes and other conductive materials. The simple device sounds an alarm if there is a potentially harmful voltage in the services being worked on.
Used in conjunction with conductor straps and protective gloves, the Plumb Guard enables an informed decision on safety, rather than operator instinct. While the device cannot deflect a charge, it does let the user know if it’s safe to proceed.
Operation of the Plumb Guard is simple and only adds a few minutes to each job, ensuring safety first. Protected by a robust casing, the Plumb Guard has two leads attached to the inlet and outlet risers, an earth lead that attaches to an earth spike pushed into the ground away from the work space, an on/off switch and a test button.
Before use, the operator checks the condutor straps for wear, then tests the alarm to determine if there are breaks in the circuit or the straps are faulty. The leads are then attached to the risers on either side under the conductor strap clamps or the metal of the clamps if space is restricted. This creates a clean circuit that can detect any voltage.
During operation, the Plumb Guard sounds a heart-beat signal to indicate there is no voltage. If faulty equipment in the circuitry triggers a charge, the Plumb Guard will sound an alarm to indicate risk and stop operations.
As a control measure, the Plumb Guard has become an important part of our operations, minimising risk and enabling our people to get on with the job as safely as possible.
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