A201 BSMH3083 INTRODUCTION TO OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH

(GROUP A)
REFLECTION 1
SITI NABILAH NASIP (254446)

Electricity is an important basic need in our lives. We already know that electricity is

not visible and therefore the danger that will occur is not immediately detectable. Accident

statistics show that every year many electrical accidents occur in Malaysia that cause victims

to suffer serious injuries and even death. Most accidents that occur can be avoided if basic

safety measures are followed when using electricity. Usually, we will use multiple sockets

when we do not have enough plugs. For example, students use multiple sockets in the room

involving various appliances such as electric kettles, irons, charging telephones and laptops

as well as hair dryers. There are also some who break the rules of using rice cookers to cook

in the room using multiple sockets. Such actions will cause electrical hazards to occur

because when multiple sockets are used in excess of the limit, the socket port will melt down

followed by electric shock or fire. To prevent such incidents from happening, each student

should ensure that their multiple sockets are not overloaded by calculating the maximum

power of the appliance they use on a particular socket. If the watts used by their electrical

appliances exceed the watts of multiple sockets then it is not safe.

We need to know how many limits our socket connector can accommodate and how

much power our electrical appliances uses. If we know how much power the electrical

appliances we use, we can make sure the use of the wire connector does not exceed its load.

Each electrical appliance have different amount of power consumption used. Some hardware

uses high energy, some do not. For example, the multiple socket I use now has a maximum

electric current limit of 1500W. Currently since I am at home I only use it to charge phones

and laptops. The laptop I use has an electric power consumption of 80 to 100 watts while my

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mobile phone only takes 1 hour 9 minutes to charge which is equivalent to 25W. Therefore,

the total wattage used is 125W and it is safe which means I have not misused multiple

sockets more than its limit as it does not exceed 1500W. However, I realized that while I was

at UUM, I had many times misused multiple sockets more than its limit since I connected the

iron to the multiple sockets. Usually the iron uses 200 times more energy than a cell phone

charger and it has exceeded 1500W.

Based on my calculation and own experience, I think that there are many people out

there that did not have ample knowledge on how to use the multiple sockets. This is because,

it is very easy for us to use the connector cable as much as possible without thinking about

the dangers that will occur if we do not use the connector cable properly. The more

electronics we use in our daily life, the more multiple sockets we need since there are not

enough sockets at home. Cable connectors can be counted as a necessity today to

accommodate the amount of our daily electronic appliances. However, most of us may not

know that the use of multiple sockets has its own limitations and ways. There are many

among us who still underestimate the use of multiple sockets. If we use an electric current of

appliances higher than the electric power of multiple sockets, the wire will be hot. When it

gets too hot, it can reach a point where the wire or plastic strip will start to burn. If this is not

noticed, a house can also catch fire. According to statistics, 60% of fires occur due to

electricity. These statistics clearly show that many of our society do not know that improper

use of electric energy will cause them to be exposed to electrical hazard and one of the

reasons is because they did not have ample knowledge on how to use the multiple sockets

properly.

One of the steps that can be taken to prevent the occurrence of electrical hazards

while using multiple sockets is by calculating how many watts are used. However, it is quite

difficult if every time you want to connect the electrical appliances, you have to calculate

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how much wattage is used. If you are a diligent person, then it is not wrong for you to do so.

In short, a simple tip is "Do not connect two types of electrical appliances that have a heating

element on the same wire connector". Besides that, buy a connector cable that has safety

features. There are two types of connector shields that people tend to buy, namely safe and

unsafe or more precisely cheaper. We need to buy a connector cable that has safety features.

There are three types of safety elements that we can look for if we go out to buy a connecting

cable namely surge protector, fuse and thermal fuse.

Surge protector is the easiest feature to find. Surge protector provides some level of

protection against electric current surges. Such protection is in quantity joule (a quantity for

total energy). Fuses are a common safety element found in electrical appliances. Its function

is to protect the equipment from excessive current. When too much electricity passes through

a fuse, the conductor in the fuse will melt and permanently disconnect the electrical circuit.

The fuse can be replaced with a new one, just need to know how 'rating' the fuse is. Thermal

fuse refer to the some connector cables that have a kind of red button. When there is a high

electric current flowing, the high temperature of the flow will produce mechanical movement

to break the circuit. Its function is more or less the same as a regular fuse. However, the

thermal fuse allows us to reset the fuse to its original position and connect the circuit that was

initially disconnected. Very easy because we do not need to replace the fuse.

In conclusion, the lesson that I have learned from this exercise is multiple sockets that

we often use in our daily lives can be dangerous to ourselves and those around us if we do not

use them properly. Before this, I often make the same mistake of using multiple sockets more

than its limit. Acts like this should not be taken lightly because it is very dangerous. I learned

not to put excessive load on multiple sockets. For safety, I prefer to use only one plug for one

socket hole. Even if I use any additional connector (adapter) I will make sure the adapter has

security features such as making sure there is a fuse on it.

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