Circuits and wiring

Circuits and wiring carry electricity through your home and workplace much like water pipes transport water. The main electrical current enters your breaker or fuse box, and splits it into different pathways or circuits that travel to different areas of the building. There are several different reasons why the current is split. Each circuit carries a relatively small amount of electricity, reducing the risk of serious injury, sparks, and fire, and allowing a smaller (and therefore cheaper) grade of wiring.

However even though each circuit carries a “small” amount of current, it is still sufficient to cause serious injury or even death. Heart attacks can occur at 4 amps of power or less, and electrical burns can occur at 5 amps. Most household circuits range from 15 to 30 amps of power – and this can be much higher in work places depending on the type of business.

Electrical shocks occur when your body touches the circuit, either directly or indirectly through a conductive object like a screwdriver. Just as you would expect to get your hand wet if you stuck it in a water pipe, electricity naturally flows through the body when it enters the circuit. The severity of the shock depends on several factors, including the amount of amps flowing through the body, the duration of contact, and the circuit voltage.

Shock is not the only way that circuits cause injury. An overloaded circuit – one that has more current running through it than it is rated to carry – can cause sparking, melted or damaged wires, appliance damage and dangerous malfunction, and even electrical fire. Improperly wired and cross-wired circuits can cause shorts and sparks as well.

Some circuits include safety features that when bypassed can pose a danger. In May 2005, an amusement park manager in Pigeon Forge, TN was found guilty of second-degree murder after the falling death on one of the rides due to a safety harness malfunction. It was found that a jumper wire was installed that bypassed safety features that would have detected that the safety harness was not properly locked into place, and stopped the ride from ever leaving the station.

In another case, one electrician was electrocuted and another seriously hurt when working on a high-voltage electrical panel box at a mine in New Mexico. The Investigation Report stated that part of the problem was due to the fact that the circuits were not properly marked, so that the electricians had to repeatedly turn on and off each breaker to locate what locations they powered in the mine.

If improperly wired circuits have caused you harm

…contact a personal injury attorney at Jim S. Adler & Associates. We have decades of experience helping innocent victims of other people’s negligence get the compensation they deserve for medical bills, lost work, and pain and suffering. Even if you suspect the problem might originate with the original builders or previous owners, let us help you find out who is at fault. Contact us right now for a free case review.

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