Laboratory Safety Rules
Read ALL of the following rules carefully, and remember them while working in the laboratory.
- Never hurry. Haste causes many accidents.
- Always see that power is connected to your equipment through a circuit breaker.
- Connect the power source last. Disconnect the power source first.
- Never make wiring changes on live circuits. Work deliberately and carefully and check your work as you proceed.
- Before connecting the power, check your wiring carefully for agreement with the wiring diagram for an accidental short-circuit and for loose connections.
- Check out the supply voltage to make sure that is what you expect. For example: AC or DC, 120V, 208V or 240V.
- Do not cause short-circuits or high currents arcs. Burn from arcs may be very severe even at a distance of a few meters. Report all electrical burns to your instructor.
- Be careful to keep metallic accessories of apparel or jewelry out of contact with live circuit parts and loose articles of clothing out of moving machinery.
- When using a multiple range meter always use the high range first to determine the feasibility of using a lower range.
- Check the current rating of all rheostats before use. Make sure that no current overload will occur as the rheostat setting is changed.
- Never overload any electrical machinery by more than 25% of the rated voltage or current for more than a few seconds.
- Select ratings of a current coil (CC) and potential coil (PC) in a wattmeter properly before connecting in a test circuit.
- Do not permit a hot leg of a three phase 208V supply, or of a 240V or 120V supply to come in contact with any grounded objects, as a dangerous short-circuits will result.