Laboratory Safety Rules

Read ALL of the following rules carefully, and remember them while working in the laboratory.

1. Never hurry. Haste causes many accidents.
2. Always see that power is connected to your equipment through a circuit breaker.
3. Connect the power source last. Disconnect the power source first.
4. Never make wiring changes on live circuits. Work deliberately and carefully and check your work as you proceed.
5. Before connecting the power, check your wiring carefully for agreement with the wiring diagram for an accidental short-circuit and for loose connections.
6. Check out the supply voltage to make sure that is what you expect. For example: AC or DC, 120V, 208V or 240V.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. When using a multiple range meter always use the high range first to determine the feasibility of using a lower range.
10. Check the current rating of all rheostats before use. Make sure that no current overload will occur as the rheostat setting is changed.
11. Never overload any electrical machinery by more than 25% of the rated voltage or current for more than a few seconds.
12. Select ratings of a current coil (CC) and potential coil (PC) in a wattmeter properly before connecting in a test circuit.
13. 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.