Keeping pace with regulatory change can be a major challenge to electrical engineers but it is important to understand the implications of such change. Ernest Magog of Lumicom shines a light on the changes in the WEEE regulations that impact on lighting products

At times it may seem the regulations which direct our working lives never seem to stand still long enough for us to draw breath. Which can be seen as an irritant, a distraction or an opportunity to make things better. I prefer the latter option.

One example that will be very much in the minds of Electrical Review readers is Amendment 1 of the 17th Edition Wiring Regulations. There’s quite a bit of change to get to grips with but the changes are there to improve the overall quality and safety of electrical design and installation.

Fibox, a Finnish enclosure manufacturer, this month celebrates its twentieth anniversary as a stand alone manufacturing and sales company

Fibox has been making injection moulded enclosures since 1966, but until 1991 the company making the enclosures was Fiskars, which was better known for making knives and scissors, and latterly became the owners of Wilkinson Sword.

Though Fibox has maintained success throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the road was long and began in 1991 when the current owner, Tapani Niemi, led a management buy out. At that time the only sales office was in Ekenas, Finland with a scattering of distributors around the world. So his first task was to set about making the company a global organisation by opening subsidiary sales companies in other countries.

Working in the electrical industry is intrinsically dangerous. The potential for something to go wrong is all too apparent – whether it’s an accident to the employee themselves or a problem with the work they are carrying out – so having the appropriate insurance cover in place is vital to protect any practising business

Recent research suggests many small businesses or sole traders are unaware of what their insurance covers and are taking on jobs well above the level that they are actually insured for. This not only puts the future of the business at risk, but could lead to criminal prosecutions and prison sentences if lives are put in danger.

Can you imagine being in charge of a team of engineers and not having heard of Amendment 1? It happens, says Amtech’s technical services manager, Ian Elmer

One of the things that often concerns our support engineers is the number of calls they receive from electrical engineers who clearly don’t have time to keep abreast of the latest developments and regulations. The trouble is, there’s so much else to do. With deadlines to meet, site issues eating into schedules and clients constantly changing their minds, who has time to bone up on new regulations, codes of best practice etc? But, of course, as far as the authorities are concerned, ignorance is no excuse.