Safe start to a career

The next generation of young Scottish electricians will have a safe start to their career - due to an initiative from the Electrical Safety Council (ESC) and the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust (SECTT).

Almost four hundred young trainees are being supplied with free lockout kits - which could potentially save their lives - by the ESC and SECTT. Worth £30, the kit will help the young electricians ensure electricity in a property is turned off (and stays off) until electrical work is safely completed. This process, known as safe isolation, is a safety fundamental and essential in helping to avoid a serious or fatal electric shock.

“We believe it’s vital that safe working practices and procedures are undertaken right across the industry”, explains Phil Buckle, director general of the ESC. “To be properly effective, this needs to be established right at the start of an electrician’s career. These free lockout kits don’t just provide trainees with essential safety equipment - which we hope will make safe isolation an ingrained habit - they could also make the difference between life or death”.

“The kits will be provided to students from the Shetland Isles to the Borders, studying at 20 Approved Centres across Scotland”, adds Anne Galbraith, chief executive of SECTT. “Our continuing partnership with the ESC means we have been able to share the cost of these indispensible safety devices and help safeguard the next generation of Scottish electricians.”