Eight signs your facility needs an electrical safety audit

Electrical faults rarely appear without warning. These are the signs we most often find on sites that later have a fire, an injury or a costly breakdown.

1. Breakers trip often

Repeated tripping usually means overloaded circuits, failing insulation or poorly coordinated protection. Resetting the breaker without finding the cause hides the problem.

2. Panels or cables feel warm, smell or discolour

Heat at a connection means resistance, often from a loose terminal or an overloaded conductor. A thermographic inspection finds these hot spots before they fail.

3. Boards are unlabelled or undocumented

If nobody can say which breaker feeds which machine, isolation for maintenance becomes guesswork, and guesswork causes shocks.

4. Extensions and temporary connections have become permanent

Extension leads and temporary supplies are not designed for continuous industrial loads.

5. The site has grown but the installation has not

New machines, air conditioning or kitchens are often added to circuits designed for much less.

6. Nobody has tested the earthing

Earthing protects people when equipment develops a fault. It degrades over time and should be tested periodically.

7. A fire, shock or major fault has happened

After any incident, an independent audit establishes what went wrong and whether the same risk exists elsewhere.

8. You are buying, leasing or insuring a building

An audit gives you evidence of the installation's condition before you take responsibility for it.

What an audit includes

• Visual inspection of boards, cables, containment and equipment
• Tests of earthing, insulation and protective devices
• Load checks on key circuits
• A report with photographs, risk ratings and a prioritised remedial plan

Employers in Kenya have workplace safety duties under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2007. An audit is a practical way to show that electrical risks are being managed. Read about our electrical safety audits.