First aid awareness for electricians

HSE’s first-aid guidance (L74) lists electricity among the workplace hazards a first-aid needs assessment should consider, with electric shock, burns and heart attack as the injuries it can cause. Work at height brings head injuries, loss of consciousness, spinal injuries and fractures. Electricians meet both.

The law defines first aid, where a doctor or nurse will be needed, as treatment to preserve life and limit the harm until that help arrives. After an electric shock the person nearest is usually a workmate, so knowing what to do in the first minutes, and what not to do, matters. HSE says as little as 50 volts across two parts of the body can drive a current that stops the heart beating properly or stops breathing.

The safe isolation procedure is the main defence against electric shock. This course covers what to do when something still goes wrong: making the scene safe, getting 999 called, CPR and the defibrillator, and burns, bleeding and falls. It is an awareness course. It is not Emergency First Aid at Work or First Aid at Work training, it gives no first-aid certificate, and it does not replace practical training.

The first priority is your own safety. A person who is still in contact with a live part is part of the circuit, and touching them, their clothes or anything they are touching can put the current through you too. Shout for help so someone can call 999 while you deal with the supply.

Switch off or isolate the supply first. HSE’s guidance on live work says after a shock the supply must be cut off quickly and help given. Make sure the switch you use actually feeds what the person is touching; if you are not sure, treat them as still live. Only at low voltage, and only if you cannot switch off, St John Ambulance (voluntary guidance, not law) describes standing on dry insulating material (a wooden box or a plastic mat, for example) and pushing the limb clear with a broom handle or wooden pole, or looping rope round the arms or ankles, without touching the person.

Overhead lines and high voltage are different. Never touch the wires, and assume they are live even if they are quiet or look dead: HSE’s GS6 says lines can be switched back on automatically or remotely. Keep away, keep others away, call 999, say power lines are involved, and ask for the line’s owner to be contacted. Stay away until the line’s owner says it has been made safe. No distance in metres is given for a rescue. Near exposed high-voltage equipment, do not approach at all: high voltage can arc through the air.

Once the person is clear of the supply, check whether they respond. If they do not, make sure 999 has been called, then check their breathing and start CPR if it is not normal. Even if they seem fine, call 999 for emergency help: St John Ambulance’s electric shock steps end with that call. Any burn caused by electricity needs 999 or A&E, the NHS says; on site, call 999 for a burn caused by electricity. For the paperwork side of electrical work, see our guide to electrical certificate types.

In the app

Work through electric shock scenarios

Module 3 takes you through what to do at low voltage, at overhead lines and near high voltage, and once the person is clear, with a site scenario and quiz in every lesson.

Try it free for 7 days

HSE says an electric shock can stop the heart beating properly. The Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) 2025 guidelines put it as check, call, CPR. Check that it is safe to approach and whether the person responds. If they do not, call 999 straight away, on speaker, and then check their breathing while the call is answered. Since 2025 you no longer wait to confirm abnormal breathing before calling. Slow, gasping or laboured breathing is a sign of cardiac arrest, and if you are in any doubt, start CPR. There is no pulse check for lay rescuers.

Push hard in the centre of the chest, at least 5 cm but no more than 6 cm deep, 100 to 120 times a minute: about twice a second. If you have been trained in rescue breaths, give 30 compressions then 2 breaths. If you have not, keep giving chest compressions without stopping. The 999 call handler will talk you through it.

RCUK says anyone can use an automated external defibrillator (AED). Switch it on and follow its prompts; it will only allow a shock if one is needed. Make sure nobody touches the person during analysis or the shock. RCUK says an AED can usually be used safely on a wet or metal surface as long as nobody is in contact with the person when the shock is given; dry a wet chest so the pads stick. HSE says the law does not require a workplace to have an AED.

HSE explains that current passing through the body heats the tissue all along its path, which can cause deep burns that often need major surgery. A domestic supply can do this too if the current flows for more than a split second. So the mark on the skin is no guide to how bad the burn is underneath.

Arcing is a separate danger. HSE’s HSG85 says an arc can cause deep-seated, slow-healing burns even if it is brief, and its intense ultraviolet light can damage the eyes. Stopping the arc happening in the first place matters more than any first aid; see our guide to PPE for electricians.

The NHS says call 999 or go to A&E for any burn caused by electricity, as well as burns that are very large or deep. On site, call 999: a burn from current means a shock. While help is on its way, hold the burn under cool running water for 20 minutes, as soon as possible. Take off clothing or jewellery near the burn, but leave anything that is stuck to it. Once it is cooled, lay cling film over it without wrapping it round. No creams, oils or butter, no plasters, and do not burst blisters. Cooling must not hold up getting the person to hospital, and do not let the casualty drive themselves.

Beyond electric shock, the course covers what you may meet on site while help is on its way: someone unresponsive after a fall, choking, chest pain, stroke and seizures, severe bleeding and needlesticks, chemical burns and eye injuries, broken bones, and heat and cold. After a fall from height, RCUK says not to put the person in the recovery position: keep the neck as still as you can, but opening the airway always comes first.

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 2013 require the responsible person, for an employee usually the employer, to report certain incidents. These include deaths; specified injuries to workers, such as a fracture other than to a finger, thumb or toe, a burn covering more than 10% of the body or seriously damaging the eyes, breathing or other vital organs, or loss of consciousness caused by a head injury or asphyxia; injuries keeping someone off normal work for more than seven days in a row; and dangerous occurrences, such as plant or equipment accidentally touching an uninsulated overhead line above 200 volts. An electric shock is not on its own a specified injury, so not every shock is reportable, but it is good practice to record every shock.

Employers must tell employees about the first-aid arrangements, including where the kit, facilities and people are. HSE suggests at least one notice in a prominent place at each site, and HSE’s construction guidance says site inductions should cover first-aid arrangements.