Safety Behind The Socket
For both patients and staff within hospital and other medical facilities, high levels of electrical supply continuity and safety must be achieved. In general, electrical safety can be compromised by either unplanned interruptions to supply (required for patients) or electric shock hazards (to patients and staff).
It is recommended by several international and UK standards that isolated power systems are to be used for circuits supplying medical electrical life-support equipment or in areas where intra-cardiac procedures are performed. These areas are classified as either “Group 2” or “Clinical Category 4 or 5” locations.
An IT Power Supply System (Isolated Power Supply) is recommended over the standard TN Earthed Supply systems (normal supply system for most industrial, commercial and domestic applications) as it has several advantages, including the detection (via an alarm) of the insulation level of medical equipment dropping below pre-set parameters.
The installation of an Isolated Power System, along with effective equipotential earthing, provides enhanced electrical safety by eliminating the possibility of tripped MCBs caused by a single earth fault and therefore ensures that the grid, UPS and generator are able to provide continuous power to the critical medical sockets. By isolating the final circuits from earth, only negligible current is allowed to flow, even under first-fault conditions.