'I feared I was dying from an electric shock'

PEKAN, March 11 (Bernama) A first year student from University Malaysia Pahang, claims her academic was drop significantly after she allegedly suffered an electric shock in a washing machine.The Deans of University Malaysia Pahang, claims the incident happened when she put her hands into a sink of water to do the washing machine.A plugged-in electrical appliance had been left in the sink, she claims."I was shaking and vomiting. I did not know what was wrong with me," she said. "I did not know if I was going to live or die."

"The first thing that got my attention was a girl screaming, screaming and crying," said Fello Y of Block A, which was stay at her room study at the time. "It was enough to draw my attention away from my study."She is suing the creche over the incident and claims she has not been able to attend the class.She told the reporter she was conscientious and had continued to class on the day, but she also rang her mother to say goodbye, as she thought she was going to die.

According to the expert, electric shock can happen in many different kind of situation. This hazard is most likely happened when there is presence of water and poor wiring system. The refrigerator, the washing machines, the space heaters or even electric toys and entertainment equipment; they are all electrical hazards to users and household members at some point in appliances life cycles. Haphazard at residence usually have temporary electricity supply cables and extension cords running all over the place on the work floors. All these situations present very high risks of accidents to all. 

If you accidentally touch the energized Live wire or other, live parts of an energized electrical appliance, while another part of your body is also in contact with the Neutral wire, a current will pass through your body; you will get an electric shock. The chances of being electrocuted will be much higher under certain conditions like wet clothing, high humidity and perspiration. Under these conditions the human skin is wet. This drastically reduces the resistance at the contact point where the electrified object touches the skin. The magnitude if the shock current is inversely proportional to the overall resistance of the human body, which include the skin contact resistance. 

In case of electric shock incident, the procedures of helping someone should be try to turn off power by unplug an appliance. Never touch the person receiving the electric shock because the current can pass through you also. After removing the person from the source of electricity, call for emergency assistance.If the victim is not breathing, begin rescue breathing. Cover the victim in a blanket and stay with them until help arrives.

Most importantly, prevention is more important than action after accident happen. So there are some person must take some action to prevent the accident happen. Deans, Heads of Division, Heads of School and Administrative Sections have been designated as Responsible Officers under the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.

Electrical shock can be prevented. Firstly, never mix water and electricity. Always keep electrical appliances away from water and moisture. Whether it’s on or off, if a plugged-in appliance falls or is accidentally dropped into water, do not attempt to retrieve or unplug it. Secondly, replace missing or broken wall plates. They’re not just there for the looks wall plates also protect your fingers from making contact with the electrical wiring behind them. Broken wall plates, or the absence of them altogether, can be especially dangerous in the dark when trying to locate a switch by touch, you may end up being shocked or electrocuted if you miss the mark and end up hitting live wires instead. Lastly, be kind to you cords. Take care to treat power cords gently like never nail or tightly tack them down, and regularly check to make sure that they’re not pinched between or underneath furniture.