Improvements in electrical safety

The author discusses observations made during a 1960 sabbatical leave-of-absence spent in nine countries of central and western Europe, followed by a month´s service as safety consultant at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, New Mexico, studying problems of electric shock and electrical safety. This paper presents a varied assortment of current problems including safety grounding, grounding versus bonding, relative hazard of 120-versus 240-volt a-c systems, and double insulation for appliances and hand tools. It deplores the lack of electrical safety in both laboratories and schools of electrical engineering, and concludes with the recent development of differential circuit breakers. The new miniature circuit breaker is considered a major breakthrough in electrical safety for low-voltage utilization circuits for both the home and industry.