Proper electrical grounding can prevent costly emergencies

What is electrical grounding?

Electrical grounding, commonly referred to only as grounding, was started as a safety measure to keep people from coming in contact with electrical hazards. Anything with electricity running through it needs to be grounded. Picture any major appliance such as a refrigerator. Refrigerators use a fairly large amount of electricity going through them, and yet people never get shocked with touching them. If something were to go wrong and the fridge had the electrical current running through it, there is no place for it go. The electricity would sit there waiting until someone came in contact with it allowing the electricity to run through them. By running a wire from the plug back to the power box allows any unwanted current to return to the circuit breaker. The breaker will trip, and no one will be shocked. The same principle applies to larger electrical systems such as those in a home or building. In a typical electrical grounding system a large grounding wire is run from the primary power box to a rod inserted into the ground. The rod allows excess current to be returned safely to the ground. Commonly called Earthing as well, this process keeps current from damaging equipment or shock people.

Why is it important for facilities to have electrical grounding?

Grounding or Earthing protects against lightning strikes, line surges, and unintentional contact with higher voltage lines. By allowing the large power surges to exit keeps equipment and people safe. The surges can damage valuable equipment that is costly to repair. Unfortunately repairing or replacing the equipment is only a part of the expense. A business is also forced to deal with the downtime of everyone that can’t work until the issue has been resolved. Perhaps the biggest issue from a power surge is if it takes out equipment that stores information. Recovering lost information can be one of the most difficult challenges there is. If everything isn’t backed up and there is a surge, the information is gone and can create massive inefficiencies.

How does a lightning warning system protect a facility?

Being ready for something like a lightning strike can be extremely tough. How much easier would it be if you knew it was coming? By using lightning warning systems, a facility has enough notice to take protective measures to protect themselves. With the advanced warning, companies can shut down vulnerable or dangerous systems until the threat has passed. Being able to avoid the major issues from a lightning strike can save companies a lot of time and money.