NICEIC GROUP RENAMED ASCERTIVA scertiva Group Ltd is the new name for NICEIC Group Ltd , the trading subsidiary of the Electrical Safety Council.
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Ascertiva Group’s key brands remain NICEIC, the UK’s largest certification body for electrical contractors and NQA, a global management certification provider.
The “Ascertiva” brand is a composite name, representing the three main activities of the company: Assessment, Certification and Verification. It has been designed to be recognised internationally and the tick logo denotes the positive action of certification on industry, business and government. “We have changed our name so that we can communicate effectively and conduct business at a Group level, without compromising our key brands,” explains Emma McCarthy, chief operating officer,
Ascertiva Group. “For our NICEIC and NQA customers it is very much business as usual.” NICEIC and NQA are not affected by the name change and no customer will need to change company livery, letterheads or certificates. Ascertiva Group’s surplus is gift aided to its parent company , the Electrical Safety Council so it can fulfil its charitable aims. For more details on the company log onto www.ascertiva.com
ROBUST ACCIDENT DATA ANALYSIS NEEDED he Council has been working to develop a robust data set that details the numbers of fires, deaths and injuries in the UK caused by electricity. Current government data on deaths is not held in a single place for the whole of the UK, and injury data has not been collected since the end of the Home Accident Surveillance System and Leisure Accident Surveillance System in 2002. RoSPA is leading a campaign to get this data collection reinstated, which is currently being piloted by the South West Health Observatory, work that the Electrical Safety Council strongly supports. While the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) does hold accurate fires statistics, this is not published in full.
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Using data gathered from the World Health Organisation, we now know that in 2007, the last year for which full data is available, there were 19 deaths outside the workplace as a
result of electrocution and electrical burns. It is likely that the majority, if not all of these, could have been prevented by use of an RCD.
injuries, repairing devices which were plugged in (13% of injuries) and touching switches with wet hands (10% of injuries).
Working with the DCLG, it is now clear that there were over 21,000 household fires in 2007 as a result of misuse of, and faults with, electrical goods and products. This represents about half of all domestic fires in the UK.
Having such accurate data ensures that the Electrical Safety Council can target its work to areas where it can be most effective. This will also inform the public affairs work to encourage politicians to support measures to increase electrical safety in UK homes. It highlights that there is still work to be done to protect people from unsafe wiring and electrical goods, especially in fire prevention.
As mentioned earlier, no data is collected on the number of injuries as a result of electricity. However, a recent survey by Ipsos-Mori on behalf of the Electrical Safety Council indicated that 12% of people in the UK had experienced a serious electric shock at home. This includes shocks resulting in physical injury only, not just people feeling slight discomfort from an electrical current. The biggest causes of injuries were using faulty equipment, which accounted for 23% of
COUNCIL’S ELECTRICAL INFORMATION HUB SET FOR NOVEMBER REVAMP WWW.ESCHUB.ORG.UK evelopment is underway to provide the electrical trade and industry with a central reference source that will contain comprehensive technical information and guidance from ESC engineers.
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The ESC hub was launched in January this year and currently provides access to the Essential Guide to the Wiring Regulations – the definitive source of guidance to the Wiring Regulations. The rest of our industry
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publications remain on the Council’s main website at www.esc.org.uk. In order to provide clearer definition between its industry and consumer communications, the Council is expanding the content of the hub which will house all of the guidance that it currently produces and much more.
user-friendly on-line version of each current issue. It will be updated regularly with industry news and events and the topics raised via the industry forum will also be posted regularly. Users can register to receive regular news and articles direct from the Electrical Safety Council.
The Hub will grow to include the full range of Best Practice Guides, technical articles, back copies of Switched On magazine and a
The launch date for the Hub is November this year. Make sure to save it in your favourites! SwitchedOn Issue 17 - Summer 2010