Watch
Safe Isolation: Are You Doing It Right?
Video by eFIXX, an external resource. It is a primer for discussion and CPD, not a substitute for current regulations, manufacturer instructions or your employer’s procedures.
Plan, permit, prove. Walk away if it isn’t safe.
Safe Isolation Starts Before You Touch the Board
The hardest part of safe isolation is not always the tester.Sometimes it is the customer asking, “How long will you be?”The manager saying, “Can we keep that bit live?”The lost day’s pay if you walk away.
This site is a practical learning hub for planning, communicating and carrying out safe electrical isolation in the real world.
Explore the 10-point check. Learn the language. Practise the scenarios. Share the near misses.
- 01L1–L2· · ·
- 02L1–L30V ✓ DEAD
- 03L2–L30V ✓ DEAD
- 04L1–Earth0V ✓ DEAD
- 05L2–Earth0V ✓ DEAD
- 06L3–Earth0V ✓ DEAD
- 07L1–Neutral0V ✓ DEAD
- 08L2–Neutral0V ✓ DEAD
- 09L3–Neutral0V ✓ DEAD
- 10N–Earth0V ✓ DEAD
LOCKED OFF0 / 10 proven dead
The real job starts before the tools come out
Safe isolation begins at the booking, not the board.
Permission. Expectations. Authority. The decisions that make an isolation safe are mostly made before you arrive with a tester.
By the time you are at the consumer unit, the negotiation should already be done: who has authorised the shutdown, what is allowed to stay live, how long the supply is down, and what happens if a circuit cannot be safely re-energised. Without that, you are isolating under pressure, precisely when shortcuts get taken.
- CustomerCan I just finish this meeting?
- Site managerHow long will this take?
- TenantThe freezer is full.
- Business ownerWe can't shut down card payments.
- EngineerI've driven four hours to get here.
Every technical step happens inside a human situation. Pressure changes decisions.
Watch · eFIXX know-how
See it done right: a safe isolation explainer from eFIXX.
Before you read the procedure below, watch it in practice. This free explainer from eFIXX— the electricians’ learning site — walks through where safe isolation goes wrong on real jobs and how to get it right every time.
- Why switching something off is not the same as safely isolating it
- Choosing the correct point and means of isolation
- Proving dead with a tester you have proved on a known source first
- Locking off so the circuit cannot be re-energised while you work
Discussion prompts
AI media for the grey area: when does pressure become live working?
These pieces are not guidance and they are not answer keys. Use them to pause the room, test the language and debate what would have to change before anyone works on the installation.
- At what exact point does this become live working?
- What would make the job safe enough to continue?
- Which conversation should have happened before arrival?
- What words help someone stop without sounding obstructive?
Watch
Safe Isolation Debate
Pause it at the first unsafe compromise. Ask what has been assumed, who has authority and what would stop the job drifting into live work.
Listen
The Deadly Pressure to Work Live
Treat it like a toolbox-talk prompt: name the pressure, remove the pressure, and rehearse the sentence that lets someone stop safely.
The 10-point journey
Prove dead in order, inside the wider procedure.
On a three-phase board you prove dead between every meaningful pair of conductors: phase to phase, phase to earth, phase to neutral, and neutral to earth. The board runs the full sequence so you can see the order and the logic before you ever pick up a probe.
Important: These ten tests are step 08 of eleven. Plan, permit, identify, isolate, lock off, prove, test, re-prove, stay in bounds, re-energise. The ten checks are not the whole job.
- 01L1–L2· · ·
- 02L1–L30V ✓ DEAD
- 03L2–L30V ✓ DEAD
- 04L1–Earth0V ✓ DEAD
- 05L2–Earth0V ✓ DEAD
- 06L3–Earth0V ✓ DEAD
- 07L1–Neutral0V ✓ DEAD
- 08L2–Neutral0V ✓ DEAD
- 09L3–Neutral0V ✓ DEAD
- 10N–Earth0V ✓ DEAD
LOCKED OFF0 / 10 proven dead
- 01
Plan the shutdown
Who needs to know, what loses power, how long, and the cost of refusal.
- 02
Get permission & manage expectations
Ideally a week ahead. 24 hours is the bare minimum; same-day is a risk factor.
- 03
Identify the correct circuit
Confirm what must be isolated. Beware assumptions, poor labelling, shared supplies.
- 04
Communicate before switching off
Tell affected people. Prevent surprise re-energisation. Check essential systems.
- 05
Isolate
Use the correct means of isolation, not a functional switch where formal isolation is needed.
- 06
Secure the isolation
Lock off, warning labels, retain the key. Stop accidental or deliberate re-energisation.
- 07
Prove the tester
Confirm the voltage indicator works on a known source before you rely on it.
- 08
Test for dead10-point
The ten three-phase checks: correct terminals, no assumptions, know the system type.
- 09
Re-prove the tester
Confirm the tester still works after the test. A failed prover invalidates the result.
- 10
Work within the agreed boundary
Do not let the job creep beyond the isolation. If scope changes, stop and reassess.
- 11
Re-energise safely
Covers, barriers, tools and people clear. Communicate, then restore in a controlled way.
Explore the hub
One resource, built to grow into a wiki, a forum and a game.
- 0110-Point JourneyThe terminal checks inside the full plan-permit-prove-test procedure.Open
- 02Discussion PromptsAI-generated video and audio for debating the boundary between energised, live and unsafe.Open
- 03WikiA growing reference on isolation, lock-off, proving and system types.Coming soon
- 04GlossaryLive vs energised vs loaded. Isolated vs switched off. ELV/LV/MV/HV. The language traps.Coming soon
- 05Customer ProformaA pre-visit acknowledgement that sets expectations and protects the right to walk away.Open
- 06Forum / Near MissesStructured, moderated stories. A refused isolation logged as the safety signal it is.Open
- 07Authority LinksIET, HSE, Electrical Safety First, NAPIT, NICEIC and the regulations behind them.Open
- 088-Bit Training GameIsolation Quest asks you to talk your way through real pressure before you prove dead.Open
Customer safety proforma
Set the expectations before the van leaves the yard.
A short pre-visit acknowledgement that takes the financial pressure off the safety decision. The customer contributes honestly to the safety picture; the competent person keeps the final say.
Template coming soon
- Safe access to the property, work area and consumer unit
- Known hazards disclosed: asbestos, animals, damp, structural
- Medical equipment, servers, fridges/freezers and vulnerable occupants flagged
- Power may need to be switched off to work safely
- The competent person has final authority to pause, rearrange or leave
Authority
A learning resource, not a replacement for official guidance.
Always follow current regulations, manufacturer instructions, employer procedures and the bodies that set the standards.
- IET
- HSE
- Electrical Safety First
- NAPIT
- NICEIC
- BS 7671
- Electricity at Work Regs
- GS38
- HSG85
- IET On-Site Guide
Forum / Near misses
A refused isolation is a safety signal, not just a scheduling problem.
If the worker loses money every time they choose safety, the system is quietly rewarding risk. A walk-away should be recorded, reviewed and used to improve the next booking.
Submit a near miss
8-bit training game
The cherry on the cake, not the cake.
Isolation Quest: arrive at a job, read the room and talk your way to a safe shutdown before you prove dead. Walking away when it isn’t safe scores points. A playful way to rehearse the pressure, never a way to make safety silly.
Play demo, coming soon
About
Built for real jobs, not ideal paperwork.
Unsafe decisions usually happen because of context: commercial pressure, unclear language, sunk cost and hierarchy. It is not because people are careless. This site analyses the systems and the decisions, never the individual, and gives electricians the words to push back professionally.
The safest electrician is not the one who can work around every obstacle. It is the one who sees the pressure coming early enough to control it.