Electrical safety and protection against Indirect Contacts in Hospitals, Operating Rooms and ICUs

Electrical safety in critical areas such as operating rooms and Intensive Care Units (ICUs) is essential to guarantee the integrity of both medical staff and patients, who are often in vulnerable physiological conditions and connected to multiple electro-medical devices. One of the main electrical risks in these environments is indirect contact, which can lead to serious accidents if appropriate preventive measures are not taken.

1.- What is Indirect Contact?

Indirect contact refers to the risk of receiving an electric shock by meeting metal parts that, under normal conditions, should not be energised, but have become live due to an insulation fault in the electrical system.

In operating rooms and ICUs, these contacts can be particularly dangerous because patients may be internally exposed to electricity (e.g. via electrodes, probes or catheters), which reduces their body impedance and increases the risk of severe physiological effects even with very small currents.

2.-Applicable regulations on electrical safety in medical installations

To guarantee electrical safety in medical installations, specific standards are applied, such as:

These regulations establish specific requirements for the design, commissioning and maintenance of electrical installations in medical areas.

3.- Indirect Electrical Contact Protection Measures

3.1.- Use of IT-Medical Systems

One of the main protection strategies in operating rooms and ICUs is the use of an IT-medical system, where the neutral of the isolation transformer is not directly connected to earth and the equipment grounds are connected to a common earth.

This reduces the risk of supply interruption in the event of an earth fault and allows continuous monitoring of the insulation, which is critical for early detection of faults.

3.2.- Isolation Transformers

Operating rooms and ICUs are often equipped with medical isolation transformers, which ensure galvanic isolation of the electrical system from the mains. This prevents dangerous touch voltage from propagating to medical equipment. Applicable standard IEC 61558-2-15

3.3.- Insulation Level Monitoring

Insulation monitoring devices (IMD) are implemented to permanently monitor the insulation resistance of the IT-medical system. In case a resistance below the safe threshold is detected, a visual and/or acoustic alarm is triggered, allowing intervention before a hazardous situation occurs.

3.4.- Equipotentiality and Earthing

The equipotential bonding of all metal masses and equipment housings ensures that there are no dangerous potential differences. Earth connections must be perfectly dimensioned and periodically checked.

3.5.- Use of Certified Electromedical Equipment

All equipment used in these areas must comply with safety standards and have double insulation or class I protection with functional earthing. In addition, they must undergo periodic electrical safety checks.

4.- POLYLUX products for hospitals, clinics, veterinary surgeons, operating rooms and ICUs

To meet these requirements, POLYLUX offers a complete range of solutions specifically designed for medical installations:

4.1.- Transformers for hospital installations

The POLYLUX range of transformers for medical use consists of single-phase and three-phase transformers in different finishes with ratings from 1 up to 10kVA.

4.2.- Insulation monitors – VA40

This device measures the earth leakage in the installation, in POLYLUX we have 3 models.

4.3.- Remote control – CR5

CR5 – This device is a remote signalling device of the insulation monitor, it has a buzzer to give an acoustic and light signal of insulation, overload or overtemperature faults.

4.4.- Current transformer – TI1

TI – This current transformer for medical applications is used to measure the current in the secondary of the transformer for medical use. It is compact and simple to install and supports a maximum current of 60A.

4.5.- Remote Monitor – MR12

MR12 – This device is a Remote Monitor that supports the monitoring of up to 12 units of VA40 insulation monitors, it is essential that they have RS485 Modbus-RTU communication bus, so only models VA40-485 and VA40F-485 will be valid. You can display the operating status, alarm messages and measured values.

Advantages of choosing POLYLUX

Looking for more technical details? Download our complete manual and find out all the keys to a safe installation.