Since the times when electrical devices and complex equipment have started to be used in medicine, the need to develop safety measures both for patients and doctors and equipment has appeared. In the Soviet Union, the electrical safety was governed by the Instructions for Protective Grounding of Electrical Medical Equipment in Institutions of the USSR Ministry of Healthcare adopted in 1973.
According to the international and Russian regulatory documents, two grounding classes are established which are designated as protective (PE) and functional (FE) earthing.
Based on the Electrical Installations Code (EIC, item 1.7.29), protective earthing (PE) should be made only to provide electrical safety of the facility.
Functional earthing FE provides the work of the electrical installation itself and, according to the EIC, item 1.7.20, it is not used to provide electrical safety of the facility.
Read our article Grounding for Medical Equipment for more details.
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