Hi

Pardon my ignorance, but does anyone know what voltage and plugs is used on Canadian building sites? In UK we use 110V power tools with male couplers that fit into a transformer with a female plug to connect the tools to and a 240V plug to plug into the mains.

Are 110V power tools any use in Canada?

Yelkcub

Yes your electrical tools will work just fine over here,all you'll have to do is buy some new plugs and put them on. That's what I did and of course saves you from buying new.

Great news - what type of plug do you use in canada?

You should also look at getting them CSA approved, without this there may be an WCB and insurance issue.

It costs $75 per item and to be honest you are only likely to have them plugged in whilst you are using them (Kangos and drills rarely get left on). I only use them for my own work so I might just leave them in the store unless I need them and then I would only plug them in when in use - any thoughts?

Similar to the ones you use on uk building sites but smaller, live, neutral, ground the neutral goes to the silver screw on the plug. As for getting them csa approved I never did and 110volts is never going to kill you or anybody else. But that's your call.

Check with your insurer (or employers insurer) and WCB. When you are using them is when there is most likley to be an accident. Whether the lack of approval is the cause of the incident is quite possibly irrelevant, insurers do not need much of an excuse not to pay out. Also if somebody else uses them and has an accident you could possibly end up being personally liable.

Like I say, I would clear it with the insurer and WCB to be certain and get it confirmed in writing.

Whether 110v are going to kill you or not, liability is a big issue. If you find out you are on the hook for a claim, how much could that cost? Insurers are often looking at ways to mitigate any pay out. Depends how risk adverse you are I guess. I would certainly ask the question of an insurer and WCB.

WCB also issue fines for safety violations, accident or not.

I'd say you could use your 110v tools at home

but from what I see here from a legal health and safety point of view, you'd do well to avoid none CSA approved tools in the workplace, any workplace where their use results in money changing hands, we're not as bad as the US on liability but we're trying hard to catch up

Also Insurance here works very hard to avoid payouts, non CSA would be enough to get them off the hook for almost everything
and government bodies here don't do common sense very well either

So...you don't want to do the medical bill's for any accident without insurance

Watch out for your cordless drill though my charger for a bosch 14.4 volt wouldnt work

I've worked in construction for the 35yrs and have never come across any sort of electrical accident on a job site involving hand tools, could the avaitor and mikeuk please tell me what line of business you are in? Just out of curiosity.

I work in brewery and we hire contractors all the time, we also have a very stringent E&HS process for all contractors

I also worked on construction sites when i was younger *(paying my way through college)helping out my uncles business, I was often impressed how stupid many people could be with power tools, also was amazed to see how few people wore eye protection, but that was then

You may not have seen an electrical accident from a power tools, but what we are trying to get at is that you need to consider any accident and the top of my list would have been a router, followed by a circular saw, both of which I’ve seen take a few chucks out of somebody’s hand, granted I’ve never seen a drill cause an injury, but the simple fact that the tool didn’t meet CSA standards would leave you liable regardless of whether the accident was due to and electrical issue or not (remember this is Canada common sense doesn’t apply)

As we were saying the insurance companies here work very hard to get out of paying the claim and will go to great depths to stick the liability on somebody else if they can

At home its your own liability, in the work place it’s a much bigger risk
This a piece of advice not about the risk from the tools or them being any more risky than any other tool you buy, but the financial risk of the tool not having CSA approval and being in the vicinity of an accident

Obtuse I know, but I was a pilot.
Now retired with my own business. We do undertake construction projects and no contractor on our job site would be allowed to use non compliant tools. From a liability perspective, does not matter if it was an electrical accident or not, if a contractor was using a non compliant took and fell off a ladder, it is still a possible let out for the insurer. Not a risk worth taking as far as I am concerned over a few bucks for replacing tools. Additionally WCB could also levy fines and increase premiums.