Brief history of the electrician

The late 19th century saw advances in the use of electricity for residential and industrial use, along with this came the electrician for installation and maintenance. There was a rapid expansion in the use of electrical technology from this period due to the versatility of using electricity as a power source. Electricity became and still is the basis for modern society to advance as a civilization. Electric lighting was one of the earliest uses of home and commercial appliances using the flexible form of power allowed by electricity. The electrician trade was born with experts in this field taught to install, maintain, and repair the electrical infrastructure that enabled the use of lighting and other emerging electrical appliances.

In the 20th century, electrical engineering broke into many fields of research and technology, such as electrical engineering or electronic engineering. The former is associated with large-scale electrical systems such as power grids, power systems, and the latter associated with smaller-scale electronic systems such as computers and small circuits. This leads to different areas of specialization for the electrician in installation, maintenance, and repair, including electricians trained specifically for certain appliances, such as television repair. Towards the end of the 20th century, the electrician could be divided into three different sections. These were divided into domestic, commercial and industrial electricians and each had to learn particular skills to install, maintain, repair and test electrical equipment for safety. Safety became an important part of the electrician’s trade due to the risk involved not only for the electrician but for everyone involved with electrical appliances. Portable device testing was introduced.

The future of electricians appears to be in high demand as the shortage of trained and qualified electricians is estimated to be around 36,900 in the UK. Ways of using electricity as a power source are still diversifying with the installation of solar power systems that convert into electricity and new types of devices like electric cars being worked on. The electrician will need to venture into many more fields in order to learn his trade and use it efficiently and safely.