Lightning and Earthing Protection in the UK

Everyone in the world has seen the tremendous power of lightning. It is beautiful but its power can be very destructive. Lightning strikes on average 2100 people a year and one third of those strikes have ended in death. Those individuals who have survived these strikes suffer from damage to the eardrums, vision, lungs, organs and the nervous system. Lightning protection for your building will help lower the risk to the people in your buildings. There are quite a few systems to help prevent damage to buildings and the people who are nearby.

Grounding structures against lightning is a good thing to start out with. This is generally an electrode that is buried in the ground. The electrode attracts currents and the electrical energy away from buildings. This helps reduce power surges to equipment inside and outside a building.
A Lightning Rod is the most common type of electrical storm prevention. It can usually be seen on top of tall buildings, where tall metallic poles attract the electrical currents. Though they are great at conducting the electrical currents away from the actual building it does not protect against power surges inside the building.


Downconductors are structures that are built at least 10 feet into the ground around the outside of a building. It draws the electrical energy away from the building and into the ground. It helps prevent a flashover, which is an unintended electrical discharge, which can damage buildings or personnel nearby. Bonding is a form of downconductor that protects metallic structures like AC, Gas, water pipes, and signal lines and prevents them from attracting lightning. Transients and Surges help protect against electrical surges. It stops currents and blocks energy from traveling through wires. To get the full efficiency of this protection it should be paired with lightning rods or external building protectors. These will help prevent damage to any kind of electronic device that can occur during a lightning strike.

The last defense is a Detection which is a warning system that protects buildings and power lines before an electrical storm occurs. It can be used to disconnect power lines or keep them on standby for need. This does help reduce damage from lightning strikes but it does not use all the necessary information about electrical storms.

As you can see there are many different forms of lightning protection. It is vital that buildings be equipped with these safety measures to ensure that the occupants and the building are secure from lightning strikes. Choose a company that uses high quality material and is equipped for dealing with any need of your business. Churchill Steeplejacks is the experienced company for you.