OSHA 29 CFR 1910.333(a) states that employers must employ safety-related work practices to prevent electrical shock or other injuries resulting from either direct or indirect electrical contact.
NFPA 70E is the tool employers can use to meet this OSHA requirement.
What’s the relationship between OSHA & NFPA 70E?
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a federal agency that operates under the U.S. Department of Labor. Their mission is to “assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education, and assistance.” When employers fail to meet OSHA standards they are subject for citations, fines, and penalties which were increased for the first time in over 25 years this past August 2016. (Read more here). NFPA 70E was created at the request of OSHA and OSHA refers to the standards of NFPA 70E in their safety regulations that deal with electrical workplace safety and their requirements for electrical safety training. NFPA 70E is the tool necessary for employers meet the performance requirement for OSHA standards as it relates to electrical safety and avoid costly fines and penalties.
Why do we need an electrical safety standard?
Approximately 4,700 injuries are reported every year in the U.S. as a result of working on or around electricity.
Electrical accidents are blames for an average of one death per day, every day, in the workplace.
OSHA has dubbed electrical hazards one of their “Fatal Four” violations found in workplaces.
Babcock & Wilson fined a total of $116,280, including one citation for “allowing workers to be close to an energized electrical panel, therefore exposing them to arc flash and blast hazards.”
Thedford Construction Co., Inc. fined a total of $133,000, including a citation for “failing to ensure that workers do not approach energized electrical equipment closer than 2 feet.”
Transworld, Inc. wants to help you minimize your risk and help you avoid becoming part of this statistic. Join us for one of our NFPA 70E 2015 Electrical Safe Work Practices and Safety-Related Maintenance Seminar.
Upcoming Training:
May 18-19, 2017
Shealy Electrical Wholesalers:
A Division of Border States
1000 US-78 Ladson, SC 29456
