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Standard Electrical Safety Requirements for the Workplace

When building or maintaining a workplace, it is important to check and perform routine electrical safety maintenance on your facilities. Standard electrical safety requirements stipulate that workplace electrical systems must adhere to local building codes in order that they remain usable spaces. Adherence to these requirements by both management and workers also cuts down on fire hazards present in the workplace, helping to make it safer for everyone.

  1. Unprotected Wires

    • Unprotected wires are wires that are loose, stripped, or poorly insulated. These wires could cause an electrical malfunction or fire because they are not well installed or properly maintained. Any wires found in your workplace that are not well maintained should be identified and replaced immediately by a certified electrician. Until they are replaced or repaired, no one should utilize any outlet connected to these wires and, if possible, all electric current to them should be shut off to help prevent fire hazards or electrocution.

    Circuit Breakers

    • All workplaces should be outfitted with one or more circuit breakers depending on the size of a building and the type of work being done there. In a large building there should be a circuit breaker or fuse box on each floor, or each segment of the building, to allow for independent areas to shut off electricity in case of an emergency. These breakers will also allow for not only an entire section of the building's electricity to be safely turned off during an emergency but can also isolate a small area for repairs or maintenance. Many of these boxes will shut off automatically in case of a large electrical surge or overload to the electric grid.

    Overloading Outlets

    • All workplace managers should carefully note how many appliances are plugged into each outlet. The items plugged into the outlet should not exceed the recommended amount of voltage for each outlet. The plugs on these items should also be in good working order and should be repaired immediately if stripped or exposed wires are present. Employees using a power strip to provide extra outlet space should make sure that the strip has a surge protector built in and that they only use one power strip per outlet to reduce the risk of overloading the outlet and causing a fire.

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