About Electrical Safety Regulations

Working around electricity can be extremely dangerous and hazardous. A lot of different types of professionals work directly with electricity--from engineers to electricians, whether they are working with cable harnesses or circuit assemblies. Office workers also often indirectly work with electricity and also expose themselves to possible dangerous electrical hazard. The United States Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has many rules and regulations regarding electrical safety in the workplace.

Electrical Safety Approach

• OSHA's main approach to electrical safety rules and regulations is centered around a few concepts. These concepts include employers being able to identify all electrical hazards, employers de-energizing circuits before working with electricity, employers performing tagout and lockout procedures, and employers establishing ongoing safety programs such as worker training and retraining.

Arc Flash Safety

• One OSHA electrical safety regulation involves arc flash safety. This entails employers conducting studies of their workplaces to understand the possible shock and arc flash hazards of the area. After the studies have been completed, the employers must enforce safe protection perimeters and establish personal protective equipment that must be used in the area to be in complete compliance with the safety rules and regulations.

Construction

• The construction industry is a field in which people often have to work directly alongside electricity. OSHA has established four main concepts regarding electrical safety hazards in the construction industry. These rules involve falls, "struck by" incidents, electrical incidents and trenching and excavation. Construction has a very high fatality rate, but if both employers and employees can identify and control electrical safety hazards properly, they can avoid the most serious types of construction-related electrical injuries.

Electrical Incidents

• Electricity is something that is absolutely necessary for day-to-day living. This is why there are a lot of safety and health programs regarding electrical incidents and the manners in which electricity can become very hazardous to people. One of OSHA's big electrical safety rules is that employees should not work anywhere near electrical power circuits unless they are protected. Common electrical incidents include lack of ground fault protection, power lines contact, equipment being used in the wrong manner, improper flexible and extension cord use and discontinuous or missing pathways to the ground.

Eye and Face Protection

• There are a lot of OSHA-enforced electrical safety rules and regulations regarding proper eye and face protection. According to OSHA, proper eye and face protection is absolutely necessary because every year, over 10,000 people become blinded or visually impaired from workplace eye injuries that might not have happened had the proper precautions been taken. Every year, over 300,000 people get eye injuries alone from being around electricity in the workplace.