Facilitating application of electrical safety best practices to “other” workers

The premise of this paper is that a significant portion of the workforce has been unintentionally overlooked in some efforts to reduce electrical injuries and fatalities in North America. This paper discusses limitations, application and potential impact of North American standards providing measures for electrical injury and fatality prevention and protection to workers. In particular it discusses workers who may not be considered the primary beneficiaries of the requirements in the standard NFPA70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace. For many organizations, the focus and improvement in electrical safety programs have largely addressed electrical workers whose primary work tasks involve construction, operation and or maintenance of electrical equipment. However, nearly 50% of workplace electrical injuries and fatalities are not electrical workers. Managers and administrators, painters, truck drivers, farm workers, grounds keepers and gardeners are among the top 10 occupations having the most fatal electrical injuries. For these nonelectrical workers, or “other” workers, the exposure to electrical hazards ranges from use of common portable tools and appliances to unintentional contact with overhead power lines in the course of routine work activities. This paper provides methods to help facilitate application of specific requirements in NFPA70E and CSA Z462 and other best practices to these “other” workers.