Why are NFPA 70E and CSA Z462 different?

During the development of the second edition of the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Z462 Workplace Electrical Safety, a key focus of the Technical Committee was to keep Z462 as closely harmonized as possible with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70E standard. However, there are a few instances where variance from harmonization occurred. The purpose in highlighting these variances is to: 1. Make users of these documents aware of the differences between the two documents 2. Outline the rationale behind the decisions made by the respective technical committees that resulted in these variances 3. Provide impetus for discussion regarding how these differences could affect workplace electrical safety 4. Stimulate discussion to advance continual improvement of the two Standards Ultimately it is our hope that the reader will be motivated to get involved in the development of the next edition of both Standards through the proposal and commenting process.