When it comes to electrical safe work practices, its 1910.333 you want to examine closely. Here’s a mini tour of the requirements.<
OSHA requires your employees to use safety work practices to prevent electric shock or other injuries resulting from either direct or indirect electrical contacts when work is performed near or on equipment or circuits that are or may be energized (29 CFR 1910.333, Selection and Use of Work Practices).
The specific safety-related work practices you require employees to follow must be consistent with the nature and extent of the associated electrical hazards.
Here’s a quick review of essential work practices identified by the standard.
Deenergizing Parts or Equipment
Live parts to which an employee may be exposed must be deenergized before the employee works on or near them, unless you can demonstrate that deenergizing introduces additional or increased hazards or is infeasible because of equipment design or operational limitations. Live parts that operate at less than 50 volts to ground need not be deenergized if there will be no increased exposure to electrical burns or to explosion due to electric arcs.
Energized Parts or Equipment
If the exposed live parts are not deenergized (i.e., for reasons of increased or additional hazards or infeasibility), other safety-related work practices must be used to protect employees who may be exposed to the electrical hazards involved. These work practices must protect employees against contact with energized circuit parts directly with any part of their body or indirectly through some other conductive object.
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Deenergized Parts or Equipment Not Locked or Tagged Out
Conductors and parts of electric equipment that have been deenergized but have not been locked out or tagged must be treated as energized parts.
Lockout/tagout of Deenergized Equipment
While any employee is exposed to contact with parts of fixed electric equipment or circuits that have been deenergized, the circuits energizing the parts must be locked out or tagged or both. You must maintain a written copy of the procedures followed to lock or tag out equipment. Safe procedures for deenergizing circuits and equipment must be determined before circuits or equipment are deenergized. The lock must be attached to prevent persons from operating the disconnecting means unless they resort to undue force or the use of tools. Each tag must contain a statement prohibiting unauthorized operation of the disconnecting means and removal of the tag.
Work On or Near Energized Equipment
Only qualified employees may work on energized equipment. These employees must be capable of working safely on energized circuits and be familiar with the proper use of special precautionary techniques, personal protective equipment, insulating and shielding materials, and insulated tools. Special training is required for qualified employees.
Work Near Overhead Lines
If work is to be performed near overhead lines, the lines must be deenergized and grounded, or other protective measures must be provided before work is started. If the lines are to be deenergized, arrangements must be made with the person or organization that operates or controls the electric circuits involved to deenergize and ground them. If protective measures, such as guarding, isolating, or insulating, are provided, these precautions must prevent employees from contacting such lines directly with any part of their body or indirectly through conductive materials, tools, or equipment.
NOTE: The work practices used by qualified workers installing insulating devices on overhead power transmission or distribution lines are covered by another OSHA rule (29 CFR 1910.269).
Unqualified employees and the longest conductive object he or she may contact must not come within at least 10 ft from an energized 50 kilovolt (kV) overhead line (greater distances for greater than 50 kV lines), and must not bring any conductive object closer than the same distances.
Qualified employees must not approach or take any conductive object without an approved insulating handle and obey approach distances to overhead lines specified in the rule.
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Illumination
Employees must not enter spaces containing exposed energized parts, unless illumination is provided that enables them to perform the work safely.
Confined or Enclosed Workspaces
When an employee works in a confined or enclosed space (such as a manhole or vault) that contains exposed energized parts, you must provide (and the employee must use) protective shields, protective barriers, or insulating materials as necessary to avoid inadvertent contact with these parts. Doors, hinged panels, and the like must be secured to prevent their swinging into an employee and causing the employee to contact exposed energized parts.
Housekeeping Duties
Where live parts present an electrical contact hazard, employees may not perform housekeeping duties at such close distances to the parts that there is a possibility of contact, unless adequate safeguards (such as insulating equipment or barriers) are provided.
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