NFPA Webinar, Other Resources Aim to Help Professionals Gather Knowledge to Improve Electrical Safety in the Workplace

Electrical safety was at the forefront of conversations at last week’s NFPA Conference & Expo® in Las Vegas, Nevada. There were great sessions on topics such as preventing electrical fatalities and meeting OSHA’s electrical safety requirements in the workplace. We also heard an extremely moving presentation from electrical arc flash survivor Brandon Schroeder on how a devastating arc flash incident changed his life, as well as the lives of his wife and children. RELATED: Read more about how electrical safety was featured at C&EWhile the passion around electrical safety was shared by both electrical session speakers and attendees, we all left with one takeaway as well: We must all continue to grow and share our knowledge with others in order to move the needle on electrical safety in a positive direction. As an initial effort, NFPA® has recently taken a couple of steps to share more information around electrical safety with those who are interested. Having a well-designed, functional, and usable electrical safety program (ESP) is a key component for keeping the workplace free of electrical safety incidents. NFPA 70E®, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace®, requires that all employers implement and document an overall ESP that directs activity appropriate to the risk associated with electrical hazards. While ESPs should be tailored to the individual needs of the specific company and the risks associated with their line of business, there are some key components that NFPA 70E requires to be addressed and considered, including:·      Awareness and safety planning·      Principles·      Procedures·      Lockout/tagout·      Inspections and equipment condition·      ESP evaluation Recently, NFPA put together a free, downloadable fact sheet that discusses these key ESP components more in depth and also provides information on safety program controls. This includes information on training qualified persons, as well as identifying and eliminating electrical hazards. In addition to the new ESP fact sheet, NFPA has also opened registration for a webinar on Tuesday, July 11, titled “How to Enhance Workplace Electrical Safety at Your Company.” This free webinar will provide more insight on how to positively impact electrical safety within your facility or on the jobsite. Daniel Majano, with Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI), will be sharing the latest electrical fatality data and discussing what the numbers tell us and how we can look to improve them. Attendees will also hear the story of arc flash survivor Don Johnson and his wife, Kelly, about how Don thinking, “I know what I am doing, this isn’t going to happen to me” as an electrical professional resulted in a two-month coma, two years of rehabilitation and recovery, and “putting everybody’s life on hold.” Lastly, Ryan Grimes, senior engineering manager at Toyota North America, will share how Toyota has focused on electrical safety and the steps the company continually takes in order to achieve optimal results. I will be one of the presenters of the webinar as well, and we will highlight the critical concept of the Electrical Cycle of Safety, which stresses the importance of using NFPA 70®, National Electrical Code® (NEC®), NFPA 70B, Standard for Electrical Equipment Maintenance, and NFPA 70E® in conjunction with one another in order to produce the best possible results in workplace electrical safety. For management and employees alike, continually growing knowledge around electrical safety is one of the best ways of actually achieving it. Even those knowledgeable in the area, such as electrical safety trainers, must remain up to date on changes of requirements and safe work practices for mitigating electrical safety hazards. By taking just one hour of your valuable time to attend this webinar, we hope to help you, your company, and your employees create a safer work environment. I look forward to seeing you there!   Visit the Electrical Safety Solutions for the Workplace webpage from NFPA to see more ways in which NFPA can help you to achieve electrical safety ion the workplace.