The establishment of agencies like OSHA and the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) have positively impacted workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses. Over the past 40 years, the overall workplace fatality rate has dropped 60 percent while the occupational injury and illness rates have dropped more than 40 percent. The NFPA, specifically, specializes in reducing the risk of fire and other hazards, including tasks related to electricity.
In an important update, the NFPA published final changes to the 2012 edition of NFPA 70E, which addresses electrical safety-related work practices for employees who may come into contact with “hazards associated with electrical energy during activities such as the installation, inspection, operation, maintenance, and demolition of electric conductors, electric equipment, signaling and communications conductors and equipment, and raceways.”
The following are just a few of the updates added to the newest edition of the regulation:
- Basis for retraining
- Frequency of retraining
- Selection of qualified persons
These updates are meant to ensure the most qualified employees are performing electrical work. The recent additions to NFPA 70E address that retraining should be conducted when an employee is not complying with safety-related work practices, working in a new environment where the safety-related work practices have changed or if retraining has not been conducted in more than three years. The new edition also encourages employers to use only qualified individuals to complete tasks like testing, troubleshooting and voltage measuring within the Limited Approach Boundary, an approach limit set at a certain distance from an exposed live part where a shock hazard exists.
To ensure current regulations are being implemented and practiced, ISN has updated several requirements within the NFPA 70E safety program protocol. Impacted subscribers will have a 90-day grace period to update and resubmit written safety programs.
For questions regarding NFPA 70E safety program updates or to learn more about ISNetworld, please contact the ISN Customer Service Team at 1 (800) 976-1303.
Resources:
http://www.nfpa.org/aboutthecodes/AboutTheCodes.asp?DocNum=70E&cookie%5Ftest=1
http://www.iaei.org/magazine/2009/05/occupational-electrical-injury-and-fatality-trends-and-statistics-1992%E2%80%932007/
http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=143&URL=About%20NFPA
Welcome to ISN’s 2011 Annual Users Conference. The ISN Annual Users Conference is an opportunity for Owner Clients, contractors, and other industry entities to come together and discuss best practices in contactor health, safety, and procurement. Owner Clients are sharing information on how their company uses ISNetworld to track and manage contractor compliance in industry breakout sessions. As every Owner Clients grades and use the system differently, each discusses the criteria to grade their contractors and the most important items in prequalification.
Welcome to ISN’s 2011 Annual Users Conference. One of our speakers, Ed Foulke, highlights many important safety topics in his presentation, entitled“13 Ways to Improve Your Safety Program While Increasing Your Productivity and Profitability”. 
Risk is a normal part of doing business. The risk organizations face is compounded when companies hire contractors to perform work rather than using their own internal employees. Organizations increase their risk even more when there is not a standardized and consistent method for evaluating contractor health, safety, and procurement information. Managing risk is the most important task while assessing the safety and viability of a contractor. The safest hiring decision is made when a company is able to gather all appropriate data and synthesize it into a usable format. Although risk may not be completely eliminated, it can be effectively managed.
Safety in the workplace has become an increasingly prominent focus. In the last four years, the number of citations given by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has increased by more than 15%. Kathy Webb, OSHA’s area director for North Aurora, Illinois, believes, “safety should be paramount on every job site and OSHA is committed to protecting workers, especially when employers fail to do so.” There has also been a significant change in their focus on violations, which has turned more towards the serious and willful classifications. OSHA holds employers responsible for providing a safe and healthy work environment, specifically under the General Duty Clause, which was the source for one of last year’s top ten regulations cited. These citations can cost, on average, $1000 per penalty. Due to the recognizable fact that unlawfulness in the workplace has potential to do severe damage to a company’s bottom line, businesses around the world are going to greater lengths to be safety compliant.
