Just five occupational groups account for 80 percent of all fatal electrical accidents, according to Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI). They are:
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) developed NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace to help prevent injuries and fatalities associated with electrical shock and arc flash hazards.
The jobs in Table S-4 (OSHA 1910.332) face a higher than normal risk of electrical accident if exposed to circuits that operate at 50 volts or more to ground.
Curtis Weber is from a monochromatic landscape where the Canadian sky blends into the rollicking fields, where the horizon is only interrupted by grain silos and round bales of hay. As a 17-year-old, he knew the fields well.
Some electrical contacts are instantly fatal, and up to 40% are ultimately fatal, according Brian James Daley, M.D, associate program director, professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma and Critical Care at the University of Tennessee School of Medicine, Knoxville, Tenn., in his report, “Electrical Injuries.”
What is hazardous energy? According to OSHA, energy sources including electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal or other sources in machines and equipment can be hazardous to workers. During the servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment, the unexpected startup or release of stored energy could cause injury to employees.
These tragic electrocutions, all investigated by NIOSH, show just how widespread and unexpected electrical dangers can be, sometimes involving the most ordinary types of work:
According to NIOSH, at least one of the following five factors was present in all 224 incidents evaluated by the NIOSH fatality investigation program: (1) established safe work procedures were either not implemented or not followed;