Many dangers come with working with electricity. That’s why it’s important to take the necessary precautions, including wearing the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and following safe work practices. In this blog post, we will discuss what PPE you should wear when working with electricity and some of the safe work practices you should follow. Stay safe out there!
When working with electricity, it is absolutely essential that you wear the proper PPE. This includes rubber gloves, insulating mats, and face shields. It is also important to ensure that your clothing is made of non-conductive materials. If you are not properly protected, you could be seriously injured or even killed if you come in contact with an electrical current.
In addition to wearing the proper PPE, you should follow certain work practices when working with electricity. These include always using tools that have been properly grounded, never working alone, and always following all safety instructions from your employer. If you take the necessary precautions, you can stay safe while working with electricity.
Personal Protective Equipment
Use safeguards for personnel protection and electrical protective equipment [29 CFR 1910.335(b)].
Employees who work directly with electricity should use the personal protective equipment required for their jobs. This equipment may include rubber insulating gloves, hoods, sleeves, matting, blankets, line hoses, and industrial protective helmets designed to reduce electric shock hazards. These help to reduce the risk of electrical accidents. General safe practices include:
- Electrical protective equipment must be periodically tested by the test tables found in OSHA 1910.137, Electrical Protective Equipment.
- Insulating equipment must be inspected for damage before each day’s use. It’s best to inspect any PPE you use, including insulating equipment, before and after each use.
- Equipment with defects affecting its insulating properties must be removed from service and returned for testing.
- The arc-rated protective clothing and other protective equipment generally must cover the worker’s entire body, except for hands, feet, head, and face, which may be protected by other PPE.
Work Practice Controls
Your employer is required to make sure extension cables and other flexible leads that are particularly prone to damage to plugs and sockets and their connections are visually checked, maintained, and, where necessary, replaced before using portable equipment. The ends of flexible cables should always have the cable’s outer sheath firmly clamped to stop the wires from pulling out of the terminals.
It is necessary to select and use appropriate work practices [29 CFR 1910.333].
- Use the correct cable connectors or couplers to join lengths of cables together, and do not allow taped joints.
- Electrical installations are installed and maintained by a competent person and checked regularly.
- Make sure socket outlets are not overloaded using adaptors.
- Make sure electrically powered equipment provided is suitable for use.
- Fixed electrical equipment should have a clearly identified switch to reduce power in an emergency.
- Verify that portable equipment labeled as double insulated has had the live and neutral wire connected properly to the plug by a competent person unless the plug is of a molded type.
