A Sneak Peek Into Osha's Electrical Safe Work Practice Rules

By Author: John Michael
Total Articles: 27
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OSHA always mandates employees to use safety work practices that will help to prevent electrical shock or injuries that result from direct or indirect contacts while work is being performed near live equipment or circuits.

Employees must follow those safety work practices that must be coherent with the nature of the related electrical hazards. The following work practices are identified by the standard:

1.De-energizing Equipment or Parts: Before any employee works on or near a live part, it must be de-energized. Live parts operated with less than 50 volts to ground don't need to be de-energized as there will be no maximized exposure to electrical burns or to explosions because of the electric arcs.

2.Energized Equipment or Parts: Other safety-related work practices must be utilized if in case the live parts are not de-energized to protect workers exposed to the electrical hazards. The work practice must be designed to safeguard against direct contact with live circuit parts with any part of the body or indirect through other conductive objects.

3.De-energized Equipment or Parts which are Not Locked ...
... or Tagout: Electric equipment parts or conductors that are de-energized but have not been locked out or tagged out are treated as energized parts.

4.De-energized Equipment Lockout or Tagout: Sometimes, employees are exposed with parts of electric circuits that are de-energized. In this case, the circuit that energizes the parts must be locked out or tagged out. A written copy must be maintained about the whole procedure followed to lockout or tagout the equipment. Before the equipment or circuits are de-energized, safe procedures of the De-energizing equipment or circuit must be evaluated. To prevent workers from operating the disconnected, lock must be attached. The tags must also include a statement that prohibits unauthorized use of tools or undue force as well as removal of the tags.

5.Working on or near energized equipment: To work on energized equipment, only well trained and qualified employees must be hired. Since well trained workers are capable of working safely on energized circuits, the level of risks will be reduced greatly. They will be familiar with the proper use of personal protective equipment, special precautionary techniques, insulated tools and insulating and shielding materials. For an employee to be qualified they need to go through special trainings.

The above are just a sneak peek of the OSHA's electrical safe work practice standards. If you want to learn more about the standard, you can join an OSHA training course. The OSHA compliance training will provide a much more accurate view of these standards.

About the Author :
OSHA 10 Hour Safety Course is leading online 10 hr OSHA training solutions provider for workers on construction safety, work site safety and risk management issues. We have been providing the OSHA 10 hour outreach training for the workers as required by the OSHA standards.Visit us at: http://www.osha10hoursafetycourse.com