jim dungar said:
NFPA70E (and the NEC) only talk about "qualified" and "un-qualified" persons. They don't care if you are an electrician or a security guard, if you install electrical equipment you need to follow the NEC, if you work on electrical equipment you need to follow NFPA70E.
I wonder what the judge in a court of law will say when the excuse "I am a plumber - electrical rules don't apply to me" is used.
I have developed 70E training programs for enforcement officers, electrical, utilities, other skilled trades (MCA), and non technical groups. Each course differed in the subject matter because each group had different concerns and different equipment/hazards, but all achived the "Qualification" requirements for thier specific tasks. The 70E requirements for a qualfied person are the same for everyone, lets look at them.
According to the NFPA 70E, a ?Qualified Person" is one who is trained and knowledgeable of the construction and operation of the equipment or the specific work method, and be trained to recognize the hazards present.
Such persons shall also be familiar with the use of the precautionary techniques, personal protective equipment, insulating and shielding materials, and insulated tools and test equipment. A person can be considered qualified with respect to certain tasks but still be unqualified for others.
In addition, to be permitted to work within the limited approach of exposed energized conductors and circuit parts the person shall be trained in all of the following:
Qualified employees shall be trained and competent in:
The skills and techniques necessary to distinguish exposed live parts from other parts of electric equipment
The skills and techniques necessary to determine the nominal voltage of exposed live parts
The minimum approach distances specified in this section corresponding to the voltages to which the qualified employee will be exposed, and,
The decision making process necessary to determine the degree and extent of the hazard and the personal protective equipment and job planning necessary to perform the task safely
Notice there is no mention of electrician there at all, however one could say only a person with an electrical backgroud would be competent in the skills necessary to work within the LAB of exposed live parts, that work should be limited to electricans anyways, and usually is at most facillities.
"A person can be considered qualified with respect to certain tasks but still be unqualified for others" is a key phrase here, I wa actually hired by an automotive company to develop procedures and train service techs for working on the Hybrid vehicles (Yes there is an arc flash hazard there), so that training was task specific for that and they met the 70E requirements for a qualified person, does that mean they can go do T/S a 15kV power system? Not at all.
The thing that must be understood is that there is no such thing as a "Certification" in 70E, some training programs advertise this, it dosent exist, there is no certifing body, sure I can certify you but that dosent mean squat.
There also is no training program that can qualify you, a 70E training couse has to meet the requirements listed above be you have to be trained and competent, so further skill evaluation is necessary. There is only one way to be qualified, and that is by your employer.
Your employer is the one how is responsible for determining if you are trained and skilled enough to be qualified, there are training documentation requirements for them (2008 70E will require refresher training at least every 3 years, but we wont get into 2008 70E here) to follow, and if an accident happens and OSHA comes by, I promise you they will be asking to see training records and your safety program.qualification procedures for that employee, dont care if he hangs off a helicopter working on 500,000V lines or is installing a water heater.
