Electrical safety program?

[tubbed39]

Are all California employers that have electricians ( even government) required to have and provide an Electrical safety program for its employees?

 

[jim dungar]

Are all California employers that have electricians ( even government) required to have and provide an Electrical safety program for its employees?

Safety plans are not part of the NEC. Their usage is usually required by employee safety groups like, OSHA and insurance companies.

 

[letgomywago]

OSHA will audit your program also and shut down the job while doing so if it's not 70E as the safety program.

 

[garbo]

Side note: At our great local IAEI chapter they have at least three Inspectors who run thier own training centers and can come out to do various presentations. After I retired they came out and gave believe safety training for building engineers & basic maintenance Tech's who perform minor electrical work like replacing 277 volt ballast, toggle switches & receptacles. Might pay you to look at local IAEI or Electrical contractor organization to provide training. Not sure if Mike Holt does smaller training sessions but his books are best in class. We had a monthly 1 to 2 hour shop meet every month and they always had a discussion &/or vidio on safety. We had to take an OSHA 10 class and the bosses an OSHA 30 class.

 

[Jraef]

OSHA will audit your program also and shut down the job while doing so if it's not 70E as the safety program.

Not exactly. OSHA does not mandate that it MUST be NFPA 70E, they just mandate that you have a program of electrical safety. They offer NFPA 70E as an example of what one should entail, which most people (including myself) interpret as meaning that if it doesn’t look like NFPA 70E, you could have “some ‘splainin to do” if something goes wrong.

As to whether this applies to California, it applies to the entire US, including California.

 

[letgomywago]

Not exactly. OSHA does not mandate that it MUST be NFPA 70E, they just mandate that you have a program of electrical safety. They offer NFPA 70E as an example of what one should entail, which most people (including myself) interpret as meaning that if it doesn’t look like NFPA 70E, you could have “some ‘splainin to do” if something goes wrong.

As to whether this applies to California, it applies to the entire US, including California.

They still shut down the facility till they are finished auditing your program if other than 70e although I'm sure you can have them do this ahead of time to demonstrate that you have a better progam.

 

[Jraef]

I have never seen OSHA do a drop-in inspection for no reason. Usually they get involved after an accident. The way I have seen it work is that if electricity was involved in the accident, they come in and first demand to see your Safe Electrical Work Practices documentation that is REQUIRED of all employers. If you say anything to the effect of “What document?” or it is some little 2 page poster in the lunch room, they will indeed immediately shut you down to investigate further. If on the other hand you give them something that is as thorough and comprehensive as 70E, they might not, as they focus on what actually happened, not whether a lack of required practices and training was the root cause.

 

[BillyMac59]

Canadian rules are much the same. A "Safe Electrical Work" program is mandatory in an industrial environment. This applies whether there is an electrician on staff or not. Our rules parallel NFPA70E. Though not compulsory to adopt, should an accident happen, rules that meet or exceed 70E better be in place.

 

[Hv&Lv]

I have never seen OSHA do a drop-in inspection for no reason. Usually they get involved after an accident.

I haven’t either.
OSHA is reactive, not proactive