Handling Energized and Wet Flexible Cords

[MeterBase]

70E paragraph 110.9(B)(4) - "Employee's hands shall not be wet when plugging and unplugging flexible cords and cord-and-plug connected equipment if energized equipment is involved."

I'm looking at some standard, 120 volt outdoor receptacles installed to charge small electric vehicles via common extension cords listed for outdoor use. These outdoor receptacles meet 406.(B) requirements. Based on the 70E requirement above, it would seem that energized charging cords cannot be handled bare handed during inclement weather. It is not realistic to assume that people will only charge their vehicles in sunny, dry weather. I'm recommending the installation of a weatherproof switch ahead of each receptacle so people can turn off the receptacle before handling the charging cord.

Has anyone else addressed (or would address) this issue differently?

 

[WorkSafe]

Stick a sign near the receptacle that says to dry hands first. These flexible cords will be kept dry inside the vehicle and not energized?

How would you verify if the power has been isolated when hitting the switch? Seems like more work and headache to install a switch.....

Just my opinion.

 

[MeterBase]

Let me add the next subparagraph from 70E 109.4(b): Energized plug and receptacle connections shall be handled only with insulating protective equipment if the condition of the connection could provide a conductive path to the employee's hand (if, for example, a cord connector is wet from being immersed in water).

These vehicles stay plugged in when they are parked in order to charge the batteries. Employees are unplugging the charging cord when leaving and plugging it in when returning, regardless of the weather conditions. Besides the person's hands being wet, the cords may also be wet.

 

[WorkSafe]

Would your facility provide a roof over these charging areas and then you could have cord reels mounted high?? Not only will this prevent cords from being exposed to the elements, but will also provide some shelter for that actual carts.

 

[MeterBase]

Thanks for the replies.

First, the two 70E paragraphs are 110.9(B)(4)(a) and (b); I mistyped them in both of my previous posts.

There are 15 different charging locations spread over a very large site, and most locations are equipped to charge more than one vehicle (some 6 or 8 at a time). These are "neighborhood electric vehicles" (NEVs) with onboard chargers, so they are much larger than golf carts. The canopies would have to be quite large. In the near term, it would be unlikely canopies would be installed over all these locations.

The company plans to buy more vehicles, and more charging receptacles will probably be installed. I was hoping to use a simple weatherproof toggle switch on each receptacle to increase personnel safety. I see your issue about verifying that the switch actually deenergizes the receptacle. But, it seems pretty extreme to perform a LOTO to plug in or unplug a vehicle from a 120 volt convenience receptacle. Perhaps that's what we need to do, but I wonder if I'm correctly interpreting the intent of 110.9(B)(4)(a) and (b).

The suggestion about using cord reels is a good one. So good, in fact, I had already proposed using them to avoid problems with loose cords!

 

[LarryFine]

In a perfect world, the receptacles will not energize until the car end is connected.