paul hodge
Member
- Location
- atl
Does NFPA 70 E apply to government facilities such as school system ?
NFPA 70 E in goverment enviroments
- Thread starter paul hodge
- Start date
- Status
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
It may not apply to the employees of the school system, but it would apply to contractor employees working for the school system.
- Location
- Wisconsin
- Occupation
- PE (Retired) - Power Systems
School districts are usually local governments and are rarely exempt from 'work rules and regulations' like the Federal government might be.
jtinge
Senior Member
- Location
- Hampton, VA
- Occupation
- Sr. Elec. Engr
Many if not most Federal Government work sites are now complying with some version of NFPA 70E. I am not familiar with state or local governments.
NASA, where I am employed, has many OSHA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star certified worksites and VPP Star support service contractors. A robust electrical safety program, in compliance with NFPA 70E, is an area evaluated when obtaining and maintaining the Government OSHA VPP Star certification.
NASA Langley in VA was the first federal worksite to obtain this certification and they like other NASA centers require NFPA 70E compliance of both the civil servant and contractor work force.
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NASA, where I am employed, has many OSHA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star certified worksites and VPP Star support service contractors. A robust electrical safety program, in compliance with NFPA 70E, is an area evaluated when obtaining and maintaining the Government OSHA VPP Star certification.
NASA Langley in VA was the first federal worksite to obtain this certification and they like other NASA centers require NFPA 70E compliance of both the civil servant and contractor work force.
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wtucker
Senior Member
- Location
- Connecticut
NFPA 70E is a completely voluntary consensus standard that has to be adopted, just like any other NFPA standard. For example: the state of Connecticut (where I live) has adopted the 2011 version of NFPA 70, the National Electrical Code, and does not enforce the current 2014 version. The U.S. Dept. of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, has not adopted NFPA 70E, but uses it as a reference document to support its standards for personal protective equipment, etc.
VPP is a sham. There are osha star sites that have had multiple fatalities but still had the star. The Air Force, my employer, has adopted 70E.
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kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
70E is nothing more than a publication by NFPA. NFPA does authorize the use of their publications to be used as standards by law or by other organizations. To be a law there has to be some lawful authority that has gone through the applicable legal processes to adopt it as a law or even amended versions as law.
When it comes to OSHA - and especially electrical workplace safety - it is generally up to the employer to set a safety policy. The employer has options here. One being to write their own electrical safety standard. This can consume a lot of time and resources and cost a lot of $$$.
A second option is to accept publications that already have been made for the purpose - such as NFPA's 70E. By doing this you are sharing the expense of creating the standard with all the others that have purchased it as well, and they will continue to update it as time goes on, otherwise you will spend even more time and resources on keeping it updated if you were to have your own written policy.
If you should write your own policy and some employee is injured though they followed your policy, their attorney may challenge your policy, and if they find holes in it you will wish that you had just used something like 70E. They are not as likely to challenge 70E as it has a lot more R&D put into it and is pretty well accepted by most industries to be a good safety standard, and it will generally be less of a liability.
Does government employment use 70E? That answer would depend on the agency involved and what they have set as safety standards. Some may have even be required to follow certain general policies as other agencies from the same governing body yet most personell don't even know about it.
When it comes to OSHA - and especially electrical workplace safety - it is generally up to the employer to set a safety policy. The employer has options here. One being to write their own electrical safety standard. This can consume a lot of time and resources and cost a lot of $$$.
A second option is to accept publications that already have been made for the purpose - such as NFPA's 70E. By doing this you are sharing the expense of creating the standard with all the others that have purchased it as well, and they will continue to update it as time goes on, otherwise you will spend even more time and resources on keeping it updated if you were to have your own written policy.
If you should write your own policy and some employee is injured though they followed your policy, their attorney may challenge your policy, and if they find holes in it you will wish that you had just used something like 70E. They are not as likely to challenge 70E as it has a lot more R&D put into it and is pretty well accepted by most industries to be a good safety standard, and it will generally be less of a liability.
Does government employment use 70E? That answer would depend on the agency involved and what they have set as safety standards. Some may have even be required to follow certain general policies as other agencies from the same governing body yet most personell don't even know about it.
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