no live parts in lighting fixtures

[mjc1060]

Hi, Does any one know the Nec code and NFPA 70E code reference for lighting disconnects required to prevent contact with live parts.

 

[WorkSafe]

Be more specific. We talking about being exposed to live parts while changing a ballast for example?

Here's what OSHA says about it:

1910.333(a)(1)

"Deenergized parts." Live parts to which an employee may be exposed shall be deenergized before the employee works on or near them, unless the employer can demonstrate that deenergizing introduces additional or increased hazards or is infeasible due to equipment design or operational limitations. Live parts that operate at less than 50 volts to ground need not be deenergized if there will be no increased exposure to electrical burns or to explosion due to electric arcs.


Note 1: Examples of increased or additional hazards include interruption of life support equipment, deactivation of emergency alarm systems, shutdown of hazardous location ventilation equipment, or removal of illumination for an area.


Note 2: Examples of work that may be performed on or near energized circuit parts because of infeasibility due to equipment design or operational limitations include testing of electric circuits that can only be performed with the circuit energized and work on circuits that form an integral part of a continuous industrial process in a chemical plant that would otherwise need to be completely shut down in order to permit work on one circuit or piece of equipment.


Note 3: Work on or near deenergized parts is covered by paragraph (b) of this section.

 

[mjc1060]

Maintence Electrical Work

Maintence Electrical Work

To be more specific I am talking about working or replacing 277V light switches,ballasts and 120V receptacles that are live. I have a supervisor who has purchased safety equipment and wants me to do this work live. I work in an office building that is only occupied Monday thru Friday. As a maintence electrician we work seven days a week therefore there is no reason not to deenergize all equipment and perform maintenance in off peak hours. I am having a hard time explaing this and was told if I dont work equipment live I will not work at my current job or anywhere else. I refuse to accept this but dont know how to find the required refences. Thank you

 

[kwired]

To work live you not only need protective equipment, you also need a valid reason to work live. Troubleshooting is one reason, shutting down a process that may create additional hazards if shut down is another good reason, like maybe some chemical process will continue or ventilation of hazardous materials. Shutting down areas of an office complex does not generally introduce additional hazards. Inconvenience yes.

But what if you are changing a switch or receptacle and accidentally short circuit something? There is going to be inconvenience anyway, and will be unexpected instead of scheduled. If you are wearing safety gear especially gloves, that switch or receptacle will be a little harder to handle maybe increasing the chance of shorting something.

 

[Strathead]

To be more specific I am talking about working or replacing 277V light switches,ballasts and 120V receptacles that are live. I have a supervisor who has purchased safety equipment and wants me to do this work live. I work in an office building that is only occupied Monday thru Friday. As a maintence electrician we work seven days a week therefore there is no reason not to deenergize all equipment and perform maintenance in off peak hours. I am having a hard time explaing this and was told if I dont work equipment live I will not work at my current job or anywhere else. I refuse to accept this but dont know how to find the required refences. Thank you

It sounds like you still need to be more specific. What type of safety equipment? Are you asking for our opinion about what your boss is demanding? Are you asking for information that you can go over his head with? Are you asking for information that will get you fired with a valid law suit? Are you asking for information that you can take to your boss himself and convince him that your peers (us) confirm your concerns so that he will change his mind?

 

[Sahib]

I am having a hard time explaing this and was told if I dont work equipment live I will not work at my current job or anywhere else. I refuse to accept this but dont know how to find the required refences.

If nothing works with your supervisor, politely tell him you are going to report the matter to OSHA.

 

[mjc1060]

Beating a dead horse

Beating a dead horse

As far as safety equpment anything related to 70e. I am asking for information that I can use to some how convince him. I believe in my situation there is absolutley no reason to do this. For me a Hero is only a sandwich. Again for me I came to my present employer looking for a job and I will the leave same employer looking for a job. When leading a horse to water how can you make him drink before he dies of thirst. I work in an office building where there are no critical systems other than fire alarm and this system with the exception of the control panel is not 120V. Why expose yourself to injury when you don't have to?

 

[Strathead]

As far as safety equpment anything related to 70e. I am asking for information that I can use to some how convince him. I believe in my situation there is absolutley no reason to do this. For me a Hero is only a sandwich. Again for me I came to my present employer looking for a job and I will the leave same employer looking for a job. When leading a horse to water how can you make him drink before he dies of thirst. I work in an office building where there are no critical systems other than fire alarm and this system with the exception of the control panel is not 120V. Why expose yourself to injury when you don't have to?

Here http://www.osha.gov/Publications/3075.html is a link I found to a booklet at OSHA. But from the tone of your post, I get the impression that even the term OSHA may cause your "manager" to see red. It is hard to believe that anyone would argue against securing power whenever possible in this day and age! I can think of so many stories of stupidity. One in particular about the nephew of my boss. Set the stage, my boss gave me FULL reign. I was his #2. I was much more attentive to the need to work hot than he was and always told the guys not to do it, also leading by example. One day his nephew came up to me and confessed, that the other day he had been working on a lighting circuit, all alone in a commercial office. Absolutely no one around. He needed to get in a junction box above the t-bar ceiling. Remember he is "confessing" this story to me. He looked at the light switch 100 feet across the large open office space, and thought, "ah, it is just one wire nut." You can guess that he got electrocuted. from one hand to the shoulder of his other arm that was touching the T-bar. He related that in the short time he was hung up, a lifetime went by where all he could think of was what a D#$K I was for being right, and that he was going to die right there. Needless to say, he was a rather safe worker after that.

All that said, I don't think I would do anything with this boss that doesn't include documentation. Perhaps you could sit down and write up a little electrical safety guideline that outlines the procedures you think are warranted and present it to him. That way, if he takes punitive action you have a piece of paper you can go over his head with. If this is a corporation, I wouldn't put a lot of stock him having a job after a well played confrontation!

 

[mjc1060]

Thank you for the responses. and clarification

Thank you for the responses. and clarification

Much appreciated