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Employees in a variety of industries work with or around electrical hazards. OSHA requires employers to protect these employees through a variety of methods and means, including, in some cases, the use of protective equipment — both that can be worn and also some equipment that is not worn. Depending on the job task to be performed, PPE for the electric power industry generally includes safety glasses, face shields, hard hats, safety shoes, insulating (rubber) gloves with leather protectors, insulating sleeves, and flame-resistant (FR) clothing. In addition to PPE, electric power workers often use Insulating Protective Equipment (IPE), such as line hoses, rubber hoods, rubber blankets, and insulating live-line tools (for example, hotsticks, switchsticks, or shotgun sticks) for protection. However, since IPE is not worn, it is technically not considered to be PPE.
Scope
OSHA’s electrical protective equipment requirements apply to all general industry employers who have employees with such exposures. The type of work, type of electrical hazard, and other factors, determine which specific protections are needed and applicable. The primary electrical protective equipment requirement covers how this equipment must be designed, maintained, and tested. However, various other OSHA General Industry regulations specify where and when this protective equipment must be used to protect workers.
Regulatory citations
- 29 CFR 1910.137 — Electrical protective equipment
- 29 CFR1910.335 — Safeguards for personnel protection
- Employers involved in electric power generation, transmission, and distribution work must also comply with the detailed requirements of 1910.269.
Key definitions
- FR clothing: Flame-resistant clothing, often used for protection from arc flashes, that has been designed and tested to provide protection against specified electrical/heat hazards.
Summary of requirements
Employers are required to:
- Assess the workplace for work/hazards that would require the use of electrical protective equipment.
- Provide electrical protective equipment suitable for the hazard, task, and exposure.
- Certify that the electrical protective equipment used by workers have passed the tests specified 1910.137. The certification must identify the equipment that passed the tests and the dates of the tests.
- Maintain equipment in proper and safe working condition.
- Immediately remove defective or damaged equipment.
Documentation
Marking rubber electrical protective equipment with the results of the tests and the dates of testing is an acceptable means of meeting the certification requirement. But you can also enter this information onto logs.