Electrical safety - Oregon

Oregon incorporates by reference the federal regulations for electrical safety; however, the state adds further requirements. Click the link(s) below to view the applicable requirements.

Electrical safety

Citations

Oregon:

• Oregon Administrative Rules; Department of Consumer and Business Services; Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division; Division 2; General Occupational Safety and Health Rules; General
• Oregon Administrative Rules; Public Utility Commission, Division 24, Construction and Safety Standards, General, Section 860-024-0007
• Oregon Administrative Rules, Oregon Utility Notification Center, Division 1, Sections 952-001-0010 through and including 952-001-0090
• Oregon Revised Statutes, ORS Chapter 654, Oregon Safe Employment Act, Section 654.165 Employees not required to work bare-handed or rubber-gloved on high voltage lines.

A summary of the additional requirements includes the following:

• Employees may not work in proximity to high-voltage lines, unless danger from accidental contact with the lines has been effectively guarded against.
• Operating, erecting, or transporting tools, equipment, or any part thereof capable of movement; material handling, transporting, or storage; or moving any building near high-voltage lines is prohibited if at any time it is possible to bring such object within ten feet of high-voltage lines.
• For equipment in transit, on smooth surfaces, the clearance is to be a minimum of four feet for voltages less than 50 kV, ten feet for voltages over 50 kV, up to and including 345 kV, and 16 feet for voltages up to and including 750 kV.
• A person is to observe clearance and give timely warning for all operations where it is difficult for the operator to maintain the desired clearance by visual means.
• The ten-feet requirement may not be reduced by movement due to any strains impressed upon the structures supporting the high-voltage line and upon any equipment, fixtures, or attachments on the line.
• The employer is to post and maintain in plain view of the operator on each crane, derrick, power shovel, drilling rig, hay loader, hay stacker, pile driver, or similar apparatus, any part of which is capable of vertical, lateral, or swinging motion, a durable warning sign legible at 12 feet reading "Unlawful to operate this equipment within 10 feet of high-voltage lines".