There is much opportunity for improvement in electrical safety management across various industries, particularly construction and utilities. The high rates of electrical arc and shock flash injuries and fatalities cannot be addressed by only selecting the right Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and following safe practices. DuPont Safety Resources experts Lanny Floyd, Principal Consultant, Electrical Safety & Technology and Luiz Tomiyoshi, Consultant, DuPont Latin America Engineering, explain why organizations must drive electrical safety through an integrated safety management system.
The NFPA 70E Standard brought much needed public attention to electrical safety and the standards in which to view electrical safety. If NFPA 70E got your attention on electrical safety and arc flash, there’s more to the story.
Most notably, there is a lack of involvement on behalf of management and the safety professional. The NFPA 70E standard is a good standard, but it is only a small slice of what is critical to establish electrical safety, and it’s just one slice of what is critical in mitigating electric shock and arc flash injuries. The development and implementation of a robust and sustainable electrical safety program requires a collaboration and dialogue among experts who are knowledgeable in electrical safety, as well as experts in safety management.
That’s because electrical experts may know all about the equipment and safety procedures, but they may not be experts in safety management systems. Safety management professionals are well grounded in safety practices and driving safety improvement through organizations, but they often do not know the critical details of electrical safety.
How DuPont developed its electrical safety culture
At DuPont, we have brought together safety management professionals and technology experts to advance our own electrical safety understanding and standards. This shift in our electrical safety culture began in 1990 when we recognized that it was not on par with the rest of our safety management practices. We started to challenge what we had been doing and recognized that what we had been doing for a long time didn’t align with how we managed risks from other hazards in the workplace.
Our electrical safety program was targeted to electricians, however about half of the electrical injuries were to other workers. We now recognize that all people in the workplace have exposure to electrical hazards, although some work groups have significantly higher risks than others.
We were deficient in our use of PPE, largely because existing standards at that time did not recognize arc flash as a unique electrical hazard. We didn’t have a comprehensive set of control measures for shock and arc hazards. We also didn’t have a corporate standard of performance or audit system.
Our safety professionals were not effectively engaged in an electrical safety program, even though we had many talented safety professionals at DuPont.
Fortunately, we have seen our electrical safety performance improve significantly since we implemented the following:
- We established a corporate performance standard for electrical safety management. It addresses how electrical safety will be managed, what management responsibility is, the minimum requirements for site based procedures and the requirement for second party auditing.
- We introduced May as “electrical safety month” – a concept which is used quite broadly outside of DuPont today – and continue to drive a wide focus on electrical safety through management commitment. We also created the Take Electricity Seriously video to help communicate this commitment.
- Finally, we implemented a corporate-wide network that is used to share and leverage innovative ideas, practices and procedures. We have embedded our electrical safety resources throughout operations, ensuring accountability and resources.
In addition to reducing the frequency and severity of electrical injuries, we developed a better understanding that the prevention of incidents in electrical energy, control and communications systems (that are critical to operations uptime) is also fundamental to operations excellence in a broad way.
Electrical expertise and safety management collaboration
The first part to forging the critical collaboration between an organization’s electrical experts and safety management professionals is conducting a full hazard assessment.
Safety professionals can help address design issues, such as, “What are we doing to address electrical safety in the design of facilities?” This is a more complete approach than looking first to practices and PPE. A comprehensive set of control measures is also an important part of assessing a facility’s electrical safety.
Until the 2009 edition, there was nothing in the NFPA 70E standard about leadership, management or culture. The 2009 edition includes a reference to safety management systems standards needed for establishing a comprehensive approach to mitigating electrical hazards in the workplace. A safety professional understands these dimensions and can bring those perspectives to electrical safety program improvement. Your approach to electrical safety and exposure must match how you approach workplace safety and process safety.
How to integrate electrical safety into a total safety management process
The first step is to engage with the electricians since they know where to locate the problem. They also know where the weaknesses are in a complacent management system. But they have to realize that electrical safety cannot be solved only by their technical knowledge. Next, management must be clearly shown the electrical hazard. It’s critical to help management understand the consequences of not treating electrical safety on a professional level.
Safety professionals must also understand that electrical safety needs to be administrated through a safety administration process, which includes conducting behavior audits, implementing new procedures, and implementing management policies which address electrical safety. With all these elements in place, there will be an understanding of the basic nature of electrical hazards, and the involvement needed to work with one another for true safety integration.
How can leaders help drive electrical safety improvements?
Leaders need to assume the position of truly leading the electrical safety improvement process. A leader has to know that he/she cannot leave electrical safety just to the electrical technical professional who is exposed to the risk because of the nature of the work. An electrician only wants to focus on doing the technical work faster and in such a way so that it works.
In many instances, however, he/she is not concentrating on troubleshooting things that are not seen (electricity does not smell, is silent, and has no presence). Leadership has to understand that a good technician is also subject to human error. Electricians are in vulnerable situations and they need someone to say "stop the work". Only leaders can do this.
NIOSH helps identify opportunities for safety improvement
In 2006, the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a study of occupational electrical injuries and fatalities, “Trends in Electrical Injures in the US, 1992 – 2002”. The study showed that several industries, including construction, mining and transportation, had a huge opportunity to reduce their electrical injuries.
There are also particular activities – across industries – that pose high risk and continue to increase this risk, such as contact with overhead power lines. It is important to manage the exposure of employees to overhead electricity lines. Those in direct contact with these lines are at risk, such as crane operators, dump truck drivers and workers using long metal poles.
Facility owners also play a large role in driving electrical safety. Whether it is their legal responsibility or not, facility owners can influence the safety performance of the contractors and contractor companies working on their site, and will not see an improvement in project safety until they do so. Facility owners should be holding construction companies accountable for the safety of their contractors, as well as their property.
When working with our clients, we visit their facilities and work with their safety and electrical safety leaders. We address how to collaborate on an organization’s electrical safety management program and not manage it as a separate isolated piece of operations. We want to make sure it is fully integrated into the company’s safety and health program.
Electrical safety standards vary across the world
Electrical safety is highly regulated in all industrial countries. In the United States, there are strict standards for electrical safety. In Latin America, each country has its own electrical safety regulations and technical standards for electrical equipment and installation. In some countries, electrical safety is combined with technical standards and there is no specific standard or regulation for electrical safety in the workplace. But Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela follow U.S standards as a base. Brazil and Argentina however follow International (IEC - International Electrotechnical Commission) standards.
For example, in Brazil, there is a specific regulation for electrical safety in the workplace that has been managed by the Government Labor Ministry (similar to OSHA) since 1978. It was revised in 2004 when a significant improvement was introduced to strengthen the regulation. Many companies are still working to be in compliance. As a result there is ongoing demand for developing an electrical safety management program to work for different companies. In addition to electrical safety regulations, there are technical standards issued by the Brazilian Technical Code Association (ABNT) for which the base is IEC. Brazilian safety regulations also call for the Brazilian technical code to be followed in regards to installation, equipment and devices.
Some PPE considerations
DuPont has helped develop today’s standards for electrical safety in the workplace. We have been leaders in the development and application of clothing worn to protect against arc hazards through flame resistant protective apparel made with Nomex®. We developed analysis tools to assess severity of hazards; how to determine performance of protective clothing; and several selector tools. DuPont offers 4 categories of clothing classification for different magnitudes of severity for thermal exposure. At DuPont, we constantly strive towards improving PPE characteristics such as lower weight, better conformity, and of course developing new Nomex® products for the marketplace, such as the new Protera® fabric which meets NFPA 70E Category 2 requirements.
Another important consideration when thinking about personal protection is heat stress. Protective clothing can be heavy and restrictive. Fortunately, most of the time when it’s worn, the wearer is not exposed to an arc flash. But continued exposure to heat leads to negative consequences for the garment you’re wearing. There is a need for PPE manufacturers to continually refine user comfort and other qualities of the protective garments. That’s because PPE is the last line of defense for the wearer.
An ongoing challenge
The opportunity remains for improvement in electrical safety management across various industries, particularly construction. As we’ve shared, the high rates of electrical arc and shock flash injuries and fatalities cannot be addressed by only selecting the right PPE and following safe practices. A comprehensive electrical safety program – one that includes engineering solutions for eliminating and reducing risks, as well as safe work practices and PPE to protect workers from recognized risks - needs understanding, participation and leadership from management to succeed.
And we also need to get technical people to understand that electrical safety is more than just a technical solution. The challenge includes changing the behavior of both the person exposed to electrical hazards in their work and his/her supervisor in order for all to respect electricity and to realize the need to integrate all critical electrical aspects into one safety management program.
For more information about DuPont Safety Culture Management and Benchmarking,
call us at 1-800-532-SAFE (7233) or visit us at: www.safety.dupont.com
For more information on apparel to protect against electric arc hazards, call us at 1-800-931-3456 or visit our website.
