# NFPA 70E



## ICE (Aug 19, 2016)

NFPA 70E covers workplace safety. I do not have a copy and I don't expect anyone who does have a copy to share it with me. What I want to know is if there is anything in 70E that I can use to prevent contractors from leaving service enclosures with energized accessible live parts such as the picture of the inspection that I had today. The worker was sound asleep in the truck and this is in the back of the house.

If there is something in 70E that addresses this, my employer will buy it but I need to know if it will be worth the expense.

Thanks


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## Gregg Harris (Aug 19, 2016)

ICE said:


> NFPA 70E covers workplace safety. I do not have a copy and I don't expect anyone who does have a copy to share it with me. What I want to know is if there is anything in 70E that I can use to prevent contractors from leaving service enclosures with energized accessible live parts such as the picture of the inspection that I had today. The worker was sound asleep in the truck and this is in the back of the house.
> 
> If there is something in 70E that addresses this, my employer will buy it but I need to know if it will be worth the expense.
> 
> ...


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## Gregg Harris (Aug 19, 2016)

When the doors of the panel are opened and the panel is energized, a physical barrier is to be used and only qualified people should be allowed within that area. If there is not enough room for a barrier, then everyone who passes through that area must receive training on the hazards of electrical equipment


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## Gregg Harris (Aug 19, 2016)

Gregg Harris said:


> When the doors of the panel are opened and the panel is energized, a physical barrier is to be used and only qualified people should be allowed within that area. If there is not enough room for a barrier, then everyone who passes through that area must receive training on the hazards of electrical equipment


 
*Working While Exposed to Electrical Hazards (110.8)*
Safety work practices consistent with the nature and extent of the associated electrical hazards shall be used to safeguard employees from injury while working on or near exposed electrical or circuit parts that are or can become energized. Two primary conditions are identified and addressed:

*Energized Electrical Conductors and Circuit Parts – Safe Work Condition.* Live parts to 
which an employee might be exposed shall be put into an electrically safe work condition before employees can work on or near them, unless work on energized components can be justified 
according to section 130.1.

*Energized Electrical Conductors and Circuit Parts – Unsafe Work Condition.* Only qualified persons may work on electrical conductors or circuit parts that have not been put into an electrically safe work condition.
The requirements for establishing an electrically safe work condition are indicated in Article 120, while
the requirements for work involving electrical hazards are covered in Article 130


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## Gregg Harris (Aug 19, 2016)

*Justification (130.1)*
Deciding to work on or near energized electrical conductors and circuit parts should be a last resort in 
the workplace, after all other opportunities for establishing an electrically safe work condition have been exhausted. Work on energized parts at 50V or more should only be performed if the employer can demonstrate that deenergizing will introduce additional hazards or is not feasible due to equipment 
design or operational limitations.
When non-routine work must be performed on energized parts, a detailed *work permit* must be 
prepared before the work can start. The work permit must document the following elements and be approved by a responsible manager or safety officer:

A description of the circuit and equipment to be worked on
Justification for performing the work in an energized condition
A description of the safe work practices to be employed
Results of the shock hazard assessment
Determination of shock protection boundaries
Results of the flash hazard analysis
The flash protection boundary
The personnel protective equipment required for worker safety
Restricted access of unqualified persons from the work area
Evidence that the job briefing has been completed
*Approach Boundaries to Energized Electrical Conductors or Circuit Parts (130.2)*
Limited and restricted approach boundaries must be determined in order to identify safe approach distances and the precautions required to minimize the possibility of shock


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## Gregg Harris (Aug 20, 2016)

NFPA 70E is not adopted for regulatory use. Instead, customers, who require electrical contractors to follow NFPA 70E safety practices while working on their property, enforce it


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## rogerpa (Aug 21, 2016)

You can read the document for free here: http://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-stand...ist-of-codes-and-standards?mode=code&code=70E
NFPA 70E: Document Scope
90.2 Scope. (A) Covered. This standard addresses electrical safety-related work practices for employee workplaces that are necessary for the practical safeguarding of employees relative to the hazards associated with electrical energy during activities such as the installation, inspection, operation, maintenance, and demolition of electric conductors, electric equipment, signaling and communications conductors and equipment, and raceways. This standard also includes safe work practices for employees performing other work activities that can expose them to electrical hazards as well as safe work practices for the following: (1) Installation of conductors and equipment that connect to the supply of electricity (2) Installations used by the electric utility, such as office buildings, warehouses, garages, machine shops, and recreational buildings that are not an integral part of a generating plant, substation, or control center (B) Not Covered. This standard does not cover safety-related work practices for the following: (1) Installations in ships, watercraft other than floating buildings, railway rolling stock, aircraft, or automotive vehicles other than mobile homes and recreational vehicles (2) Installations underground in mines and self-propelled mobile surface mining machinery and its attendant electrical trailing cable (3) Installations of railways for generation, transformation, transmission, or distribution of power used exclusively for operation of rolling stock or installations used exclusively for signaling and communications purposes (4) Installations of communications equipment under the exclusive control of communications utilities located outdoors or in building spaces used exclusively for such installations (5) Installations under the exclusive control of an electric utility where such installations: a. Consist of service drops or service laterals, and associated metering, or b. Are located in legally established easements or rights-of-way designated by or recognized by public service commissions, utility commissions, or other regulatory agencies having jurisdiction for such installations, or c. Are on property owned or leased by the electric utility for the purpose of communications, metering, generation, control, transformation, transmission, or distribution of electric energy, or d. Are located by other written agreements either designated by or recognized by public service commissions, utility commission, or other regulatory agencies having jurisdiction for such installations. These written agreements shall be limited to installations for the purpose of communications, metering, generation, control, transformation, transmission, or distribution of electric energy where legally established easements or rights-of-way cannot be obtained. These installations shall be limited to federal lands, Native American reservations through the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs, military bases, lands controlled by port authorities and state agencies and departments, and lands owned by railroads.


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## conarb (Aug 21, 2016)

Tiger:

Why do they leave them open for you?  Every inspector I've ever seen carries a screw driver and undoes the panel even though I always have my electrician present at final inspection.  The only other thing I see inspectors use a screw driver for is opening some electrical fixtures to check for the UL label.


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## tmurray (Aug 22, 2016)

conarb said:


> Tiger:
> 
> Why do they leave them open for you?  Every inspector I've ever seen carries a screw driver and undoes the panel even though I always have my electrician present at final inspection.  The only other thing I see inspectors use a screw driver for is opening some electrical fixtures to check for the UL label.



We don't open or uncover anything. It's in relation to liability, especially on existing equipment. The fewer people touch things, the easier it is to tell who broke it, and it's hard to blame me when I didn't touch it.


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## steveray (Aug 22, 2016)

You can't legally open ANY electrical panel without arc flash gear....


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## ICE (Aug 22, 2016)

I don't know why they do it.  They tell me that most inspectors are too impatient to wait around while they remove one screw.  I find that hard to believe.  What I do not find hard to believe is that they do this everywhere.

We are not supposed to remove dead-fronts.  If there is someone there to meet me I let them remove the dead-front and if not, I do it myself.... Well unless it's a solar job...those I keep my hands off.    All to often the person that meets me is not qualified to remove a dead-front.   They do it anyway and I stand back.


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## conarb (Aug 22, 2016)

tmurray said:


> We don't open or uncover anything. It's in relation to liability, especially on existing equipment. The fewer people touch things, the easier it is to tell who broke it, and it's hard to blame me when I didn't touch it.



Interesting that our inspectors can't climb on roofs to check nailing or climb ladders to check smoke alarms for liability reasons, yet are allowed to unbutton panels and open up electrical fixtures.  You inspectors only see one jurisdiction, we contractors see multiple jurisdictions.  If you think that bad you should have seen it before 1998 when we got a statewide code, lots of AHJs dragged their feet adopting codes, there was one corner in Silicon Valley that made the papers for having three different cities with three different codes on one street corner. 

Interesting bit of history, back in the 50s all cities required that contractors have city business licenses and that license stickers be posted prominently on the windshields of company vehicles, that requirement was enforced by building inspectors in some cases, roving code enforcement agents in others, and in some cities both.  People were more honest in those days and all permits and licenses were for the purpose of raising money for the cities.

One fine day in San Mateo (I think) a painting contractor working on a home being remodeled was issued a ticket by the building inspector for not having a San Mateo sticker on his truck windshield, on his way home he took Highway 101 and was stopped by the California Highway Patrol and issued a ticket for having so many city stickers on his windshield that his vision was impaired, he took it to court and eventually an appellate court threw out the entire city sticker requirements.


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