Hey everybody Brian Hall here. Today I want to answer the frequently asked question – Who is qualified to work on electrical equipment? What truly qualifies a person is somebody who has good technical skills but they also have safety skills.
A qualified person must be formally trained and know how to keep themselves safe. That’s important to understand as only qualified persons are allowed to work on energized electrical equipment.
The other day I’m reading an OSHA incident report :
Two very skilled electricians are taking the cover off a 480 volt energized panel. When taking the cover off, a piece of metal inside the panel falls down into the panel, hits the energized bus bars and creates an arc flash. Both of these fellows received third-degree burns and spend multiple months in the hospital recovering from these very painful injuries.
Both of these fellows were highly skilled very experienced electricians. But, they certainly didn’t understand the hazards involved with working on energized electrical equipment. And that’s why in NFPA 70e® the definition of a qualified person is really broken up into two parts:
You have to have strong technical skills but , you have to be trained in what is known as safety-related work practices. You need to know when you’re faced with an arc flash hazard. Do you need to wear our flash PPE? Do you need to use insulated tools? Do you need to use insulating gloves?
So, if you attend BCH Electrical Safety Training, we’re going to have interactive and customized training. We’re going to provide you with all the safety-related techniques that you need to be qualified.
