Are Your Electricians Safety-Trained?

Gary Parr | October 10, 2016

OSHA and NFPA provide the guidelines, but our survey suggests there is still some room for electrical-safety training improvement.

When electrical systems are in question, anyone would be hard pressed to support any compromise in safety should maintenance work be required. To develop a picture of electrical safety in the manufacturing arena, we surveyed the readers of Maintenance Technology to determine their knowledge of electrical-system events/activities in their facilities. More than 230 professionals took time to respond. The survey results are presented below.

While the responses were overwhelmingly positive in terms of system knowledge and safety, there were enough of the “other” responses to suggest some element of training, either initial or ongoing, is in order. According to the electrical-training experts at AVO Institute, Dallas (avotraining.com), compliance with OSHA and NFPA 70E regulations is not optional. In addition, NFPA 70E stipulates that retraining, not refresher courses, must occur every three years.

Ask your team members to take the same survey. Your results will tell you whether training needs are immediate or if you’ve been doing your job well and additional training can be scheduled down the road. MT
—Gary L. Parr, editorial director