Electricity is a serious workplace hazard, and hundreds of people die each year due to electrical shocks, including related injuries, like burns, falls, and electrical fires. It is not just workers that suffer; it’s friends and families, too.

Who works with electricity?

• Engineers, electricians, and other professionals work with electricity directly while working on overhead lines, circuit boxes, and wiring

• Office workers and salespeople work with electricity indirectly when they use things like appliances, computers, or power strips

How Electricity Works

The flow of electricity is called current, and it travels in a path called a circuit. Current in a circuit flows out from, and back to, its power source. Typical workplace power sources are breaker boxes or power outlets.

Electrical current needs something physical to travel through, called a conductor, such as copper wire, aluminum and steel. Conductors can heat up or spark when too much electricity passes through them. The human body is a good conductor, too, especially when your skin is wet or sweaty.

Electricity doesn’t travel well through insulators — materials like rubber, plastic, and glass. The casing on wires, the soles of your boots, plastic tool handles, and glass insulators on power lines are all insulators that resist the flow of electricity.

Electricity naturally travels to the earth – literally, the ground. At work, a ground is a safety feature that diverts an electrical system’s current safely to the ground and rapidly trips (shuts off) the circuit breaker to remove the electrical charge from the circuit – protecting the circuit and workers near it.

Electrical Safety Controls

Fuses and breakers are engineering controls that protect wiring and equipment by limiting the amount of current a circuit will carry. They trip, or break the circuit, when the current flow becomes unsafe to prevent overheating.

Double equipment insulation provides an alternate path for current to flow through the metal frame of a tool to the ground.

A ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) is another engineering safety control that interrupts an electric current when it detects a difference in the amount of current going to and returning from equipment along the circuit conductors.

An arc-fault circuit interrupter (AFCI), sometimes referred to as an arc-fault detection device (AFDD), protects against fires caused by arcing faults by shutting off an electric power circuit when it detects an electric arc.

Policies and procedures like unplugging unused appliances, using power strips, and never overloading outlets are administrative safety controls designed to promote electrical safety at work.

Training is an administrative control mandated by regulatory agencies or employers. Only trained and authorized employees are allowed to work on or around electrical systems.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as eye and face protection, head protection, and hand and foot protection minimize exposure to electrical hazards. Electrical PPE has specific ratings and uses.

Electrical Safety Precautions

• Scan for electrical hazards such as broken fixtures, damaged outlets, and loose wires, and know the location of emergency exits and fire extinguishers

• Inspect tools or appliances before use for loose outlets or receptacle connections where a plug does not have a tight fit, frayed wires, and wear or damage

• Handle extension cords properly - don’t tug on them, remove ground prongs, or run cords under rugs

• Avoid overloading circuits by using use power strips with built in breakers when you have multiple items to plug in

• Use ladders safely by staying at least 10 feet (3.04 m) from power lines and using non-conductive ladders made of plastic or fiberglass instead of aluminum whenever possible.

• Call 811 before digging for information about underground power lines

• Practice good housekeeping and remove clutter in your workspace that could catch fire

• Keep work areas where you’re working with electricity dry, especially the floor

• Never touch electrical sources to see if they are energized

Electrical Injuries

Superficial burns occur when skin comes in contact with overheated electric equipment, or when clothing is ignited in an electrical incident.

Electricity flowing through your body can cause serious internal burns and damage, such as internal bleeding, tissue destruction, and nerve or muscle damage, which, if left untreated, can be fatal.

Muscles violently contract when stimulated by excessive amounts of electricity. If the victim is holding an electrocuting object, they might not be able to let go, resulting in prolonged contact with the current.

Injury or death may result when pain from shocks, violent muscle contractions, or loss of consciousness cause workers to fall from ladders and scaffolds or inadvertently strike other objects.

Ventricular fibrillation (uneven, uncoordinated pumping of the heart), respiratory arrest, or heart attack may occur with severe electrocution.