Article 100 of NFPA 70E contains six terms that include the word (or root word) “hazard.” It defines “hazard” as “a source of possible injury or damage to health.” It follows that “hazardous” means a hazard is present. That would seem to knock out two, leaving us with four.
If we jump a bit from Art. 100 to Art. 110, we find a requirement for “awareness and self-discipline” on the part of the employee [110.3(D)]. Most procedures are written such that they identify likely hazards, especially if those procedures are equipment specific. But any construction site or operating plant is a dynamic environment. Nobody writing a procedure can anticipate every possible hazard that may exist at the time the procedure is used. You must be aware, deliberately look for these hazards, and have the self-discipline to take the appropriate action to protect yourself regardless of job time pressures, inconvenience, fatigue, or any other factor.
A hazard may be obvious — for example, live terminals on a termination strip have no finger guards. It might be hidden in plain sight, for example a panel cover is in place but two of the eight bolts for securing it are missing. But it might be out of sight, such as a ground fault that caused a breaker to open; you need to locate and clear the ground fault before closing the breaker.
It is up to the employee to find all of these hazards because the employee is the one who is there to see them and also because the employee is the one who is there to be injured or killed by them. NFPA 70E devotes considerable space to how the employee can do this. But keep in mind that NFPA 70E is about electrical safety and thus electrical hazards. It’s not about fall hazards, chemical hazards, respiratory hazards, or the many other hazards that may exist on a job site. The specifics of NFPA 70E won’t be much help with those hazards. However, the principles will be.
The other types of hazard identified in Art. 100 are:
- Electric shock hazard. An electric shock is current through the body. No mystery about that part of the definition. In real life applications, the trick is identifying where a hazard of this exists. And remember, physical contact isn’t always necessary for electric shock.
- Arc flash hazard. If an electric arc causes a flash, the resulting injuries can be severe. Permanent blindness or deafness, severe deep tissue burns, and/or long-lasting PTSD are just some of the consequences people have suffered. This isn’t something where you can jump back out of the way, it’s something you must prevent. Quite a bit of NFPA 70E is devoted to preventing arc flash and its evil cousin arc blast.
- Arc blast hazard. This type of event spews high velocity shrapnel while also producing a powerful pressure wave that is more likely than not to cause death from blunt force trauma.
- Electrical hazard. Any hazard that may arise from the use of, or interaction with, electricity or electrical equipment is an electrical hazard. All of the preceding hazards are types of electrical hazards. In most cases, the damage to the victim is both gruesome and catastrophic.
For anyone not convinced that NFPA 70E is worthwhile, spending some time understanding what electrical hazards are and what happens to the people who get nailed by them will change your mind. You can do a simple online search for “images of arc blast injuries” or attend a NETA conference to see electrical forensics evidentiary photos and listen to experts who focus on this topic. While Art. 100 is very helpful, “electrical hazard” and its variations are much more than mere glossary entries.
