Traditionally, the safety model in the United States has been that of imposing requirements on employers (for example by OSHA, insurance companies, and unions) and imposing requirements on employees (via safety manuals, company rules, and progressive discipline for infractions). For some time now, the European model has focused on the concept of guiding the employee on now to take responsibility for working safely. That model heavily influenced the 2015 revision of NFPA 70E. We also have examples in the USA from, for example, the DuPont Safety Program with its focus on identifying unsafe acts.
Electricity doesn’t care whether you follow your company’s rules or not. It doesn’t care how close you can come to violating those rules but technically not breaking them, either. And that goes for every other type of hazard on the job.
Under the traditional model, workers tend to avoid being caught breaking a safety rule rather than identifying the potential hazards and how to protect themselves. The guy who puts his safety glasses on as the supervisor approaches won’t get written up for violating the policy, but he is at other times at risk for losing his eyesight. How many blind electricians do you know?
