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Safety Technologies


The Guide to IEEE Utility Safety Standards

A comprehensive review of IEEE guidelines and documents BY JIM TOMASESKI, IEEE, NESC Main Committee, PAR Electric Every day, utility workers are risking their lives in work environments that involve high-risk activities such as working at extreme heights, managing or repairing energized...

Fighting Heat Stress With Effective Workwear

In a perfect world, we could all work in weather-controlled environments where heat wouldn’t be a factor and comfort could be maximized. Many workplaces however, deal with very high temperatures and heat stress is a year-round risk that requires serious consideration. For many years the standards...

Obsoleting The Absence Of Voltage Test?

For more than a decade, thousands of users have deployed Permanent Electrical Safety Devices (PESDs) to reduce the risks in isolating electrical energy. This elegantly simple innovation increases the probability that workers are only exposed to ‘zero voltage’ when doing an absence of voltage...

Safety Technologies

Breaking Down OSHA's Revised Fall Protection Standards for Utility Workers

Ineffective or missing fall protection has been OSHA’s most-cited violation every year since 2011, and falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry. Year after year, fall protection remains a key concern for employers throughout the United States. Not just that, but electrical workers routinely face hazards in the form of high-voltage equipment, dangerous heights, and extreme weather conditions.

OSHA recognizes these dangers and in 2014, updated some of its fall protection regulations to keep employees safe while working at heights. 29 CFR §1926.954 covers PPE requirements, including fall protection, and 29 CFR §1910.269 covers electric power generation, transmission and distribution work. The agency hadn’t updated its rules since 1972 and sought to align them more closely with general industry standards.

Related Articles


Obsoleting The Absence Of Voltage Test?

For more than a decade, thousands of users have deployed Permanent Electrical Safety Devices (PESDs) to reduce the risks in isolating electrical energy. This elegantly simple innovation increases the probability that workers are only exposed to ‘zero voltage’ when doing an absence of voltage...

Flame-Resistant Apparel for Utility Workers [VIDEO]

Selecting the right FR clothing is the first step. Glen Raven is a global leader in high-performance, inherently flame-resistant protective and hi-visibility fabrics for the utility, petroleum and industrial apparel markets. The health and safety of the men and women in these dangerous environments...

Electrical Hazard Protection

How to reduce dangers while providing preventive maintenance data BY FINLEY LEDBETTER, Group CBS, Inc. While most discussions about avoiding electrical hazards focus on personal protective equipment (PPE), utility workers have a number of ways to protect themselves and their gear, including...


Power lines

Building a Competency Program

At Valard, our people are the core and health of our business. Without our people, we have nothing. In fact, one of our slogans is “People. First.” However, being a people company means some of our biggest challenges are created by people. Our challenges are unique, as is each person...

wildfire on electric pole

Lineman Safety during a Wildfire

If you wanted to create a recipe for disaster, the beginning of the 2021 wildfire season would be a good place to start. Nearly 90% of the western U.S. is suffering through extreme drought. The snowpack set new low levels there as well. A record-breaking heatwave steamrolled the Pacific Northwest...

Tragedy & Expense: The High Cost of Low Electrical Safety

The electrical industry is one of the most dangerous work environments for employees. The risk of injuries and fatalities is high due to the nature of the work and the amount of interaction workers have with dangerous equipment and conditions. Electrical incidents happen daily, putting lives and...

Linemen safety PPE

Hand Safety - Protective Gloves

Rubber insulating gloves are among the most important articles of personal protection for electrical workers. To be effective, the gloves must incorporate high dielectric and physical strength, along with flexibility and durability. For superior performance they should meet and/or exceed the...

Remote deployed field crews safety

ENHANCING REMOTE WORKER SAFETY

Remote field operations present the safety organization with a myriad of challenges when it comes to ensuring the safety of the people that you send out to work in the field every day. Without a doubt, this includes the line workers, but it also includes nearly every member of the staff whose...

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