High EH&S provides comprehensive services in the realm of electrical safety.
Organizations covered by OSHA’s 29 CFR 1910.147 regulations are required to develop not only an energy control program (often referred to as lockout-tagout), but in most cases must have specific energy control procedures (ECPs) for each type of equipment in their operations. These procedures are required to be available to individuals who are authorized to lockout energy systems. In addition to having these procedures in place, each procedure (or a representative sample based on grouping specifications) must be inspected while in use annually. Additionally, personnel authorized to perform lockout-tagout, must also be audited performing each procedure annually, or use alternative annual group meeting reviews. There is no question as to why this regulations is the NUMBER ONE cited offense by employers in general industry settings.
Energy Control Policy – High EH&S experts will develop an energy control program which addresses the overall procedures to be followed within your organization. This policy will address operating aspects such as annual inspection procedures, training specifications for affected and authorized workers, lockout processes, shift changes, group lockouts, contractor lockout procedures, lock removal provisions and specifications for use of the ECPs. Each policy is developed based on the organization’s needs and approach to lockout-tagout.
Energy Control Procedures – High EH&S staff will develop compliant and specific Energy Control Procedures (ECP) for all your equipment. These procedures are required to be available to provide enough specificity to be effective in the isolation of equipment. The procedures include magnitude of the energy sources, specific isolation lockout procedures, verification procedures and typically include photographs of the appropriate control / isolation points.
Electrical Safety Work Practices Program – OSHA requires that organizations have an electrical safety work practice program for those workers who may be exposed to some risk of electrical shock. This program content can vary significantly based on the application in your workplace. Machine operators, welders, technicians and maintenance personnel are examples of individuals who may be at increased risk and required training. High EH&S believes that your Electrical Safety Work Practice program must be integrated to your Energy Control Policy and often works on these as a coordinated project. This program addresses the protection from electrical shock and arc blast and flash. This program may include energized work permit processes, selection care and maintenance of arc-flash and electrically insulated PPE, proper procedures and prohibitions when performing specific work.
Training – OSHA requires that individuals who work with, near or on exposed energized circuits be trained as qualified persons. Working on energized circuits is generally prohibited, except where one of the OSHA exceptions applies and in these cases, individuals must be trained and protected. High EH&S provides a comprehensive modular education program for electrically exposed workers. Typically, this program runs eight hours, but it can be significantly shorter or longer depending on the site-specific applications and needs. Our program covers both OSHA and NFPA 70E Electrical and Arc Flash protection provisions. This training is often the capstone to a program policy development or update. In addition to in-depth training, High EH&S can provide shorter awareness level or refresher training. Keep in mind for compliance with OSHA, authorized personnel training must include specific information on your energy control procedures and the annual audit findings where training is used to supplement representative sampling.
Compliance Audting – High EH&S can provide a comprehensive electrical safety compliance audit for your facility. From identifying physical compliance electrical hazards to auditing records, policies and training, we have it covered. Compliance audits can be done to determine if OSHA requirements are being met, or to determine if NFPA 70E specifications are implemented. Note that the current version of the NFPA 70E standard specifies a program audit be performed every three years.
