Electric Power Training Requirements for Nonelectrical Employees

Does OSHA require nonelectrical employees to be “Qualified”? The answer is yes when nonelectrical employees need to access areas, or perform tasks restricted to “Qualified Employees”. Areas could include substations, generating facilities, transmission and distribution lines and equipment. An few nonelectrical examples include extending a substation fence in an energized substation,  adding a communication tower in an energized substation, spraying herbicides in substations and around underground energized equipment , forming concrete foundations under energized transmission lines, adding pole treament chemicals to wood poles, and many more. All of these jobs require employees to access areas restricted to “Qualified Employees” and OSHA requires the following minimum training requirements. Employees must know what is safe and not safe to touch, the maximum voltage in the workarea, the MAD distances for the maximum voltage and how to maintain the MAD for their work, how to identify and use protective equipment and most importantly, how to recognize electrical hazards and control or avoid the hazards for the work being performed. 

Training for nonelectrical employees working in substations