What are the Hierarchy of Risk Controls in Electrical Work?

In the field of electrical work, where potential hazards are often not immediately visible, a thorough understanding of risk assessment and mitigation strategies is essential. This knowledge empowers electricians, technicians, and anyone working near electricity to make informed decisions, implement effective safety measures, and create safer work environments. 

In this video excerpt from the 6-Hour NFPA 70E Electrical Safety Training course, HeatSpring instructor Jason Brozen delves into the hierarchy of risk controls, exploring how this systematic approach reduces hazards in electrical work. Whether you’re a seasoned electrician or new to the field, recognizing and respecting these risk factors is key to fostering a culture of safety in the industry.

So the risk assessment, 130.3(H)(3) is going to be your hierarchy of risk controls.

This is a really common triangle in the safety industry, electrical industry. This is what it looks like. And there’s six parts to it.

You’ve got the elimination phase. I’m going to give you examples of these coming up.That’s turning it off. You eliminate the hazard, right? That’s the safest – safest to the least safest from top to bottom.  

Two, substitution. Touchproof metering – replacing the hazard with something less hazardous – right?  However you need to do that, there’s multiple ways. We’ll show you a couple. 

Engineering controls,  guards, interlocks, you know, lowering voltage, changing things to control voltages inside where you’re exposed rather than lower medium voltages.

Then you got awareness training which is what we’re doing a little bit of. Safety signs. Safety tags. That’s going to be the stickers on your equipment that say danger keep out and then the admin controls is going to be where you get in and do training like we’re doing now today as well. It’s where you train your lockout tag out, you train your 70E for your arc flash and your shock training, or what other safety training you need. We’re just talking about electrical, but you’re obviously going to be talking about ladder safety, forklift safety, etc.  

So then we get to PPE. Last line of defense, right? PPE is not designed to keep you safe. It is designed to keep you alive. With the proper PPE, you absolutely could still sustain injuries from burns. PPE is not designed to keep you safe. It’s designed to keep you alive. Now, most of the time, unless it’s maxed out to the level that you’re working on, it’s going to keep you safe and alive, if you’re wearing it properly.

We’ll talk a little bit about that coming up. 

Ready to dive deep into electrical safety in the workplace? Enroll your team in the 6-Hour NFPA 70E Electrical Safety Training today!