Energized Electrical Work Permit

The NFPA 70E Standard states that if live parts cannot be placed in an electrically safe work condition,
then the work to be performed is considered as "energized work" and can only be performed by
written permit

Electrical Interlocks
Only a qualified person may bypass an electrical safety interlock
and then only temporarily while he or she is working on the
equipment

Test Instruments and Equipment

Many personal injuries result from testing meters that may
disintegrate into dangerous shrapnel, when exposed to higher
voltages or currents for which they are not rated
Inspecting Test Equipment

Not only should the meter itself be visually inspected before each use, any leads or test probes that
will be used along with the meter should also be inspected. Damaged meters or accessories must not
be used and must be repaired or replaced

Replacement of defective parts is recommended. Taping over damaged leads is not considered a safe
repair.

Integrity must be maintained in meter test leads and probe insulation

Handling Portable Electrical Equipment

Portable electrical equipment must be safely and properly handled. Flexible electrical cords
connected to the equipment must not be used to raise or lower the equipment.

Flexible cords may not be fastened in place with staples or hung in a way that could damage the
outer insulation jacket

Flexible cords may not be fastened in place with staples or hung in a way that could damage the outer
insulation jacket

Flexible Cord Grounding Conductor

Flexible cords that are used with equipment that requires

grounding must be equipped with an equipment grounding
conductor
Altering Attachment Plugs and Receptacles

Any attachment plug or receptacle must not be altered if the alteration

causes the grounding conductor to be interrupted. Likewise, the prongs
of any attachment plug must not be altered to allow the grounding pole
of the plug to be inserted into slots intended for current-carrying
conductors.

Adapters that serve to interrupt the continuity of the equipment

grounding conductor must not be used

Visually Inspect Cords and Cord-and-Plug-Connected Equipment

Inspect cords, plugs, and attached equipment before each use on any shift.
Remove defective cords, plugs, and equipment until repairs and tests have been performed on
damaged parts.
Make sure that the plug and receptacle have the same prong attachment and mate properly
Cords, plugs, and equipment used in wet damp areas must be rated for these areas.
In locations where it is likely that employees will contact or be drenched with water or
conductive liquids, ground-fault-circuit-interrupter protection for personnel must be used

Connecting Attachment Plugs

Employees' hands must not be wet when plugging and unplugging attachment plugs on flexible cords.
If a receptacle remains energized while connecting a plug to it and a conductive path could develope
between the energized part and the employee's hand due to water, etc., then insulating protective
equipment (such as linemen gloves) must be used
Chapter 1Article 120

To review, we learned that an electrically safe work condition is defined as a state in which
the conductor or circuit part that is to be worked on or near has been:

Disconnected from energized parts.

Locked/tagged in accordance with established standards.
Tested to ensure the absence of voltage.
Grounded if necessary

Verifying an Electrically Safe Work Condition

Determine all possible sources of electrical supply.

Open all disconnecting devices for each source of electrical
supply.
Visually verify that the disconnecting device is fully open in
the disconnected position.
Apply a lockout/tagout device.
Test for the presence or absence of voltage.
Ground the phase conductors in cases of induced voltages or stored energy

Identifying Sources of Electrical Supply

Often, various parts of circuits and equipment are supplied by different electrical sources or control
circuits. In order to identify all possible sources of electrical supply, you must examine electrical one-
line drawings, schematics, control drawings, or any identification tag that may indicate sources of
voltage to the equipment or circuit to be put in an electrically safe work condition
Opening Disconnecting Devices

After all sources of electricity are determined, the next step in establishing an electrically safe work
condition is opening the disconnecting devices for each source.

Running or operating equipment should be stopped before opening disconnecting devices to avoid
arcing within the device, especially on large loads that demonstrate relatively high current flow levels

Visually Verify Disconnect Blade Position

Disconnect knife blades sometimes become defective

and inoperative due to excessive heat and usage.
Visually verify, whenever possible, that all phase
conductor blades have been fully disconnected, and are
visibly separated, from the line side of the switch

Draw-Out Circuit Breaker

If the disconnecting means is a draw-out type circuit breaker, NFPA 70E

says that you should visibly verify that the circuit breaker is properly
withdrawn to its fully disconnected position
Applying Lockout/Tagout Devices

Once all disconnecting devices have been opened or withdrawn

and verified, it is now time to apply an approved lockout/tagout
device according to a documented and established policy

Testing for the Absence of Voltage

Just because an electrical supply has been presumably opened and locked and/or tagged out, a
circuit or equipment must still be considered as energized (and all required PPE used) until a test has
been made using an adequately rated voltage meter to verify the absence of voltage

Proper Procedures for Testing a Circuit for the Absence of Voltage

Verify the proper operation of the tester by testing for the presence of voltage on a known
voltage value.
Test each phase conductor (phase-to-phase and phase-to-ground) or circuit part in question to
verify they are de-energized.
Re-verify the proper operation of the tester on the same known voltage value as in Step 1 to
verify that the meter was not made inoperative (fuse blown) during Step 2
Grounding Phase Conductors or Circuit Parts

Even though the source of electrical energy may be disconnected, some circuit conductors may have
voltage induced onto them by nearby energized conductors or voltage spikes. Other types of circuits
may store electrical energy for quite some time, even after the electrical source has been
disconnected.

In these cases, grounding straps should be connected from the conductor or conductors in question
to an effective grounding point