PIPERSVILLE, PA -- Following diligent advocacy by the Partnership for Electrical Safety (PES), OSHA has issued new arc flash guidance that brings safety for electricians to the forefront.

The guidance aims to reduce arc flash injuries amongst commercial, industrial, and residential electricians, which continue to occur despite safety standards like NFPA 70E and proven personal protective equipment (PPE) including arc-rated (AR) clothing.

An arc flash can reach temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun, yet as many as 750k inside electricians working on or near energized electrical equipment are not currently provided proper protection from this deadly hazard.

OSHA’s new guidance – its first in almost 20 years – intends to change that. Including both longform content for employers and “Quick Cards” for workers in the field, the guidance clarifies rules and dispels misconceptions leading to the majority of injuries and fatalities. In it, the Agency emphasizes de-energized equipment that’s not fully locked out or tagged out is to be treated as energized work (requiring an energized work permit and appropriate PPE), highlights that low voltage (under 240V) can and does arc – igniting flammable clothing, and stresses the importance of electricians wearing appropriate protective apparel and PPE.

Tyndale’s own Jason Brozen, Certified Electrical Safety Compliance Professional (CESCP) and Lead Technical Trainer, is a master electrician who nearly lost his life in an arc that occurred at 120/208 voltage – living proof of why the appropriate PPE is crucial, even at low voltage.

This new guidance stems directly from collaboration between PES, OSHA, and the US House and Senate. PES is an industry coalition that was formed to educate and advocate for improved arc flash risk awareness and protection – in line with NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace – that every American working on or near energized electrical equipment deserves. PES seeks to educate those at risk, call on companies to work de-energized whenever possible and properly protect workers with hazard-appropriate PPE, raise awareness about the extreme human and financial costs of non-compliance, and make plain to relevant oversight entities the need for PPE when doing electrical work.

A founding member of PES, Tyndale is proud to be part of this important step forward for worker safety. In fact, significant efforts were put forth by PES, Tyndale, electrical safety experts, and OSHA to prove the principles in the guidance actually result in reduction of risk and ultimately saved lives. This even included real life arc flash demonstrations.

“When you sit in my chair and you routinely see preventable injuries and fatalities it weighs on you,” said Scott Margolin, Vice President of Technical at Tyndale and PES Chairman. “We’re doing what anyone would do who had access to the data,” he said.

NFPA 70E incorporated arc flash safety in the year 2000, and over the subsequent 10 years arc flash injuries and fatalities went down at the same rate as compliance with NFPA 70E and use of AR clothing went up. However, the injury rate leveled off after 2010 and continues to occur at about half the pre-2000 rate because hundreds of thousands of electricians continue to work energized without the work permits and PPE necessary to ensure safe work and good outcomes should an incident occur.

The guidance comes as unprotected workers may face increasing exposure to arc flash hazards as a result of government investments in enhancing the power grid and installing electrical vehicle charging stations, and as electrical maintenance requirements in NFPA 70B were recently elevated from recommended best practice to a proscriptive standard. Unfortunately, many of the workers needed to meet this demand have less training, experience, and familiarity with PPE, and more arc flash injuries and fatalities are likely as a result.

“Without question, this new guidance will help change the statistics around arc flash injury and fatality. The guidance is coming at a pivotal time, as we are experiencing a great electrification of America. We applaud OSHA for taking action to clarify requirements and better protect workers,” said Robert Whittenberger, Tyndale CEO.