Electrical safety for non-electrical workers

Skills you'll practise

• Describe the ways electricity injures people, including shock, burns, arc flash and falls
• Distinguish tasks any trained user may do from work reserved for qualified or competent electrical workers
• Carry out a user check on a cord, plug and portable equipment, and take faulty items out of use
• Identify misuse of flexible cords and blocked working space in front of electrical panels
• Respond safely to a tripped protective device and to a person in contact with electricity

Course outline

1. 1.Electrical safety for non-electrical workersVideo · 3 min
2. 2.How electricity hurts peopleLesson · 16 min
3. 3.Cords, plugs and portable equipmentLesson · 17 min
4. 4.Panels, wet places, overhead lines and emergenciesLesson · 17 min
5. 5.Electrical safety for non-electrical workers: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 20 questions
6. 6.Electrical safety for non-electrical workers: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
7. 7.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out

Sources it draws on

The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.

• OSHA: Electrical (overview of hazards and standards)
• OSHA 29 CFR 1910.303: General requirements (g)(1) working space about electric equipment, Table S-1
• OSHA 29 CFR 1910.305: Wiring methods (g)(1)(iv) uses not permitted for flexible cords and cables
• OSHA 29 CFR 1910.333: Selection and use of work practices (qualified persons, overhead lines, interlocks)
• OSHA 29 CFR 1910.334: Use of equipment (cord inspection, wet hands, reclosing circuits, test instruments)
• OSHA: Electric-arc flash hazards
• OSHA Construction eTool: Electrical incidents (GFCIs, flexible cords, power lines)
• NIOSH: Electrical safety, about (types of electrical injury)
• HSE: Electrical safety, using electrically powered equipment: user checks and RCDs (UK)
• HSE: Portable appliance testing FAQs (UK)
• HSE: Overhead power lines (UK)
• Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, regulation 16: persons to be competent to prevent danger and injury (UK)
• St John Ambulance: Electrocution first aid advice (UK)
• Your employer's safety procedures, risk assessments and site rules (these govern)