OSHA has scheduled April 11, 2014 as the publication date for its final rule (regulation) on Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution; Electrical Protective Equipment.

According to a pre-publication PDF available online:

“OSHA last issued rules for the construction of transmission and distribution installations in 1972. Those provisions are now out of date and inconsistent with the more recently promulgated general industry standard covering the operation and maintenance of electric power generation, transmission, and distribution lines and equipment. OSHA is revising the construction standard to make it more consistent with the general industry standard and is making some revisions to both the construction and general industry requirements.”

This regulation primarily affects firms that construct, operate, maintain, or repair electric power generation, transmission, or distribution installations. These firms include electric utilities, as well as contractors hired by utilities and primarily classified in the construction industry. It also affects establishments performing line-clearance tree-trimming operations.

Of interest to our emergency care instructor readership, CPR is included in the “first-aid training” provisions where applicable by the regulation:

“…the Agency included a definition of “first-aid training” in §1926.968 in the final rule. That definition states that first-aid training is training in the initial care, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (which includes chest compressions, rescue breathing, and, as appropriate, other heart and lung resuscitation techniques), performed by a person who is not a medical practitioner, of a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be administered. The definition clarifies that, wherever first-aid training is required by the final rule, CPR training must be included.”

“Electric shock is a serious and ever-present hazard to electric power transmission and distribution workers because of the work they perform on or with energized lines and equipment. CPR is necessary to revive an employee rendered unconscious by an electric shock. As OSHA concluded in the 1994 §1910.269 rulemaking, CPR must be started within 4 minutes to be effective in reviving an employee whose heart has gone into fibrillation (59 FR 4344 – 4347; see also 269-Ex. 3-21).

To protect employees performing work on, or associated with, exposed lines or equipment energized at 50 volts or more, OSHA proposed to require that employees with training in first aid including CPR be available to render assistance in an emergency.”

Retraining is also mentioned in the regulation:

“…under paragraph (b)(4)(iii), an employee who is expected to administer CPR in the event of an emergency needs retraining if he or she has not used those emergency practices over the course of the previous year.”

If your training center customers work in the power generation, transmission, or distribution sector, help them stay in compliance with your ASHI or MEDIC First Aid offerings. And, if you offer any sort of safety training through your TC, Summit Training Source offers a course DVD you can use to enhance your next electrical safety training class:

Construction Electrical Safety

Complies with OSHA 29 CFR 1910.331-1910.355

Help prevent electrical accidents and fatalities from occurring at your site with Summit’s comprehensive, online program.

The program covers:

• Exposed Live Parts and Nominal Voltage
• Approach Distances for Qualified Employees
• Lockout & Tagout Procedures

Summit’s engaging, web-based program teaches your workers basic safety practices for working with or around electricity, so that they can be grounded in safety.