Page 15 - OHS, April 2021

TRAINING: ELECTRICAL SAFETY
The Hidden Connection Between Electrical Safety and Rushing
Although it is in our nature to want to work quickly, doing so leaves us vulnerable to accidents.
BY RAY PREST
Electrical safety is one of those issues that proves that the devil is indeed in the details. Nearly every industry has to deal with electrical safety concerns in that there’s some sort of electrical hazard that employees could conceivably
come into contact with. But when it comes to what those specific hazards look like, differences abound.
Construction workers need to be aware of nearby power lines. Lineworkers may have to navigate electrical risks posed by machinery. Other jobs must contend with live wires, standing water that can magnify the risk of shocks, damaged power tools and frayed cords, exposure to electrical issues during routine maintenance, or people working nearby on electrical systems.
How should a safety manager prepare employees to deal with such a wide variety of electrical hazards? The traditional answer is to lean on the hierarchy of controls, eliminating or reducing exposure where possible, while also offering a heavy dose of training on electrical safety.
Training is an effective option for people who work with electrical hazards hour by hour, day in and day out. For these folks—electricians and power line operators—the dangers are so prevalent (and often literally in their face) that they cannot be ignored or forgotten. It’s the primary focus of their job.
But many workers have to contend with electrical issues on a less frequent basis. Even though they may use powered tools and equipment all the time, the need to attend to electrical safety doesn’t feel so immediate to them. Electrical cords are rarely frayed, for example, which makes it easy to pick up a power tool without checking that everything is in good working order first. So, until an electrical issue affects their ability to get their work done—lights out, breakers tripping, equipment failing—electricity is the invisible gorilla in the room. Assuming these situations are limited, there’s just enough time between their exposure to electrical hazards to
cause them to slip from their minds entirely. And that brings me to the topic of rushing. Yes, rushing. Bear with me for a moment while I explain.
Speed Doesn’t Equal Efficiency
It’s no secret that people are more likely to suffer an injury if they’re moving at a faster pace than usual. Every single task we perform, from operating a table saw to carrying laundry down the stairs, becomes more dangerous if we’re moving quickly or in a rush.
Rushing makes us more likely to make a physical mistake. It also makes us more likely to skip a step and—take note here—overlook hazards we might otherwise spot. Being in a hurry isn’t a guarantee that an incident will occur, but you know as well as I do that the risk needle only needs to move a little for it to cause an uptick in incidents.
So what does rushing have to do with electrical safety? A lot, actually—especially for workers whose primary job is not dealing with electrical matters. And it turns out that while rushing is a major problem, it may also offer some surprising avenues to reducing electrical injuries.
If rushing is defined as going fast enough to potentially overlook hazards, then workers rush through electrical safety tasks all the time. Think of all the instances when someone failed to check the condition of an electrical connection or didn’t double-check how close they were to an overhead wire or buried power line. Think of all the wet hands and small puddles that workers don’t recognize as shock potential in the moment.
All of that? Yes, it’s rushing. And just like with speeding on the highway, it happens for a variety of reasons, from people thinking that they can adequately control the risk (even though they can’t) to a sense of urgency pushing them to go faster despite the danger.
Often, it’s also a matter of complacency making the increased
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APRIL 2021 | Occupational Health & Safety 11
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