As we do every May, we are dedicating the majority of editorial content to health and safety topics in this issue. Starting with Construction Safety Week, which was observed May 6-10 this year, many of our readers engage in their own safety events to increase awareness and commemorate this important week. But, as we all know, electrical safety isn’t something you focus on once a year, once a month, once a week, or even once a day. Among electrical professionals, it’s something that demands a lifelong commitment of awareness, education, and action.
Every year, the Electrical Safety Foundation (ESFI) collects and publishes workplace electrical injury data covering incidents from the previous year — the most recent data of which covers 2011 to 2022. Visit ESFI’s website at esfi.org to access free resources that will help elevate the safety of job sites as well as prevent avoidable workplace injuries and fatalities. According to a recent press release summarizing the latest ESFI analysis of this data, contact with or exposure to electricity “continues to be one of the leading causes of workplace fatalities and injuries in the United States.” In fact, during that 11-year time period, 1,322 workplace fatalities involved electricity, according to OSHA. Following are a few more significant statistics to note:
- Seventy percent of workplace electrical fatalities occurred in non-electrical occupations.
- Thirty percent of workplace electrical fatalities occurred in electrical occupations.
- Six percent of all fatalities were caused by contact with electricity.
- There was a 1.5% average decrease in workplace electrical fatalities year over year.
- The construction industry had the highest number of electrical fatalities (electricians accounted for 195 deaths, making it the occupation with the greatest number of fatalities).
Digging into these stats a bit further, based on information from OSHA as well as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) and Survey of Occupational Injuries (SOII), ESFI’s analysis revealed some additional key points: electrical fatality rates per 100,000 workers have remained consistent while overall fatality rates have increased; Hispanic or Latino workers have the highest rate of electrical fatalities (and that rate continues to rise); and construction/extraction occupations, installation, maintenance, and repair occupations, and building/grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations have the highest rate of electrical fatalities.
Why do the same types of accidents continue to occur in the construction and electrical industries — with fall protection serving as a perfect example? For the 13th year in a row, “Fall Protection — General Requirements” secured the No. 1 spot on OSHA’s Top 10 most frequently cited safety standards for 2023. Presented by OSHA’s Region 6 Administrator Eric Harbin during the 2023 National Safety Council (NSC) Safety Congress & Expo, which took place from Oct. 20-26, 2023, the list remains relatively unchanged from previous years. Visit our gallery to see the full list of violations along with more details. Although individual categories tend to swap positions from year to year, the same usual suspects show up again and again. What troubles me most after looking through this year’s list is the fact that none of the top 10 categories saw a decrease in the total number of incidents from the previous year’s totals.
To put this frustrating trend into perspective, I can’t help but think back to some of Randy Barnett’s words of wisdom, of which there are too many to count in my experience. An NFPA-certified electrical safety professional, journeyman electrician, electrical trainer/instructor, Electrical Codes & Safety Manager for NTT Training, and longtime contributor to EC&M, Randy always warns electrical professionals must never underestimate the “human factor” involved with performing any type of electrical work. Therefore, taking preemptive action before a burn, injury, or fatality can occur is invaluable. That’s where every one of you comes in — by keeping electrical safety top of mind every second of every day while on the job, we can strive to drastically reduce the number of workplace accidents one electrical task at a time.
