Electrical Safety in the Industrial Workplace: An IEC Point of View

Electrical professionals working on the installation, construction, repair, and maintenance of facilities are exposed to the risk of electric shock due to their possible interaction with live parts but also due to the contact with the enclosure of equipment, normally not energized, which has become live under fault conditions. This necessary interaction with equipment for its intended use can therefore not be limited. Thus, protective measures are put in place to reduce the risk of electric shock under both fault-free and single-fault conditions to levels considered acceptable by codes, technical standards, or authorities having jurisdiction. Protective measures must be compatible with the working environment, as well as with the skills and knowledge of workers, and may include strategies not just limited to the disconnection of the supply when faults occur. This paper discusses the protective measures against electric shock in the industrial workplace, where installations are controlled or supervised by skilled or instructed persons, as per the definitions of the International Electrotechnical Committee. Protection from other ways in which a worker can get injured from electrical equipment (e.g., arc flash and blasts), although always present, is not hereby considered.