Electrical Safety Program
Electricity is a serious workplace hazard, capable of causing both employee injury and property damage. It is the policy of Murray State University, Office of Environmental Safety and Health (ESH) to protect all employees, students, and other personnel from potential electrical hazards. This will be accomplished through compliance with the work practices described in this policy along with effective application of engineering controls, administrative controls and the use of personal protective equipment.
The Electrical Safety Program is founded on the principle of avoiding energized work unless it is absolutely necessary. Live parts will be de-energized before an employee works on or near them unless one of the conditions applies:
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De-energizing introduces additional or increased hazards. Examples of additional or increased hazards would include deactivation of emergency alarm systems or shutdown of hazardous location ventilation systems.
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De-energizing is not possible due to equipment design or operational limitations. Examples of this situation would include testing and troubleshooting of electrical circuits that can only be performed with the circuit energized and work on circuits that form an integral part of a continuous process that would otherwise need to be completely shut down in order to permit work on one circuit or piece of equipment.
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Live parts are operating at less than 50 volts to ground and there is no increased exposure to electrical burns or to explosion due to electrical arcs.