Electrical Safety for Non-Electrical Engineering Safety Professionals
Chris Evanston
This course focuses on the electrical hazards present in industrial equipment and the fundamental safe design practices and essential electrical code and standard requirements to mitigate those hazards, from the perspective of a safety professional. The course is intended for safety professionals with no electrical safety background or with some practical experience in electrical safety but lacking a broader understanding of electrical safety. The course is not intended for electrical engineers or electrical safety professionals. The course is divided into four parts. The first section, the basics of electrical energy, defines the physics behind electrical energy and the basic elements of an electric circuit. The second section, the building blocks of electrical systems, expands upon these principles with a greater focus on industrial applications, as well as identifying circuit components and their function. The third section, the fundamentals of electrical safety, explains the hazards to personnel and the facility presented by electrical energy and basic safety design principles to mitigate those hazards. The fourth section, essential electrical code and standards requirements – practical applications, further expands on these safety design principles to discuss electrical compliance requirements for industrial equipment. This is an eight-hour course that strongly encourages audience participation. The course was presented at several previous SESHA conferences and was well received by the target audience.