Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Why Does Informative Annex Q Matter at All?

Ron Widup, Shermco IndustriesColumns, NFPA 70E and NETA, Winter 2024 Columns

We’ll get to the punch line first. Your personal safety relies on one person and one person only….and that person is you. Look in the mirror — that’s it. Electricity is a powerful force — one that helps us each and every day in all that we do. With that power comes an element of significant risk: severe injury or …

Learning the Basics: How to Overcome Barriers to Learning Key Aspects of NFPA 70E

Ron Widup, Shermco IndustriesColumns, Fall 2024 Columns, NFPA 70E and NETA

There is no better electrical safety standard than NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace. It’s a work practices document, composed and approved through consensus and input from a wide range of subject matter experts and members of the public. It follows the ANSI standards-making process with an end goal specifically designed to protect personnel from the hazards …

NFPA 70E Requirements: The Baker’s Dozen of Electrical Safety

Ron Widup, Shermco IndustriesColumns, NFPA 70E and NETA, Spring 2024 Columns

First published in 1979, NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, has evolved tremendously over the years and is arguably the premier electrical safety work practices standard available to the electrical worker. The current 2024 edition is 113 pages, three chapters, and 19 Informative Annex sections. Many sources of information and safety knowledge are embedded in these pages, …

Utilize a Great Resource: NFPA 70E Handbook for Electrical Safety in the Workplace

Ron Widup, Shermco IndustriesColumns, NFPA 70E and NETA, Winter 2023 Columns

You may have seen my LinkedIn post about this, but we’ll expand further with some examples to highlight this resource for a better understanding of NFPA 70E. There were two points to the message:  Edited by Dean Austin, Chris Coache, and Corey Hannahs, the authors do a great job of providing usable information to us, the electrical workers. It was …

The Future of Electrical Safety and Maintenance Standards

Ron Widup, Shermco IndustriesColumns, NFPA 70E and NETA, Summer 2023 Columns

What does the future hold for our industry — especially when it comes to those all-important standards that ensure reliability, protect property, and help us to avoid injury or death? As we revise and update codes and standards from NETA, NFPA, IEEE, ASTM, NEMA, CSA, and OSHA, I think we should all read this very carefully, especially the summary. WHAT …

NFPA 70E, 2024 Edition: Second Draft Meeting

Ron Widup, Shermco IndustriesColumns, NFPA 70E and NETA, Winter 2022 Columns

In late August 2022, the NFPA 70E Technical Committee met for the Second Draft meeting related to the revision of what will be the 2024 edition of NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace. This was the step in the revision process where the 70E Technical Committee meets to review Public Comments as well as NFPA Correlating Committee …

Fault on Feeder M1A: Guidance from NFPA 70E — Part 3

Ron Widup, Shermco IndustriesColumns, NFPA 70E and NETA, Spring 2022 Columns

This is the last in a three-part series of articles as we navigate a 15 kV feeder fault and the subsequent repairs. We have discussed how NFPA 70E is an important tool for the electrical worker to use in the field as they troubleshoot, repair, and restore electrical equipment after a significant fault event, all with an eye on getting the …