Last week, we looked at what triggers the requirement that work be performed by a qualified person. Now, continuing our analysis of the scope of the electrical regulations and standards, let’s examine what it means to be “qualified.”

What Makes a Person ‘Qualified’

To be qualified, a person must be familiar through training or experience with the construction and operation of electrical equipment and trained to recognize and avoid the hazards involved. Some regulations and standards specify that the qualified person must be capable of working safely on energized circuits and be familiar with the proper use of special precautionary techniques, personal protective equipment/clothing, insulating/shielding materials and insulated tools.

Three points of clarification:

• Training can be classroom, on-the-job or a combination of both;
• An employee who in the course of on-the-job training demonstrates an ability to perform duties safely at his level of training and who is under the direct supervision of a qualified person is considered to be qualified to perform those duties; and
• An employee may be qualified to use certain kinds of equipment and methods but unqualified to use others.

Additional Requirements

Some regulations and standards impose additional requirements. For example, MSHA—the U.S. Mines Safety Health Administration--requires a person to pass an MSHA-approved electrical exam and receive electrical safety retraining annually thereafter.

Many states, Canadian provinces, counties and cities require persons performing electrical work, primarily contractors and contract electricians, to be licensed. This generally means the person must have documented electrical experience and have passed an electrical exam.

Qualifications in a Nutshell

Plainly stated, to be qualified, a person must either:

a. Be licensed or certified by a recognized entity such as the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers), MSHA or another government agency or jurisdiction (the person should also be trained in CPR if medical help is not readily available in the workplace); or

b. Have documented proof of:

• Safety training on understanding, recognizing and avoiding electrical hazards;
• Training to determine the nominal voltage and safe working distance around electrical equipment;
• Training in the selection, use, and care of personal protective equipment, clothing, insulating tools, test equipment, barriers, etc. necessary to perform the task(s);
• Knowledgeable of the equipment operation and electrical installation;
• Training to perform task(s) safely; and
• Training in CPR if medical help is not readily available in the workplace.

Qualified Person vs. Qualified Electrician

There’s a difference between being a qualified person and being a qualified electrician. Qualified electricians must have:

• A good general understanding of electricity;
• A broad base of technical electrical training, electrical safety training and actual experience performing electrical tasks;
• The capability to perform a wide variety of electrical tasks related to their work environment;
• Appropriate PPE to guard against the electrical hazards they encounter in the workplace and the knowledge of how to use and care for it; and
• Training on the capabilities of their test equipment and how to use and care for it.

A qualified person, by contrast, need only be trained to perform a limited number of tasks safely—possibly This person must be safety trained to understand, recognize and avoid the electrical hazards associated with the specific task, understand their limitations in performing the task, equipped with the proper PPE and test equipment for the task, and know when and how to use and care for the PPE and equipment.

Qualification to Perform Specific Tasks

To my knowledge there is only one regulation that specifically requires work to be done by a qualified electrician: the installation of resistance welders under Section 1910.255 of the OSHA electrical safety standard. Other electrical tasks can be performed by either a qualified person or electrician. There are, in other words, many electrical tasks around a workplace that a non-electrician employee can perform as long as the employee is a qualified person. OSHA identifies the kind of employees who are most likely to be asked to perform these tasks (and who will thus at least need the training required of a qualified person):

Conclusion

Next week, in the conclusion of this series, I will explain what a person must do to achieve and maintain his or her status as a qualified person.

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