OSHA has pretty strict requirements for
electrical safety in the construction stan-
dard. The electrical standard is easy to
comply with, but takes some work. Follow-
ing are the key points to remember when
trying to comply with OSHA’s Electrical
Safety Standard.
OSHA requires either an assured ground-
ing program be in place or 100% Ground
Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) use on all
construction job sites.
Assured Grounding Program
An assured grounding program is a written
program that specifies that all grounded
electric power tools and extension cords be
tested quarterly to ensure that the ground
wire is intact. A ground wire that is not in-
tact could result in serious personal injury
and/or death to an employee unfortunate
enough to be shocked.
Tools and cords are to be tested with a
multi-meter similar to that pictured below:
Test procedures will vary slightly depending
on what meter is used. The point of the
test is to make sure that there is continuity
throughout the entire cord and that the
ground wire is not broken or damaged in
any way. Once the cord and tools are
tested, they must be identified in some way
to show they have been tested in compli-
ance with OSHA requirements.
OSHA requires that all cords be taped with
colored electrical tape to identify them as
having been tested. The commonly used
tape color scheme is as follows:
December– February white tape
(color of snow)
March– May
green tape
(color of grass)
June- August
red tape
(hot weather)
September– November orange tape
(autumn colors)
OSHA will issue citations to contractors
who are not current with required quarterly
testing requirements.
Contractors are able to circumvent all as-
pects of an assured grounding program
simply by mandating 100% GFCI use on all
job sites. GFCI protect employees by
measuring any fluctuations in electricity. If
an employee experiences a shock , the
GFCI can detect it and stop the electricity
in 1/40th of a second. Ground Fault