NFPA 70e is one of the best-known safety standards published by the National Fire Protection Association. It is titled, “Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace” and as the title implies, this standard is focused on electrical safety requirements for the employees of facilities. It is most commonly used for companies that have high-voltage machinery or other electrical equipment that could present a danger to employees, the facility itself, or the environment.
History of NFPA 70e
NFPA 70e was first published in 1979. It quickly grew in popularity as companies began adopting it. Soon, OSHA also began referencing it in their documentation and regulations, which helped it to gain additional exposure throughout many industries.
The NFPA has continued to keep this set of standards current as the best practices related to electrical safety have changed. Many of these changes were promoted by adjustments in the way companies used electrical equipment, and others were the result of recommendations that came from employees or companies that were already following the recommendations from the NFPA.
Significant Changes to the NFPA 70e
The NFPA typically publishes updates to their standards every 3-5 years. They have found that this helps to ensure their standards are always kept current, while still stable enough that companies can easily keep up to date with recommendations. The last two major updates to NFPA 70e took place in 2018 and 2012.
Each major change to this standard tends to focus on a topic where there has been a large number of accidents or injuries since the previous update. In the 2018 update, for example, a major focus was on arc flashes. The new update offered a lot of recommendations and standards that help companies to be able to better identify risk areas and take steps to minimize the danger. Of course, other updates are also made to help keep the safety standards up to date.
