Electrical Safety

The electrical safety program is guidance for all work which must be performed on low and high voltage electrical sources and for recognizing the hazards associated with the energies. The program allows work on electrical sources depending on the individuals training and certification levels. The program provides for the minimum knowledge for an individual to work on electrical sources. The sources being divided as Low voltage (Below 480 volts) and High voltage (480 volts and higher).

High Voltage:

UCI defines high voltage as any energies which are equal to or greater than 480 volts. Only an authorized and qualified electrician may work on a high voltage source. For High voltage work, the employees supervisor/manager will make sure they are qualified through training and then will authorize the individual for the work on the various high voltage sources around campus.

Arc Flash:

An arc flash may occur in any electrical system. UCI has labeled the arc flash risks across campus with labels for the proper Arc flash PPE and arc distances. Only qualified individuals are allowed to work on the systems. The arc flash Kcal evaluation must be used to don the proper PPE for the employee. All arc flash PPE and equipment needs to be stored and In the correct manner and timeframe.

Lockout/Tagout (LOTO):

A method in which all energy sources are “locked” out so that a work will not be exposed to any live energies. All energies sources (Electrical, Hydraulic, Pneumatic, etc.) are locked off and any residual energies are drained off and the system is taken to a “zero-Energy” state so that an accident machine/system startup will not occur nor will any residual energy cause harm to the individual.