By now you know how valuable CPR and first aid training is. Even if you work in an office setting, the skills you learn are invaluable. You never know when you will need them in a public setting, like an airport or restaurant. One of those groups is electrical contractors. While electrical contractors aren’t working firsthand in the field, it’s still valuable for them to have the skills to address any unforeseen circumstances in the office, and encourage their electricians and electrical linemen to stay up-to-date on their training.
Electrical contractors may be a company or business person that employees electricians, and electricians are the ones that are going out to locations. Electrical linemen work primarily on outside structures, including power lines. OSHA’s standards were revised in 2014 to require that workers in the electric power generation industry have additional CPR and first aid requirements. The requirements apply when a worker can be exposed to 50 volts or more. Exposure to 50 volts or more can cause cardiac arrest or ventricular fibrillation. In certain situations, a two-person rule applies. That means that when a crew has a least two people, one should be able to work on the other in case of a CPR or first aid emergency. In certain work locations, like power plants, there is a 4-minute rescue requirement. A certain number of workers should be trained so that an electric shock victim doesn’t go more than 4 minutes without help from a trained fellow worker. There are also regulations regarding working alone if there is a chance of coming into contact with energized parts and other electrical hazards.
Working with electricity can be a dangerous field to be in, and as an electrical contractor, it is part of your job to encourage job safety. Working with energized lines and equipment runs the risk of rendering workers unconscious if they are exposed to electric shock. Their hearts can also go into fibrillation. These are serious injuries that require CPR and first aid until a medical professional arrives on the scene.
While work in the office for electrical contractors may not be nearly as dangerous, enhancing workplace safety is invaluable. Hundreds of thousands of cardiac arrests occur each year in a non-hospital setting. When you spend a good chunk of your day in the office, there’s a high chance these incidents can occur there. Having at least a few staff members know CPR and first aid will, at the very least, provide some peace of mind.
If you’d like to schedule CPR and first aid training, give us a call at 320-248-3679
