Almost 6,000 fatal electrical injuries occurred to workers in the United States between 1992 and 2013, according to “Occupational Injuries from Electrical Shock and Arc Flash Events,” a report released by the Fire Protection Research Foundation in March 2015, and data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). From 2003 through 2012, 24,100 non-fatal electrical injuries occurred, which is the most recent 10-year period for which data is available.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) developed NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace to help prevent injuries and fatalities associated with electrical shock and arc flash hazards. The NFPA first appointed a technical committee on Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee Workplaces in 1976. NFPA 70E was originally issued in 1979, and has been revised several times, most recently in 2015.