The Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued an electrical safety alert after several miners were injured in underground coal mine accidents.

The mine safety agency’s recommended best practices include:

• Do not perform any electrical work until a circuit is de-energized, locked, and tagged out, remembering that “electrical work” is installing or maintaining electrical equipment or conductors.
• Be knowledgeable of the hazards of electricity, never touching any ungrounded electrical component until you are sure it is de-energized.
• Identify all hazards and then develop and follow a safe plan to perform work or troubleshoot to protect the safety of all miners. Always de-energize equipment, except when it is necessary for troubleshooting or testing.
• Always handle de-energized cable instead of energized cable or wear properly rated and well-maintained electrical gloves when handling energized cables.
• Protect electrical cables from damage by mobile equipment and falling roof. When cable damage is suspected, immediately notify a qualified electrician so a potentially dangerous condition can be corrected.
• Install sensitive ground fault relays with instantaneous trip setting of 125 mA or less on all face equipment. Use trailing cables with a grounded metallic shield.
• Wear properly rated personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect against Electrical Shock, Arc Blast, and Arc Flash by following the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70E Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace.

Source: The National Law Review