OSHA Renews Partnership With Electrical Transmission & Distribution Contractors

OSHA announced today that it has renewed a national strategic partnership with employers, workers and professional associations in the electrical transmission and distribution industry. Since 2004, this partnership has worked to decrease injuries, illnesses and deaths among linesmen and other electrical workers, reducing fatalities among those workers from 11 in 2004 to 1 in 2013.

The partnership includes 10 of the nation's largest electrical transmission and distribution contractors, as well as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Edison Electric Institute and the National Electrical Contractors Association, representing approximately 80% of the industry. The partnership's accomplishments include training more than 33,000 workers and supervisors, as well as developing and implementing best practices addressing key hazards and safe operations within the industry, such as fall protection, the use of specific insulating protective equipment and the implementation of safety checks. OSHA and industry partners are in the process of expanding industry-specific courses to provide industry-wide training.

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