Electrical Risk Prevention in the Workplace: What Do Regulations Say?

Electrical risk is present in all companies. Compliant design, maintenance, and qualifications are essential to protect employees.

Clara Godin
Juriste en droit de l'environnement & santé-sécurité au travail
Publication : 
10.02.2023
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Please note: This article concerns French legislation. The requirements described may not apply in other countries.

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All companies are impacted by electrical risk prevention, which can originate from direct or indirect contact with installations, or from overcurrents (short circuits or overloads).

Electrical Risk: ensuring compliance and maintenance of electrical installations

An electrical installation designed and built in accordance with standards and maintained in good condition forms the basis of electrical risk prevention in companies.

The Labor Code sets obligations for project owners as well as employers.

The project owner must ensure that electrical installations are designed and built in accordance with the provisions set out in articles R4215-3 to R4215-17 of the Labor Code. They must also provide the employer with a technical file containing the description and characteristics of the electrical installations put in place (article R4215-2 of the Labor Code).

Note: Electrical installations built in accordance with approved installation standards (e.g., NF C 13-100, NF C 13-200, etc.) benefit from a presumption of conformity with the Labor Code. (See article R4215-15 of the Labor Code).

Note: The list of approved installation standards is set by the decree of April 19, 2012.

💡 In France, the NF C 15-100 standard sets out the main safety provisions applicable to the design, construction, verification, and maintenance of low-voltage electrical installations.

The employer must implement monitoring and regular maintenance of the installations by a competent person who may be internal or external to the company (Article R4226-7 of the Labor Code).

To ensure the compliance of electrical installations with applicable health and safety regulations, the employer must arrange for inspections. (Articles R4226-14 and R4226-16 of the Labor Code).

These inspections include:

  • an initial inspection, carried out by an accredited body, when the electrical installations are put into service and after any structural modification;
  • a Periodic inspection annual conducted either by an accredited body or by a qualified person within the company. It should be noted that the interval between two periodic inspections can be extended to two years if the report contains no observations or if non-conformities have been rectified. In such a case, the head of the establishment must inform the labor inspector in advance by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt.

The employer must be vigilant regarding any difficulties encountered by the inspector and reported in the intervention report. The inspection may prove to be incomplete, for example, if a room was inaccessible or if it was impossible to de-energize an installation. In such cases, the employer must arrange for the inspection to be completed.

The results of the inspections, as well as any work and modifications carried out to remedy identified defects, must be recorded in a register, which may be computerized (articles R4226-19 and R4226-20 C. trav.).

Note: temporary electrical installations are subject to a specific verification process, the terms of which are detailed in Annex IV of thedecree of December 26, 2011 concerning the verification or verification process of electrical installations and the content of the corresponding reports.

Electrical risk: preventing risks during operations on or near electrical installations

To eliminate or, failing that, reduce as much as possible the electrical risk during operations on electrical installations or in their vicinity, regulations require the implementation of preventive measures.

💡 The following are considered operations on electrical installations:

  • In high and low voltage environments: de-energized and live work (e.g., creation or modification of an electrical installation, replacement of an electrical cabinet, etc.), switching operations, tests, measurements, and verifications;
  • In the low voltage domain: interventions (e.g., replacing a fuse, a switch, resetting a circuit breaker, replacing a terminal block, troubleshooting, etc.).

💡 Operations carried out in the vicinity of electrical installations are considered to be: electrical and non-electrical operations performed within a defined zone around live bare parts, the dimensions of which vary depending on the voltage domain.

Note: the concepts of "live work" and "intervention" are specified in thedecree of April 7, 2021.

For all these operations, the employer must notably ensure that (article R4544-4 C. trav.):

  • work is carried out de-energized, unless de-energizing has been deemed dangerous or in case of technical impossibility;
  • operations carried out in the vicinity of live bare parts are limited to cases where it is not possible to de-energize and lock out the installation or to ensure protection by distance, barrier, or insulation. ;
  • non-electrical operations carried out in the vicinity of live bare parts are limited to only those operations that contribute to the operation and maintenance of electrical installations.

Only authorized workers can carry out operations on electrical installations or in their vicinity. The authorization is issued by the employer and specifies, in particular, the nature of the electrical operation to be performed. The validity period of the authorization document is defined by the employer.

💡: The employer must issue, maintain, or renew the authorization according to the procedures contained in standards NF C18-510 (or NF C 18-550 for operations on vehicles and machinery with thermal, electric, or hybrid engines having an onboard electrical power source).

Note: before being authorized, the worker must have received a theoretical and practical training enabling them to acquire knowledge of electrical risks and the measures to be taken to perform the operation safely. This training can be carried out internally or by an external organization (with the exception of the prior training for authorization for live working, which must be provided by an accredited organization).

Dead Work

The dead work is the only type that offers complete safety regarding electrical risk. To ensure this, however, they must comply with the following provisions (article R4544-5 C. trav.):

  • the part of the installation on which they are carried out must be previously identified and locked out so that no voltage remains, appears, or reappears in this part of the installation;
  • power must not be restored until the installation has been released from lockout and only if restoring power presents no risk.

Live Work

Due to their hazardous nature, live work must remain exceptional and is only authorized in cases of technical impossibility or if de-energizing poses a danger given the operating conditions. Such work can only be undertaken upon written order from the head of the establishment, justifying the necessity of live work (article R4544-7 C. trav.).

Furthermore, the employer must (article R4544-8 C. trav.) :

  • define appropriate operating procedures for their execution;
  • choose work equipment appropriate to the conditions and characteristics of the work to be performed, as well as suitable PPE and work clothing.

💡 These preventive measures must comply with various approved standards, including NF C18-505-1. (See Order of April 7, 2021)

It should be noted that workers performing live work must hold specific authorization which the employer issues after receiving a document from an approved training organization. The authorization is valid for one year.

Work in the vicinity of bare live parts

Regarding work carried out in the vicinity of bare live high-voltage parts (voltage > 1000 V AC or voltage > 1500 V DC), regulations require thatan authorized person, designated for this purpose, continuously monitors the work and the application of safety measures (Article R4544-6 of the Labor Code).

Furthermore, access to premises or locations with particular risks of electric shock must be restricted to persons holding appropriate authorization (Article R4544-6 of the Labor Code). However, for non-electricaloperations, other individuals may be authorized to access them, provided they have been informed of the safety instructions to be followed and are placed under the constant supervision of a qualified person designated for this purpose.

💡 This primarily concerns premises or locations reserved for the production, conversion, or distribution of electricity where protection against direct contact is ensured by barriers or distance, or, in low voltage, where protection against direct contact is not mandatory.

Protecting workers from electrical hazards

The employer must take electrical hazards into account as part of their general safety obligation. Specifically, they must ensure compliance with certain basic principles aimed at protecting workers against direct contact, indirect contact, and overcurrents.

Protection measures against direct contact

Direct contact refers to any contact between a part of the human body and a live part (a part normally under voltage) of an electrical installation.

All necessary protective measures must be implemented from the design stage of electrical installations to protect workers against such direct contact:

  • the insulation of live parts : theinsulation , which should only be removable by destruction (whether intentional or not). Although electrical components and wires or cables compliant with current standards automatically meet this requirement, insulation can be destroyed during installation or use.
  • separation live parts : the separation distance depends on the environment (e.g., premises reserved for electrical installations, enclosed construction sites, etc.) and the voltage level;
  • installation of barriers with a minimum degree of protection (e.g., cabinets, screens, enclosures, etc.). They should only be openable with a key or a tool;
  • opt for extra-low voltage such as Safety Extra-Low Voltage (SELV) or Protective Extra-Low Voltage (PELV).

Measures for protection against indirect contact

Indirect contact refers to the contact between a part of the human body and a conductive part accidentally energized.

Various means can protect employees against indirect contact, including:

  • earthing of the conductive part with automatic power disconnection;
  • double insulation or reinforced insulation ;
  • prioritize the extra-low voltage as for protection against direct contact.

Overcurrent protection measures

An overcurrent refers to a dangerous increase in the electrical current flowing through a conductor or drawn by a load. This includes:

  • the overloads ;
  • the short circuits which result from an accidental connection, through a very low resistance or impedance, between two or more points of an electrical circuit that are normally at different voltages.

To limit overcurrents, circuit breakers or fuses must be incorporated into the electrical circuit.

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