Electical Contractor

Risk is a part of life, but it’s more immediate and apparent in some lives—including those spent in the construction industry. Every construction project starts with some uncertainties. Will anything prevent us from accomplishing what we promised? Will we make a reasonable profit?

As the weather warms up, workers face many potential hazards, not all of which are directly work/task-related. In addition to traditional safety concerns on the job site, nature throws in hazards that endanger our employees.

The 2012 NFPA 70E, The Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, is nearing completion. This will be the ninth edition since it was first published in 1979.

Most of us take our hands for granted; we assume they’ll always be there and will function correctly whenever we need them. Although computerized technology rules much of our everyday life, construction is still a hands-on occupation.

When selective coordination is critical, e.g., minimizing the extent of an outage, a common design practice is to use a main circuit breaker without an instantaneous tripping function and feeder breakers with one.

On Aug. 9, 2010, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued the long-awaited Crane and Derricks in Construction Final Rule.

A lot can happen in two seconds. What may seem like the blink of an eye can feel like an eternity, especially during an arc flash. When calculating the incident energy as part of an arc flash study, sometimes the IEEE 1584 equations can produce unusually large values.

Conducting a fire alarm system acceptance test in front of a fire official can prove daunting, even when the system passes muster. But doing any form of fire alarm system testing without having the proper tools is downright foolish.

Every work site has flammable and combustible liquids. A flammable liquid is much more volatile than a combustible one, meaning its vapors or fumes can ignite at temperatures below 100°F and some even lower than 32°F.