ULC Standards, an accredited standards development organization, announced May 4 the publication of CAN/ULC-S801-10, Standard for Electric Utility Workplace Electrical Safety for Generation, Transmission and Distribution. The standard applies to workers who deal with the construction, operation, maintenance and replacement of electric utility systems that are used to generate, transform, transmit, distribute and deliver electrical power or energy to consumer services or their equivalents.
Without proper safety precautions, live working (high voltage) may present potential safety risks to workers and the general public. There are more than 600 electrical related accidents a year in Canada, and CAN/ULC-S801-10 gives electric utilities a foundation for safe working environments for their employees across Canada. CAN/ULC-S801-10 provides a complete safety guide addressing numerous electric utility workplace safety concerns, such as:
The development of this Standard was supported through the funding of the Canadian Electricity Association (CEA).
The Importance of Standards
Standards are essential in helping ensure public safety and confidence. They reduce costs, improve quality and market products and services. ULC tests many products and their components to assure that each and every one of them meets their safety requirements. Because of these safety standards, the public can live and work in a safer, sustainable and a more reliable environment.
ULC Standards is accredited as a Standards Development Organization, by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC), a federal Crown corporation that oversees Canada's National Standards System. In Canada, standards are developed through consensus by balanced committees of stakeholders, and subjected to public review, prior to publication.