When electrical work is happening in or around a building, safety is everyone’s responsibility, not just the electrician’s.
Construction projects, storm cleanup, maintenance work, and exterior improvements can all pose electrical hazards to nearby employees, contractors, and visitors. Even areas that seem unrelated to electrical systems, like parking lots, landscaping, ceilings, or wet building materials, can become safety concerns under the right conditions.
Because many electrical risks are not immediately visible, it is important to evaluate work areas carefully and involve trained professionals who can identify potential hazards before work begins to maintain a safe workplace.
Too often, people overlook everyday electrical dangers simply because the environment feels familiar. Here are seven important electrical safety scenarios to keep in mind when working near electricity.
1. Problems from Overhead
Downed power lines can result from a range of causes, from auto accidents to storms. Power poles carrying these lines often accommodate fiber-optic cable and telephone lines as well. Although telephone wire carries little electricity and fiber-optic cable carries none, these lines can become dangerous conductors energized by the electrical lines that tumble down with them.
To avoid becoming part of an electrical circuit, everyone should stay at least 50 feet away from all downed lines until the local utility company and trained electricians can turn off power and repair the damage.
2. Underground Power Lines
Underground utilities are often overlooked because they are out of sight, but striking buried electrical lines during excavation, trenching, or landscaping work can pose severe safety hazards, cause unexpected outages, and delay projects.
Before beginning a landscaping project to beautify a commercial building, electrical risk assessments are necessary. With information from the local utility company as well as tools for detecting power lines, a trained electrician can help your landscapers avoid danger spots.
3. Everyday Tool Hazards
Minor electrical jobs can lead to major zaps, especially if you don't know how to test a circuit to make sure that the power to a work site is definitely off.
If your maintenance staff is handling electrical repair work that requires a ladder, provide one made of insulated fiberglass. Remember that ladders made of aluminum and other metals are dangerous choices because they conduct electricity. If a worker contacts a live circuit while on a metal ladder, his body completes the connection, resulting in an electrical shock.
Not all electrical hazards are visible during day-to-day operations. Preventive services like infrared (IR) testing can help identify overheating components, loose connections, overloaded circuits, and other hidden issues before they lead to equipment failure or safety incidents.
Learn more about Lemberg’s Infrared (IR) Testing and Electrical Preventive Maintenance services.
4. An Arc Flash in Industrial and Manufacturing Settings
One of the most serious electrical safety risks in commercial and industrial environments is an arc flash. An arc flash occurs when electrical current leaves its intended path and travels through the air between conductors or to ground. These incidents can produce extreme heat, pressure waves, flying debris, and severe burns in a fraction of a second.
Maintenance activities such as testing circuits, opening electrical panels, or working on energized equipment can increase arc flash risk if proper safety procedures are not followed. That is why OSHA and NFPA 70E standards emphasize the importance of proper PPE, energized work permits, and arc flash assessments before performing electrical work.
Working with trained commercial electricians can help identify arc flash risks and ensure your facility has the proper labeling and preventive maintenance procedures in place.
5. Protection of Expensive Office Equipment
Most of us are familiar with power-strip surge protectors for home computers. However, there are many types of surge protectors to prevent damage to expensive office equipment such as computer networks, modems, satellite or cable lines and telephone systems.
Power surges can be very costly if your electrical system is not properly protected. A trained electrician has the necessary knowledge to install surge protection devices. Keep in mind that there are different levels of protection, ranging from whole-building to individual components.
Many costly electrical failures can be prevented through a proactive electrical preventive maintenance (EPM) program. Regular inspections, testing, and system evaluations help improve safety, reduce downtime, and extend the life of your equipment.
6. Weather Remediation
When severe weather strikes, electrical lines and building electrical systems often are damaged and become dangerous in unexpected ways. For example, when heavy rains create mudslides they also create a medium through which electricity from fallen lines travels more easily.
Whole structures may become electrical hazards after flooding. Most building materials, such as wood, don't conduct electricity when dry. hen saturated, even wood becomes an electrical hazard. Professional electricians know how to navigate these difficulties.
After severe weather or unexpected electrical damage, it is important to work with experienced commercial electricians who can safely assess system conditions, identify hidden hazards, and restore operations quickly.
7. Final Inspection
Whether construction projects are planned or precipitated by disaster, you need to ensure that a job site is inspected and every precaution is taken to protect yourself and others from injury.
Contractors aren't the only ones at risk when working around electricity. Everyone who enters and works on your premises needs protection. Potential energy hazards should be recognized and addressed before a project begins. Before any circuits are re-energized, a final inspection by trained professionals is necessary to be absolutely certain the electrical system is safe.
Bonus: What's the Difference Between Electrical Shock and Electrocution?
Many don't realize that the term “electrical shock” is not synonymous with “electrocution." Poor construction, shoddy electrical wiring, mishandling electrical components, or simply being in the wrong place near live electrical wires may result in an electric shock.
Electrical shock occurs when an electrical current passes through a person's body. It involves electrical injury to the person and can be severe enough to cause long-lasting injury. Electrocution, on the other hand, is the term used when that shock results in death.
Whether your facility is planning renovations, addressing aging infrastructure, or recovering from storm damage, proactive electrical planning can help reduce safety risks and avoid costly disruptions. If you have concerns about your building’s electrical systems or workplace safety, schedule a service call with Lemberg’s electrical team.
Electrical hazards are not always dramatic or obvious. In many cases, the greatest risks come from the everyday situations people stop thinking about: temporary power, buried lines, damaged cords, wet conditions, or areas assumed to be "safe" because they are familiar.
On active job sites, it is often the "obvious" safety considerations that get overlooked when schedules tighten or crews become comfortable with their surroundings.
Whether you're planning a renovation, recovering from severe weather, or managing routine maintenance, electrical safety should never be treated as a secondary consideration. Bringing experienced electrical professionals into the conversation early can help identify risks before work begins, protect everyone on site, and prevent costly disruptions later.
At Lemberg, safety is part of every project we support. Our team works proactively to help customers identify hazards, coordinate safe work environments, and keep projects moving safely from start to finish. Contact Us Today.
