scope:

(A) Covered. This standard addresses those electrical safety requirements for employee workplaces that are necessary for the practical safeguarding of employees in their pursuit of gainful employment. This standard covers the installation of electric conductors, electric equipment, signaling and communications conductors and equipment, and raceways for the following:

(1) Public and private premises, including buildings, structures, mobile homes, recreational vehicles, and floating buildings

(2) Yards, lots, parking lots, carnivals, and industrial substations

FPN: For additional information concerning such installations in an industrial or multibuilding complex, see ANSI C2-2002, National Electrical Safety Code.

The basic intent of NFPA 70E is to define requirements for work practices that workers should use to avoid injury from a release of electrical energy when performing a work task(s). Defined requirements are based on exposure to an electrical hazard and apply to all types of employers or facilities, including in-house employees, contractor employees, general industrial workplaces, and construction workplaces.

(3) Installations of conductors and equipment that connect to the supply of electricity

The requirements of this standard apply to all electrical conductors that are installed at a workplace, including those that connect with the utility supply.

(4) Installations used by the electric utility, such as office buildings, warehouses, garages, machine shops, and recreational buildings, that are not an integral part of a generating plant, substation, or control center

Workplaces that are owned and operated by an electrical utility but are not associated with generating, transmitting, or distributing electricity are covered by NFPA 70E.

(B) Not Covered. This standard does not cover the following:

(1) Installations in ships, watercraft other than floating buildings, railway rolling stock, aircraft, or automotive vehicles other than mobile homes and recreational vehicles

(2) Installations underground in mines and self-propelled mobile surface mining machinery and its attendant electrical trailing cable

(3) Installations of railways for generation, transformation, transmission, or distribution of power used exclusively for operation of rolling stock or installations used exclusively for signaling and communications purposes

(4) Installations of communications equipment under the exclusive control of communications utilities located outdoors or in building spaces used exclusively for such installations

(5) Installations under the exclusive control of an electric utility where such installations:

a. Consist of service drops or service laterals, and associated metering, or

b. Are located in legally established easements, rights-of-way, or by other agreements either designated by or recognized by public service commissions, utility commissions, or other regulatory agencies having jurisdiction for such installations, or

c. Are on property owned or leased by the electric utility for the purpose of communications, metering, generation, control, transformation, transmission, or distribution of electric energy.

The National Electrical Code defines requirements for installations. NFPA 70E, on the other hand, applies to workplaces, not to installations. An installation involves equipment, devices, and materials, but a workplace involves a worker interacting with equipment, devices, and materials.