Electrifying Terms
The difference in electrical energy between two points — commonly called voltage. It’s the force that pushes current through a conductor when a path is available.
What is a difference of potential?
A simple set of rules that electrical workers use to formulate a plan that mitigates the electrical hazards, or else, raises awareness of them and prompts them to use appropriate work methods.
What are the Rules to Live By?
In of itself this substance is a poor conductor, but add small impurities such as salt, acid and solvents and it turns into a good conductor.
What is water?
This hazard can result in anything from a slight tingling sensation to immediate cardiac arrest.
What is electrical shock?
Items such as rubber insulating gloves, hoods, sleeves, matting, blankets, line hose and industrial helmets which are designed to reduce electrical shock hazard.
What is High Voltage Protective Equipment / HVPE?
A material such as glass or rubber which prevents the flow of electricity.
What is an insulator?
Unintended electrical energy flowing in the reverse direction—from a secondary source (like generators, PV systems, or interconnected equipment) back into normally de-energized lines or equipment.
What is back feed?
This type of electricity builds up on the surface of an object and under the right conditions can discharge to a person causing a shock.
What is static electricity?
The voltage difference between a person’s feet caused by current flowing through the ground during a fault.
What is step potential?
Using barriers, distance, or protective coverings to keep your body from becoming part of an electrical path.
What is insulate-isolate?
The flow of an atom's electrons through a conductor measured in amps.
What is current?
Sending power into the low-voltage side of a transformer, which makes the transformer work in reverse and creates high voltage on the top side — even when the line was believed to be de-energized.
What is backfeeding a transformer?
The amount of time someone is caught in an electrical shock.
This type of burn is the most serious burn and occurs when electrical current flows through tissues or bone, generating heat that causes tissue damage.
What is an electrical burn?
The 3-step process that guarantees an electrical worker's safety when working directly on an electrical system.
What is deenergize, test, and ground?
The path along which electric current flows from start to finish.
What is a circuit?
Doing this to a tool or electrical system means intentionally creating a low-resistance path that connects to the earth.
What is grounding?
When a person receives an electrical shock, sometimes the electrical stimulation causes the human body to do this as the muscles contract.
What is freeze?
An irregular heart condition that may be caused by the flow of electrical current through a person and can be corrected by the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED).
What is cardiac arrhythmia?
This piece of equipment is one that can both insulate and isolate a worker from an electrical hazard.
What is a bucket truck?
The unit by which the flow of current through a conductor is measured.
What is an ampere (or amp)?
The ability to identify existing or potential dangers in the workplace before they cause an incident.
What is hazard recognition/identification?
A sudden, explosive release of energy that happens when electricity jumps through the air between conductors or to ground. It creates extreme heat, light, pressure, and sound — enough to burn skin, melt metal, and cause serious injury or death in a fraction of a second.
What is an arc flash?
This type of burn results from high temperatures caused by an electric arc or explosion near the body.
What is an arc burn (or flash burn)?
GFCI: Used in wet locations, construction sites and other high-risk areas, these devices interrupt the flow of electricity within as little as 1/40th of a second to prevent electrocution.
What are Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupters?