Independent Electrical Contractors
Motor Vehicle Safety
Motor vehicle safety involves the practices, procedures, and precautions designed to prevent accidents and injuries involving vehicles, especially on job sites and public roads. It includes proper vehicle maintenance, driver training, adherence to safety protocols, and the use of protective equipment such as seatbelts.
Why is Motor Vehicle Safety Important?
Promoting Safety Culture
Implementing motor vehicle safety reduces the risks of collisions, protects workers and pedestrians, minimizes property damage, and ensures compliance with safety regulations, fostering a secure and efficient work environment.
Preventing Workplace Incidents
Motor vehicle accidents are a leading cause of workplace injuries and fatalities, particularly in high-risk industries like construction.
Questions? Contact Joey Baker | jbaker@ieci.org
Safety Manual
The rewards of implementing a safety focus within your organization are immeasurable. Not only will your employees feel more confident about their personal safety on the job, but your business will realize more profit due to a decrease in insurance costs.
Available to IEC members only, the IEC Safety Manual is a must-have resource that provides basic information on maintaining a safe work environment on the jobsite. You may use this valuable professional advice as a guideline, or in addition to your own company specific safety manual.
IEC Safety Manual
This manual covers the topics of incident investigations, equipment safety, excavation and trenching, fleet safety, emergency preparedness, drug free workplace issues, safety audits, confined space protocols, and much more.
The IEC Safety Manual is not intended to replace OSHA standards. IEC assumes no responsibility for any omissions or errors in this manual. The resource offers safety program suggestions and does not set industry standards. Each IEC member should determine the portions of this manual that may be helpful in achieving a safer work environment and modify it to address the issues and hazards in their workplaces.
Jobsite Safety Handbook
The 8th edition of IEC’s Jobsite Safety Handbook is a pocket-sized, 120-page reference manual that clearly defines and explains current safety regulations and best practices. With sections reviewing OSHA inspections, arc flash protection, lockout procedures, fire prevention, and much more, the IEC Jobsite Safety Handbook is an invaluable resource for your team. Written in English with Spanish translations, the handbook will assist supervisors in conveying the importance of safety, and how to achieve it, to their workers.
Contact communications@ieci.org to order copies!
OSHA Alliance
IEC strives to be a leader in safety in the electrical and systems contracting industry, and our efforts have been recognized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) through an IEC-OSHA Alliance partnership.
Through the Alliance, IEC and OSHA work together to provide members and industry leaders with valuable information and access to training resources that will help protect employees’ health and safety, with the goal of reducing and preventing exposure to fall and arc flash hazards, which are major areas of concern in the electrical and systems contracting industry.
Explore the many resources available on the OSHA website including information on safety programs, quick cards, one-pagers, and more.
Through the Alliance, IEC will:
- Develop information on the recognition and prevention of workplace hazards and provide expertise in developing ways of communicating such information (print and digital media, digital assistance tools, OSHA’s website, and IEC National’s website) to employers and employees in the electrical and systems contracting industry.
- Share information with OSHA and other industry safety and health professionals on IEC’s best practices and publicize results through outreach and through IEC-developed materials, training programs, workshops, seminars, lectures, and any other applicable forum.
- Encourage participation in OSHA’s cooperative programs such as compliance assistance, the Voluntary Protection Programs, the On-site Consultation Program, and its Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program.
Representation During OSHA Inspections Guide
During an OSHA inspection of non-union worksites, employees can be represented by anyone they select, including outside union agents.
What to Do When OSHA Arrives
IEC has worked with IES to provide a procedure your company may adopt to ensure that you pass all inspections. It also informs you of your rights and responsibilities during OSHA’s visit. The procedure contains a checklist to follow during an OSHA inspection as well as guidelines to follow during and after.
OSHA Inspections
OSHA may enter any workplace for the purpose of determining if violations of OSHA standards exist there. However, OSHA may only do so with the consent of the employer or by authority of a search warrant issued by a U.S. District Judge or Magistrate. Inspections by OSHA Compliance Officers may be initiated for many reasons including employee complaints, serious or fatal accidents, special emphasis programs, or planned audits.
Focus Four Hazards
Do you know how to prevent the “Focus Four Hazards” in your workplace? Falls, Struck-by, Electrocutions, and Caught-in/Between account for 60% of construction fatalities. In 2023, IEC is renewing its commitment to helping members, their employees, and their businesses stay healthy and safe by providing members with resources from reputable public sources and IEC safety leaders. IEC strives to make these accident prevention resources more accessible to members and stress the importance of implementing a safety focus within their organizations.
Focus Four Hazards
The four leading causes of construction site deaths are:
Struck-by incidents are a leading cause of death among construction workers and the leading cause of nonfatal injuries in the construction industry. CPWR has created resources to increase awareness of struck-by hazards and ways to prevent struck-by incidents.
Types of “struck by object” accidents include:
- – Struck by powered non-transport vehicle.
- – Struck by falling object or equipment, oftentimes while being hoisted or lowered.
- – Struck by discharged or flying object.
Employers are routinely cited for failing to adequately secure and guard heavy machinery that is common to construction sites.
- Electrocution (fatal)
- Electric shock
- Burns/Arc blast
- Fatal falls from height (ladders) caused as a result of contact with electrical energy
Caught-in/between injuries result when a worker gets squeezed, caught, crushed, pinched, or compressed between two or more objects or parts of an object. One of the Focus Four Hazards, fatalities and injuries are due to insufficient safety measures when working around or in excavation sites. In 2019, caught-in/between incidents accounted for 5.4% of all fatalities within the construction industry. These types of accidents can largely be prevented with adherence to safety procedures and regulation.
Examples of caught-in/between accidents include:
- Cave-ins (trenching)
- Being pulled into or caught in machinery and equipment (this includes strangulation as the result of clothing caught in running machinery and equipment)
- Being compressed or crushed between rolling, sliding, or shifting objects such as semi-trailers and a dock wall, or between a truck frame and a hydraulic bed that is lowering
Preventing Caught-in/Between Accidents Before They Happen
Resources from the CPWR and OSHA lay out in-depth solutions for preventing caught-in/between injuries among contractors. Some tips for handling these hazards include:
- Establish a clear safety policy for the workplace.
- Provide education and training for all employees on caught in/between hazards.
- Conduct regular safety inspections of equipment and tools.
