New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 12 - DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Chapter I - Industrial Board Of Appeals
Subchapter A - The Industrial Code
Part 23 - Protection In Construction, Demolition And Excavation Operations
Subpart 23-1 - General Provisions
Section 23-1.13 - Electrical hazards
Universal Citation: 12 NY Comp Codes Rules and Regs § 23-1.13
Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 12, March 26, 2025
(a) Operations subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission. None of the provisions of this section shall apply to or in connection with operations conducted by employers, owners, contractors and their agents subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission.
(b) General.
(1) Precautions. All power lines and power
facilities around or near construction, demolition and excavation sites shall
be considered as energized until assurance has been given that they are
otherwise by qualified representatives of the owners of such power lines or
power facilities.
(2) Determination
of voltages. Before work is begun at any construction, demolition or excavation
site, the employer shall determine the voltage levels of all energized power
lines and power facilities around or near such site. Where two or more voltages
are available at a job site, all electrical equipment and circuits shall be
appropriately identified. Such identification shall include voltage level and
phase.
(3) Investigation and
warning. Before work is begun the employer shall ascertain by inquiry or direct
observation, or by instruments, whether any part of an electric power circuit,
exposed or concealed, is so located that the performance of the work may bring
any person, tool or machine into physical or electrical contact therewith. The
employer shall post and maintain proper warning signs where such a circuit
exists. He shall advise his employees of the locations of such lines, the
hazards involved and the protective measures to be taken.
(4) Protection of employees. No employer
shall suffer or permit an employee to work in such proximity to any part of an
electric power circuit that he may contact such circuit in the course of his
work unless the employee is protected against electric shock by de-energizing
the circuit and grounding it or by guarding such circuit by effective
insulation or other means. In work areas where the exact locations of
underground electric power lines are unknown, persons using jack hammers, bars
or other hand tools which may contact such power lines shall be provided with
insulated protective gloves, body aprons and footwear.
(5) Guarding of switches or other circuit
interrupting devices. If protection for employees consists of de-energizing
circuits, employers shall cause open switches or other circuit interrupting
devices to be guarded against inadvertent closing until such employees are no
longer exposed.
(6) Notifying
utility company. At least five normal working days before work is begun within
10 feet of any live overhead power line or before any excavation work is
performed which might contact or disturb a live underground power line, the
employer shall notify in writing the utility whose power line may be
affected.
(7) Generators. Portable
electric power generators on any construction, demolition or excavation job
site shall have the frames and one pole of the electrical outputs
grounded.
(8) Defective insulation.
Any wiring found to have cracked insulation or insulation deteriorated in any
other way shall be immediately removed from service and discarded.
(c) Temporary electric power circuits at construction, demolition or excavation job sites.
(1) Temporary electric wiring.
(i) All temporary wiring shall be supported
on proper insulators and not looped over nails or brackets. No bare wires or
other unprotected current-carrying parts shall be located within eight feet
above any surface where persons may work or pass unless completely guarded by a
fence or other barrier.
Exception:Where qualified persons must make adjustments or measurements on an electrical device or circuit.
(ii) Electrical systems and current-carrying
equipment shall be properly grounded except as provided for blasting circuits
in this Part (rule). Where it is necessary to lay electrical wiring on the
ground, such wiring shall be of the weather-proof type and heavy enough to
withstand the wear and abuse to which it may be subjected. No conductor shall
be used to carry a higher voltage than the manufacturer's rating.
(iii) Elevated power lines shall have
sufficient vertical clearance where they cross highways, access roads or areas
traveled by trucks, cranes, shovels or other similar equipment. In no case
shall such vertical clearance be less than 18 feet.
(iv) Fuses and other automatic cut-outs shall
not exceed a size that will cause open circuits at points lower than the
carrying capacities of the protected conductors or equipment or their
insulation.
(d) High-voltage power circuits (over 300 volts to ground) at construction, demolition and excavation sites.
(1) At any construction, demolition or
excavation site where any person or equipment is required to approach nearer
than 10 feet to any overhead energized high-voltage power line or power
facility, such approach shall not be made unless or until the following
procedure has been complied with:
(i) The
owner of such power line or power facility shall be notified in writing by the
employer that such an approach is to be made.
(ii) In not more than one normal working day
following the receipt of such written notice, the owner of the high-voltage
power line or power facility shall advise and make recommendations for the
procedure to be followed in performing any work nearer than 10 feet to such
power line or power facility.
Exception:In an emergency situation involving imminent danger to the life, health or safety of any person the employer is not required to comply with this provision.
(iii) The employer shall follow the procedure
recommended by the owner of the high-voltage power line or power facility in
performing any work within 10 feet of such power line or power
facility.
(2) The
procedure outlined in subparagraphs (i), (ii) and (iii), above, shall be
followed whenever any excavation work is to be performed in any area where
underground high-voltage power circuits are known or expected to
exist.
(3) Any equipment used on a
construction, demolition or excavation site which could approach nearer than 10
feet of an energized electric power line or power facility, located overhead or
underground, shall be effectively grounded as follows:
(i) Any such equipment shall be provided with
a permanent clamp or other means for convenient and effective attachment to a
grounding conductor.
(ii) The cable
connecting the clamp to the ground shall be equivalent to a No. 1 AWG or larger
single conductor, extraflexible, rope-stranded copper, with 600-volt covering
for abrasive protection, and with terminal parts that insure a proper
connection with hand-type screw clamps.
(iii) An effective ground for such equipment
shall be one having a measured resistance of 25 ohms or less, or a connection
to a continuous underground metallic water piping system.
(4) Any machinery or equipment used on a
construction, demolition or excavation site which has a boom or similar moving
extension shall be provided with a durable warning sign posted and maintained
in such a location as to be clearly visible to the operator of such machinery
or equipment from his operating position. Every such warning sign shall bear
the following legend in black letters on a yellow background:
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. New York may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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