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Free course · Beginner · 3 h 54 min · v1.0

Electrical Safety Awareness

Shock, arc and the deenergized-first rule — 29 CFR 1926 Subpart K and 1910 Subpart S, free and self-paced

Start the courseSee the outline
This course is step 3 of 3 in the Industrial Mechanic — Learning Path, which puts the free courses on this site in a reading order.
Not OSHA-authorized training. This free course is a study aid. It does not satisfy any OSHA or regulatory training requirement and no certificate or card is issued. Your employer's training program comes first.

Most people hurt by electricity at work were not working on it. They were carrying a ladder, moving a boom, plugging in a saw, standing in the wrong room while somebody else opened a panel. This free, self-paced course is written for them: what current actually does to a body, what separates a qualified person from everyone else and why that line is drawn where it is, the four ways a jobsite gets you — overhead lines, temporary power, cords and tools — and why 29 CFR 1910.333(a)(1) makes deenergizing the rule instead of the option. Every requirement is quoted with the paragraph it comes from, and every incident is a real OSHA case file.

What you will be able to do

  • Explain how shock, arc and blast injure a body, and why low voltage does not mean low hazard
  • Say what a qualified person is under 1910.399, and what an unqualified person may and may not do
  • Keep the right distance from overhead lines, and recognize the equipment that closes it for you
  • Judge a temporary power installation, a GFCI arrangement and an extension cord against the paragraphs that govern them
  • State the deenergized-first rule of 1910.333(a)(1), its two exceptions, and the six steps that actually make a circuit safe
  • Recognize an arc flash exposure and a generator carbon monoxide exposure before either becomes an incident

Course outline

Part 1

How electricity injures

Shock, arc and blast; what the current does inside a body; why the path and the wet skin decide the outcome; and the injuries that arrive after the shock.

  1. 1.1 Shock, arc and blast: three different injuries13 min
  2. 1.2 What the current actually does to you13 min
  3. 1.3 The path to ground, and why water changes everything12 min
  4. 1.4 Burns, falls and what happens after the shock12 min
  5. Part 1 quiz5 questions
Part 2

Qualified and unqualified: who may do what

The definition that governs everything, the training each group receives, what an unqualified person may never do, and the distances, signs and barricades that keep the line visible.

  1. 2.1 What 'qualified person' actually means12 min
  2. 2.2 The training you are owed, either way13 min
  3. 2.3 What an unqualified person may and may not do12 min
  4. 2.4 Approach distances, signs, barricades and attendants13 min
  5. Part 2 quiz5 questions
Part 3

The four ways a jobsite gets you

Overhead and buried lines, temporary power built to the standard, ground-fault protection and the assured grounding program, and the cords and tools in everyone's hands.

  1. 3.1 Overhead lines, buried lines and the things that reach them13 min
  2. 3.2 How a temporary power installation is supposed to be built13 min
  3. 3.3 Ground-fault protection: GFCI or the assured grounding program13 min
  4. 3.4 Cords, plugs and portable tools12 min
  5. Part 3 quiz5 questions
Part 4

Deenergized work, and the exceptions

Why deenergizing is the rule, how a circuit is actually made safe, what happens when it must stay live, and the two hazards that arrive with the generator that replaced the power.

  1. 4.1 The rule, and the only two exceptions13 min
  2. 4.2 How a circuit is actually made safe13 min
  3. 4.3 When it stays energized: practices, PPE and arc awareness12 min
  4. 4.4 Generators, backfeed, carbon monoxide — and the first minute after a shock12 min
  5. Part 4 quiz5 questions
Final exam
20 questions · about 20 minutes
Go to the exam

Who it's for: Construction crews, maintenance and facilities workers, warehouse and plant staff, supervisors and anyone who works near energized equipment without being the person who works on it.

Frequently asked questions

No, and no online course can. 29 CFR 1910.399 defines a qualified person as one who has received training in and has demonstrated skills and knowledge in the construction and operation of electric equipment and installations and the hazards involved. Demonstrating skills happens on the equipment, in front of someone competent to judge it, and Note 1 adds that the status is per equipment, not a general rank. This course explains what the standards say; your employer decides and records what you are qualified to do.

No. SteelToeTools is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by OSHA or the U.S. Department of Labor. We quote the public text of the standards and link to them so you can check every statement yourself.

No. Nothing is issued for completing this course or its exam — no card and no document of any kind. It is a free study aid, not OSHA-authorized training, and it does not satisfy any regulatory training requirement, including the training 1910.332 requires your employer to provide.

Because OSHA does not publish them. Outside 29 CFR 1910.269 and 1926 Subpart V — which cover electric power generation, transmission and distribution work — no federal standard gives an arc flash boundary, a PPE category or an incident-energy table. Those come from NFPA 70E, a private consensus standard that is copyrighted, and reproducing its tables would be wrong twice over. Part 4, Chapter 3 explains what the CFR does say about arcs, and tells you to get the rest from your employer's electrical safety program.

Both, and it always says which. Construction electrical requirements are in 29 CFR 1926 Subpart K; general industry design rules are in 1910.303 to 1910.308 and the safety-related work practices in 1910.331 to 1910.335. They are close but not identical — a construction site inspects cord sets before each day's use under an assured grounding program, while general industry inspects portable equipment before use on any shift.

About 3 hours 54 minutes: sixteen chapters of 12 to 13 minutes, four 5-question part quizzes, and a 20-question final exam. Your progress is kept in your own browser, so you can stop and come back.

It is written for you first. 1910.331(a) applies the safety-related work practices to unqualified persons as well as qualified ones, and Table S-4 of 1910.332 lists the job titles OSHA expects to face a shock risk — painters, riggers, material handling equipment operators, mechanics, welders, machine operators and blue collar supervisors among them. Most of the case files in this course involve someone who was not working on electricity at all.

Sources & references

Content checked against these sources — last reviewed August 28, 2026.

Not OSHA-authorized training. SteelToeTools is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by OSHA or the U.S. Department of Labor. This free educational content does not satisfy any OSHA or other regulatory training requirement, and no card, certificate, or credential is issued. Only OSHA-authorized trainers can deliver OSHA Outreach Training (10-Hour and 30-Hour) and issue DOL cards. Always follow your employer's training program and applicable federal, state, and local requirements.

By — Editorial team of SteelToeTools.com (published by LSEA SAS) Updated v1.0