Bill,
Are you sure that you talked with the proper people at OSHA? I have
seen some concrete pipes that a whole army could walk through! OSHA
must not know the extensive Paris sewer network or the ones in Vienna
(remember the Orson Welles movie The Third Man?) I believe that many
of our older cities also have sewer pipes that will easily accommodate
people.
Granted, sewers are not your regular "workplace" but I would think
that OSHA would be interested in the safety of service personnel, and
they do go into sewers when needed.
The NEC, typically, does not cover electrical conductors and equipment
in mines and under exclusive control of other utilities. However,
this does not mean that these other utilities cannot require that
electrical equipment still meet the NEC requirements for wet
locations.
I would be interested to know other opinions!
Tania Grant, Octel Communications Corporation
[email protected]
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Jurisdiction over Electrical Equipment in a Sewer
Author: Bill Lawrence <[email protected]> at P_Internet_Mail
List-Post: [email protected]
Date: 7/28/97 4:53 PM
And in the unusual posting department........
Can anyone offer any guidance on who may have jurisdiction over electrical
equipment installed / used in a sewer?
It appears that the OSHA position is that OSHA would have jurisdiction over
a manhole-accessed sewer, but not over a pipeline as the pipeline is not a
'workplace' potentially visited by humans. A person will not fit in a pipe,
therefore it is not a 'workplace'. This seems to me to be a somewhat
shortsighted approach, although it may be such due to the limitations of the
OSHA legislation.
Bill Lawrence
South Yarmouth, MA 02664
[email protected]
