July 18, 2023 – Fluke Corp. recently published its 4th annual Electrical Safety Survey, saying it confirms the importance of a strong culture of safety as well as the responsibility of both individuals and organizations to implement it.

“The culture of safety needs to start from the very top and be applied in every layer of the command structure,” said one respondent. “Fine words and spreadsheets do nothing if the actions in the field are not monitored, and safety is not culturally enforced in any way.”

As to who is “most responsible for safety”, results have remained the same over the past four years, with workers being ranked most responsible.

As in previous surveys, the majority of respondents (79%) felt that they were personally most responsible for workplace safety. “Safety begins with me. I am responsible to make sure that what I am doing is safe,” said a respondent.

There is also a feeling among many of the respondents that organizations can be doing a better job in creating a safe work environment. Nearly 90% of respondents Strongly Agreed or Agreed that organizations have an opportunity to improve electrical safety in the workplace.

“Safety requirements and compliance are a lot better than they used to be,” said another respondent, adding that we need to ensure those improvements continue, and that they are embraced by younger tradesmen.

A higher percentage of respondents (56%) said they had ideas on how to make the industry a safer place to work, while 41% provided specific ideas and feedback directly in the survey.

“The essential component, in my opinion, is communication and implementation,” said a respondent. “Management needs to be made aware of issues, and should be required to act responsibly to address those issues as they arise.”

As before, a majority of respondents Agree that electricians skip using the correct PPE because it is inconvenient, especially gloves “because they hinder work”.

Another respondent says the pressure to work quickly is what causes many workers to neglect the proper PPE and other safety protocols. “We have to stop putting pressure on downtime to allow for proper safety to happen.”

Fluke’s 4th annual Electrical Safety Survey was conducted in March 2023.

CLICK HERE for last year’s results (2022).