This Part 2 of a four-part series, with the remaining three parts to be published in the next monthly APC magazine. Additionally, the entire Panel can be viewed on our YouTube Channel.
The conversation surrounding electrical safety has evolved dramatically over the past several years. What was once viewed primarily as a compliance exercise has become a strategic initiative that directly impacts equipment reliability, workforce safety, operational resilience, and ultimately business continuity. That evolution was front and center during one of the most compelling panel discussions at MARCON 2026 in Knoxville, Tennessee, where reliability leaders from across the electrical industry discussed how the latest revisions to NFPA 70B and NFPA 70E are changing the way utilities, industrial facilities, data centers, and service organizations approach electrical asset management.
The discussion reinforced a central message: reliability and safety are no longer separate objectives. Modern electrical systems require organizations to build both simultaneously.
This aligns with the continuing evolution of NFPA guidance. Historically focused on preventing electrical fires and shocks, today’s standards increasingly recognize that safe electrical systems must also be reliable and resilient enough to support modern infrastructure, including data centers, distributed energy resources, energy storage systems, and increasingly complex industrial operations.
Arc Flash: More Than Just an Electrical Event
Moderator Alan Ross opened the discussion by asking one of the questions many outside the industry struggle to answer:
What actually happens during an arc flash?
Adrian Messer, Business Development Manager at SDT Ultrasound Solutions, explained that although many maintenance personnel have never personally experienced an arc flash, the industry has no shortage of examples demonstrating its destructive power. He noted that while many incidents occur on 480-volt systems simply because they are the most common industrial voltage, “only 480 volts” is a dangerous misconception.
Arc flash is an extremely violent release of electrical energy capable of producing explosive pressure, intense heat, molten metal, and devastating injuries within fractions of a second.
More importantly, Messer emphasized that after an electrical incident occurs, the focus immediately shifts beyond the event itself. OSHA investigators want answers to fundamental questions:
- Was there a documented electrical maintenance program?
- Were inspection procedures properly established?
- Were employees appropriately trained?
- Was the work performed according to recognized standards?
Without documented maintenance programs and qualified personnel, organizations quickly find themselves facing both regulatory scrutiny and significant liability. Proper maintenance documentation has become every bit as important as the equipment itself.
Without documented maintenance programs and qualified personnel, organizations quickly find themselves facing both regulatory scrutiny and significant liability.
Understanding the Human Cost
Mark Paul, Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing at IRISS, expanded on the discussion by explaining that the effects of arc flash extend well beyond burns.
Protective clothing can reduce injuries, but no personal protective equipment completely eliminates the enormous energy released during a major electrical fault. Blast pressure alone can throw technicians several feet, causing severe traumatic injuries before heat even becomes a factor.
Paul also highlighted research suggesting that repeated exposure to electrical shock—even relatively minor incidents—may contribute to cumulative neurological effects among electricians throughout their careers.
Perhaps most importantly, he connected these injuries to the newest requirements contained within NFPA 70B.
One of the most significant additions to the 2023 edition is the requirement for partial discharge testing on applicable equipment. Partial discharge should never be viewed as a minor defect. Instead, Paul described it as an early warning indicator of insulation failure—a precursor to the full electrical discharge that ultimately produces catastrophic arc flash events.
Ignoring partial discharge simply allows the problem to grow until equipment fails, often with devastating consequences.
Ignoring partial discharge simply allows the problem to grow until equipment fails, often with devastating consequences.
The standards, he noted, should not be viewed simply as additional government regulation. Rather, they represent decades of accumulated knowledge about how electrical failures injure workers and how those injuries can be prevented through proactive maintenance and inspection.
Safety Culture Cannot Stop at Compliance
Jon Bucciarrelli, President at SDMyers, shifted the discussion toward organizational responsibility.
Leading technicians who work daily around energized substations carries an enormous burden. His crews operate around high-voltage equipment virtually every day of the year, and despite extensive training, even the most experienced professionals can make mistakes.
He recounted the story of one highly skilled technician who accidentally contacted an 11,200-volt conductor. Although the individual survived, the incident resulted in months of recovery and served as a sobering reminder that experience alone does not eliminate risk.
Electrical work differs fundamentally from many other industrial hazards.
Workers may recover from cuts or minor mechanical injuries, but electrical mistakes often leave no second chances.
For Bucciarrelli, organizations should never ask what the minimum level of compliance might be. Instead, they should continually ask a different question:
How do we best protect every employee who enters an energized environment?
Education, continuous training, understanding increasing arc flash boundaries at higher voltages, and maintaining constant awareness must become part of an organization’s culture rather than simply satisfying regulatory requirements.
Managing Risk Across a Global Workforce
Mike Doolan, Global Technical and Reliability Director at CBRE and the Founding Board Member of ESARA provided another perspective from one of today’s fastest-growing sectors—hyperscale data centers.
Managing approximately 3,500 technicians and tens of thousands of contractors across operations in more than 120 countries presents unique challenges. Rapid industry growth means many employees enter critical facilities without extensive electrical backgrounds.
For Doolan, the solution begins with intensive training from day one.
Employees must first understand that electrical systems often appear deceptively quiet. Unlike rotating industrial machinery, energized electrical equipment may give little indication of the tremendous hazards hidden behind closed switchgear doors.
Training, however, is only the beginning.
His organization reinforces safety through standardized risk assessments, detailed operating procedures, comprehensive one-line diagrams, two-person switching protocols, Lockout/Tagout procedures, and rigorous communication practices.
One recurring lesson stood out during his remarks:
Many near misses occur not because workers ignore procedures, but because of simple communication failures.
Many near misses occur not because workers ignore procedures, but because of simple communication failures.
Every isolation must be independently verified. Every worker must confirm the equipment status personally. Every lock must belong to the individual entering the hazard zone.
Those redundant checks protect both system reliability and human life.
Reliability Drives Safety
As the discussion concluded, Ross referenced reliability pioneer Ron Moore, whose work has influenced maintenance professionals throughout North America.
Moore’s philosophy remains remarkably simple:
A safe plant is not necessarily a reliable plant, but a reliable plant will almost always be a safe plant.
That observation captured perhaps the most important takeaway from the panel.
Organizations often think first about maintenance or compliance. The panel argued instead that reliability engineering should become the foundation upon which safety is built.
Reliable equipment experiences fewer failures.
Fewer failures mean fewer emergency repairs.
Fewer emergency repairs mean fewer opportunities for personnel to be exposed to energized equipment.
Viewed through that lens, predictive maintenance, partial discharge monitoring, infrared inspections, condition monitoring, and disciplined maintenance planning become more than reliability initiatives—they become essential safety programs.
This philosophy also reflects the broader evolution occurring throughout the NFPA standards. Today’s electrical codes increasingly recognize that safety, equipment reliability, and infrastructure resilience cannot be separated. Modern electrical systems supporting data centers, renewable generation, energy storage, microgrids, and industrial facilities demand designs and maintenance strategies that minimize both operational downtime and human risk.
Looking Ahead
The MARCON 2026 panel made one point abundantly clear: NFPA 70B and NFPA 70E are changing far more than maintenance schedules.
They are driving a cultural shift across the electrical industry.
Success will no longer be measured solely by regulatory compliance but by an organization’s ability to integrate maintenance, condition monitoring, reliability engineering, and workforce training into a comprehensive safety strategy.
As utilities modernize aging infrastructure, manufacturers expand production, and data centers continue their unprecedented growth, this integrated approach will become increasingly critical.
Ultimately, the panel concluded that protecting people begins long before anyone opens an electrical enclosure. It starts with disciplined maintenance, continuous training, predictive diagnostics, and a commitment to building reliable electrical systems from the ground up.
That is the future envisioned by NFPA 70B and 70E—and it was the unmistakable message delivered by the experts gathered at MARCON 2026.
This article was originally published in the September 2026 issue of the Innovations In Insulation Systems magazine.
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