437-002-2322 Special Conditions (1) Capacitors. The following additional requirements apply to work on capacitors and on lines connected to capacitors. NOTE to paragraph (1): See 437-002-2312 Deenergizing Lines and Equipment for Employee Protection; and 437-002-2313 Grounding for the Protection of Employees, of Division 2/RR, for requirements pertaining to the deenergizing and grounding of capacitor installations. (a) Before employees work on capacitors, the employer must disconnect the capacitors from energized sources and short circuit the capacitors. The employer must ensure that the employee short circuiting the capacitors waits at least 5 minutes from the time of disconnection before applying the short circuit. (b) Before employees handle the units, the employer must short circuit each unit in series-parallel capacitor banks between all terminals and the capacitor case or its rack. If the cases of capacitors are on ungrounded substation racks, the employer must bond the racks to ground. (c) The employer must short circuit any line connected to capacitors before the line is treated as deenergized. (2) Current transformer secondaries. The employer must ensure that employees do not open the secondary of a current transformer while the transformer is energized. If the employer cannot deenergize the primary of the current transformer before employees perform work on an instrument, a relay, or other section of a current transformer secondary circuit, the employer must bridge the circuit so that the current transformer secondary does not experience an open-circuit condition. (3) Series streetlighting. (a) If the open-circuit voltage exceeds 600 volts, the employer must ensure that employees work on series streetlighting circuits in accordance with 437-002-2316 Overhead Lines; and 437-002-2319 Underground Electrical Installations, of Division 2/RR, as appropriate. (b) Before any employee opens a series loop, the employer must deenergize the streetlighting transformer and isolate it from the source of supply or must bridge the loop to avoid an open-circuit condition. (4) Illumination. The employer must provide sufficient illumination to enable the employee to perform the work safely. (5) Protection against drowning. (a) Whenever an employee may be pulled or pushed, or might fall, into water where the danger of drowning exists, the employer must provide the employee with, and must ensure that the employee uses, a U.S. Coast Guard approved personal flotation device. (b) The employer must maintain each personal flotation device in safe condition and must inspect each personal flotation device frequently enough to ensure that it does not have rot, mildew, water saturation, or any other condition that could render the device unsuitable for use. (c) An employee may cross streams or other bodies of water only if a safe means of passage, such as a bridge, is available. (6) Employee protection in public work areas. (a) Traffic-control signs and traffic-control devices used for the protection of employees must meet 437-003-0424 Traffic Control, of Division 3. (b) Before employees begin work in the vicinity of vehicular or pedestrian traffic that may endanger them, the employer must place warning signs or flags and other traffic-control devices in conspicuous locations to alert and channel approaching traffic. (c) The employer must use barricades where additional employee protection is necessary. (d) The employer must protect excavated areas with barricades. (e) The employer must display warning lights prominently at night. (7) Backfeed. When there is a possibility of voltage backfeed from sources of cogeneration or from the secondary system (for example, backfeed from more than one energized phase feeding a common load), the requirements of 437-002-2311 Working On or Near Exposed Energized Parts, of Division 2/RR, apply if employees will work the lines or equipment as energized; and the requirements of 437-002-2312 Deenergizing Lines and Equipment for Employee Protection, and 437-002-2313 Grounding for the Protection of Employees, of Division 2/RR, apply if employees will work the lines or equipment as deenergized. (8) Lasers. The employer must install, adjust, and operate laser equipment in accordance with 1926.54 Nonionizing Radiation, of Division 3. (9) Hydraulic fluids. Hydraulic fluids used for the insulated sections of equipment must provide insulation for the voltage involved. Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 654.025(2) & 656.726(4) Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 654.001 - 654.295 History: OSHA 3-2015, f. 10-9-15, cert. ef. 1-1-16