Not everything on your wall is law.
Three tiers, and confusing them causes real problems — people either dismiss consensus standards because "they're not OSHA," or treat a client spec as a legal requirement. Both errors cost money.
§ Three tiers
| Tier | Examples | Enforceable by | What happens if you do not follow it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Law | OSHA 29 CFR 1910, 1926, 1904 | Federal or state OSHA | Citation and penalty |
| Adopted law | NFPA 70 (NEC), building and fire codes | The AHJ, via state or local adoption | Failed inspection; no occupancy |
| Consensus | NFPA 70E, 70B, 110, 111, 855; IEEE 1584, 450, 3007; NETA ATS/MTS; ASTM; ANSI | Not directly | Establishes recognition and feasible abatement under the General Duty Clause |
| Contract | Uptime Institute Tier, TIA-942, ASHRAE TC9.9, client and tenant specifications | The counterparty | Breach of contract; failed audit; lost customer |
§ Law
- OSHA 29 CFR 1910 — general industry, the operating facility. Detail →
- OSHA 29 CFR 1926 — construction, the build. Detail →
- OSHA 29 CFR 1904 — recordkeeping and reporting. Fatality within 8 hours; inpatient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours.
- Section 5(a)(1), the General Duty Clause — the catch-all where no specific standard applies. This is how arc flash gets cited.
- State plans. Roughly half the states run their own OSHA-approved plans, some with requirements exceeding federal. Check yours.
§ Consensus
NFPA 70E is not law. It is the industry consensus standard describing how to comply with OSHA's electrical requirements — and OSHA cites it as evidence of hazard recognition and feasible abatement. Dismissing it because "it isn't OSHA" is a misunderstanding of how enforcement actually works. How that works →
| Standard | Covers |
|---|---|
| NFPA 70E | Electrical safety in the workplace — work practices, maintenance, special equipment. 2027 edition current. |
| NFPA 70 (NEC) | Electrical installation. Adopted into law by jurisdiction |
| NFPA 70B | Electrical equipment maintenance — now a standard rather than a recommended practice |
| NFPA 110 / 111 | Emergency and standby power systems / stored electrical energy systems |
| NFPA 855 | Energy storage systems — lithium-ion, thermal runaway, spacing, venting |
| NFPA 75 / 76 | Fire protection of IT equipment / telecommunications facilities |
| IEEE 1584 | Arc flash hazard calculation — the method behind your study |
| IEEE 450 / 1188 / 1106 | Battery maintenance and testing by chemistry |
| IEEE 3007 series | Recommended practice for electrical safety in industrial and commercial power systems |
| NETA ATS / MTS | Acceptance and maintenance testing specifications |
| ASTM F18 series | Rubber insulating equipment |
| ANSI Z87.1 / Z89.1 / Z358.1 | Eye and face / head protection / emergency eyewash |
§ Contract
- Uptime Institute Tier standards — availability topology and operational sustainability. Not a safety standard, but Tier requirements shape the redundancy that shapes your isolation problem.
- TIA-942 — telecommunications infrastructure for data centers.
- ASHRAE TC9.9 — thermal guidelines. Relevant to hot aisle heat exposure.
- Client and tenant specifications — hyperscale tenants frequently impose safety requirements exceeding both OSHA and 70E, and enforce them by audit.
- Insurer requirements — FM Global and similar, particularly for battery and fire protection.
Contract requirements often bite harder than regulation, because the audit is annual and the consequence is losing the customer. A hyperscale tenant's EHS audit will ask for your qualification matrix, your permit history and your training records — and will not care that OSHA has not been on site in six years.
§ How they interact
OSHA sets the requirement. De-energize unless infeasible; protect employees from recognized hazards.
NFPA 70E supplies the method. Boundaries, risk assessment, permits, PPE selection, program structure.
The NEC determines the hazard level at design time — coordination, arc energy reduction, working space, isolation points.
IEEE and NETA supply the engineering — the calculation method and the test regime.
Contract requirements add a layer and are audited more often than any of the above.
NFPA 70E 2027, weekly
Classes map every 70E requirement back to the OSHA section it satisfies — so the program defends itself in both directions.
See the schedule Bring it onsite