Safety-related work practices must be used to prevent electric shock or other injuries resulting from either direct or indirect electrical contacts, when work is performed near or on equipment or circuits that are or may be energized. The specific safety-related work practices must be consistent with the nature and extent of the associated electrical hazards.

(1) When an employee may be exposed to live parts, they must be deenergized before the employee works on or near them, unless deenergizing introduces other hazards or is infeasible due to equipment design or operational limitations. Live parts that operate at less than 50 volts to ground need not be deenergized if there will be no increased exposure to electrical burns or to explosion due to electric arcs.

(2) If the exposed live parts are not deenergized (for reasons of increased or additional hazards or unfeasibility), other safety-related work practices must be used to protect employees who may be exposed to the electrical hazards involved. Such work practices must protect employees against contact with energized circuit parts directly with any part of their body or indirectly through some other conductive object. The work practices must be suitable for the voltage level of the exposed electric conductors or circuit parts.