Installation Safety and Trade Practices
Safe work rules
Electrical work in Oregon is also governed by Oregon OSHA rules (OAR chapter 437), which adopt federal workplace standards including lockout/tagout and electrical safety requirements. NFPA 70E supplies the consensus practice model: an electrical safety program, risk assessment before energized work, shock and arc flash boundaries, an energized work permit, and personal protective equipment matched to the hazard. Treat every conductor as energized until you have tested it with a meter you first verified on a known live source, and apply lockout/tagout before working on de-energized equipment.
Installation practices that show up in questions
Chapter 3 details matter on the job: support intervals, protection from physical damage, bending radius, box fill, and securing cables within the required distance of boxes. Terminations must be torqued to the manufacturer specification, aluminum conductors need listed connectors, and conductors must be protected from abrasion at knockouts and where they enter raceways. Temporary wiring on construction sites requires GFCI protection for receptacles and inspection of cords and tools; damaged cords, missing covers, and open knockouts are common citations.
Traps
Qualified person is a defined term and means more than simply being licensed; it involves demonstrated skills and knowledge of the hazards. Approach boundaries apply to qualified workers, not to the general public. Unqualified people should not be inside restricted approach boundaries, and no one should work energized without justification. Another trap is assuming an installation is safe because it is de-energized at the breaker; verify absence of voltage at the point of work.
Rule of thumb
Test before touch, verify your meter on a known source both before and after the test, and use the PPE and boundaries that match the highest available fault energy at the equipment.