PPE Training and Electrical Safety Best Practices

Personal protective equipment (PPE) and safety tech have come a long way in the built environment, but does that actually make the job safer? Surprisingly, studies have found that the high-tech versions of PPE like hard hats and safety glasses might be making job sites more dangerous.  

New Gadgets and Gizmo

But why? Well, a lot of these items are well intentioned and theoretically should increase safety. Here are a few examples: 

• Proximity sensors and high-vis clothing should help crews working near vehicles or in low light. 
• Smart lanyards should improve fall protection for those working at heights. 
• Biometric monitors will be able to track worker health, which should alert workers of dehydration and heat stroke. 
• Atmospheric monitoring tools should protect against carbon monoxide leaks. 

The Double-Edged Sword of Safety Tech 

However, that’s a lot of “shoulds” and while safety equipment in construction and electrical work has never been more advanced than it is today, there is a catch. 

 Remember, I said that these innovations made the field more “advanced”, not necessarily “safer”. With so many high-tech safety solutions, some contractors, electricians, and construction workers have begun to lean too heavily on PPE. 

There’s a fine line between trusting your gear and becoming complacent, and studies show that the built environment is walking that line. According to recent reports, 5,283 labor workers died from job-related traumatic injuries in 2023 (the most recent year with complete data) equating to nearly 15 deaths every day. That number is only a small percentage lower than the year prior, but if you factor in on-site injuries, the number climbs to a staggering 8.9% higher than 2022’s combined stats.  

PPE is designed to reduce risk—but it doesn’t eliminate it. Equipment can fail, mistakes happen, and hazards are real. The goal isn’t to prevent every single misstep—it’s to make sure that when accidents do happen, the impact is less severe. And when folks are too reliant on their smart tech to protect them from accidents, they can become complacent.  

The problem is, people can over-rely on PPE instead of following the hierarchy of controls—where the first step should always be eliminating hazards, not just guarding against them. 

Training, Trust, and Tech 

There’s a psychological phenomenon that kicks in when we feel “protected” by technology: we assume the system will take care of everything. 

If your hard hat has a proximity sensor that beeps when you get near a danger zone, you might notice yourself relying on the beep instead of scanning the area. If a building automation system adjusts airflow to keep a workspace safe, people may stop thinking about ventilation altogether. 

It’s not that people become lazy — they become trusting, which is arguably worse. Trust is cozy. Trust is comfortable. Trust makes you miss simple things that could save your life.  

The Rise of Invisible Risk 

Traditional risks in construction and electrical work are obvious: sparks, heavy materials, open trenches, exposed wires. You can physically see danger. Nowadays, the dangers feel much sneakier.

• A sensor that should detect a gas leak but is overdue for maintenance.
• An automated sprinkler system that’s been bypassed during renovation that nobody remembered to restart.
• An app that’s supposed to warn a worker of a hazard — but their phone died two hours ago. 

The more we depend on tech, the more assumptions we quietly make. Unfortunately, assumptions and safety do not play nicely together. 

“Set It and Forget It” Isn’t a Safety Strategy 

Smart technology has accidentally encouraged a “someone else has already thought of this” mindset. In many teams, safety used to take the form of checklists, double-checks, conversations, and real-time awareness. Now it’s all too easy to think: 

“The system would’ve alerted me if something was wrong.” 

Or... 

“This tool has a safety lock, so I don’t need to worry as much.” 

But technology is only as good as the people maintaining it. When maintenance gets skipped, sensors get dirty, or AI misinterprets something (which it can); the “smart” system becomes just another object taking up space. Your tech should be a teammate, not a babysitter. 

So, Are We Safer? 

Technically? Yes… and no. 

We’ve reduced certain risks, for sure. A falling tool or ladder might be less fatal than it was 50 years ago thanks to PPE like hardhats. But smart technology and automation also created new hazards — ones that sneak in through convenience. The best thing that a built environment professional can do is to use tech as a tool, not a shield. Stay alert and remember that even the smartest building still needs the sharpest humans.