Portable electric equipment used in highly conductive work locations shall be approved for those locations. In job locations where employees are likely to contact or be drenched with water or conductive liquids, what shall also be used?

• A. Insulation
• B. Ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection for personnel
• C. Rubber gloves
• D. Eye protection

Answer: (B)

In locations where water or conductive liquids may contact equipment, the main hazard is electric shock from leakage current. The safest, most effective protection is a device that can quickly cut power if a fault occurs. Ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection for personnel does exactly that: it monitors the current in the hot and neutral conductors and trips the circuit within milliseconds if there’s even a small imbalance, typically a few milliamps. Insulation helps reduce shock risk but doesn’t guarantee rapid disconnection if a fault develops in a wet environment. Rubber gloves provide personal protective equipment but don’t automatically interrupt power, and eye protection addresses splashes rather than electrical fault currents. So, using GFCI protection for personnel is the appropriate safeguard in wet locations.