This Week in Trades — August 24, 2026

OSHA Investigates Electrician's Death at Mizzou Stadium

OSHA opened an investigation this week into the death of Corey Sooter, a 44-year-old electrician who died in a job-site accident at the University of Missouri's football stadium. EC&M reported the death on August 21, and the agency's review is ongoing.

Fatalities like this are the reason the license exam leans so hard on safety code sections, not just circuit theory. Every journeyman and master candidate studying for the test works around the same energized systems, the same heights, and the same time pressure that put Sooter on that jobsite. A death at a college football stadium doesn't stay local. It shapes how general contractors write safety plans for the next big venue job, how inspectors read those plans on-site, and how apprenticeship programs frame their safety modules going forward. If you're studying toward licensure, treat this as a reminder: the code sections on lockout/tagout, grounding, and working clearances aren't paperwork. They're the difference between going home and becoming next week's OSHA case number.

Source: EC&M

NEC Grants HVAC Manufacturers Two More Years on a GFCI Exception

A new Tentative Interim Amendment, TIA 1924, proposes pushing back the expiration of NEC Sec. 210.8(F), Exception No. 2 from September 1, 2026 to September 1, 2028. That exception says GFCI protection isn't required for listed HVAC equipment. Manufacturers say two more years are needed before GFCI-compatible HVAC products are ready to ship. Public comment on the TIA closes September 9, 2026.

This is exactly the kind of code nuance that trips up exam candidates who memorize the letter of 210.8(F) without tracking its exceptions. Exceptions carry hard expiration dates for a reason: the code-making panel expects the industry to close the compliance gap, not lean on the carve-out indefinitely. If TIA 1924 is adopted, anyone testing on the 2026 NEC needs to know the exception now runs two years longer than the printed code implies. Question banks built off the original 2026 text will need the same update. Don't get caught studying an outdated exception date on test day.

Source: EC&M

Pennsylvania Orders Data Centers to Hire and Train Local Electricians

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed Executive Order 2026-05, creating the Commonwealth's new GRID Requirements for data center permits. Any developer seeking a state permit now has to clear those requirements before the Department of Environmental Protection will even evaluate the application. That means covering the full cost of new electrical infrastructure, holding public meetings with affected communities, and, most relevant for the trade, hiring and training local workers.

Pennsylvania isn't acting alone. Texas ordered a full grid-connection audit for data centers this month, and New York paused permits for projects over 50 MW back in July. For electricians, the pattern points one direction: state governments are turning the data center boom into local hiring mandates instead of leaving staffing entirely up to developers and utilities. If you're finishing your apprenticeship hours or sitting for your journeyman exam in a state chasing data center investment, this is where the job volume is headed next.

Source: EC&M

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