McElhattan Foundation Offering $1 Million Prizes to Eliminate Workplace Electrocutions
According to Safety+Health Magazine, the McElhattan Foundation has extended deadlines for its Zero Electrocution Challenge, a grant competition offering $1 million each to two winners who develop solutions that eliminate life-threatening electrical hazards on the job.
The Challenge and What’s at Stake
The extended deadlines give innovators until Sept. 1 to register and Sept. 24 to submit final entries. Finalists will be announced Jan. 19, with grand prize winners revealed in April. The competition is part of the foundation’s ZERO 2050 initiative, described as a recurring national grant competition focused on “innovative solutions with high potential to save workers’ lives.”
The prize is open to a broad field of applicants, including for-profit companies, nonprofits, benefit corporations, tribal governments, and educational institutions. Winning proposals must demonstrate effectiveness, feasibility, and the ability to scale, while also advancing enterprise productivity and profitability alongside hazard elimination.
The stakes are real. According to the Electrical Safety Foundation International, cited in the article, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded roughly 150 work-related electrical deaths per year between 2011 and 2023. OSHA data shows 74% of those deaths occurred in nonelectrical occupations, meaning the workers dying most often are tradespeople, construction crews, and field operators rather than electricians.
“For too long we’ve focused on making dangerous work a little safer,” McElhattan Foundation Chair and CEO Kent McElhattan said. “ZERO 2050 seeks to create breakthrough innovations that remove the dangers entirely.”
What It Means for Subcontractors
- If your company has developed a tool, process, or technology that reduces electrical exposure on the job, this competition is worth a serious look. For-profit companies are explicitly eligible.
- The foundation offers a Zero Electrocution Challenge Readiness Tool to help applicants confirm eligibility before committing to a full submission, a useful first step before investing time in a proposal.
- The 74% nonelectrical-occupation statistic is a direct signal that construction and field service crews are the target demographic for these solutions. If you operate near overhead lines, energized equipment, or in any environment with electrical exposure, the innovations that come out of this challenge could directly affect how your crews work.
- Even if you don’t enter, watch the finalists announced in January. The shortlisted solutions will represent the leading edge of practical electrocution prevention, and early adoption of winning technologies could reduce your liability and incident rates before OSHA makes any moves.
