H. Landis Floyd

Biography

H. Landis Floyd, II, has been a driving force in electrical safety for over twenty years, and his work has been key to a sizeable reduction in deaths related to electrical accidents.

Mr. Floyd has been working in electrical systems since joining the DuPont Company in 1973. In response to a growing number of injuries and fatalities in industrial electrical accidents during the 1980s, Mr. Floyd set out to improve electrical safety standards while expanding knowledge of electrical injuries to improve treatment of industrial electric-accident victims. He has been working toward a vision of a workplace free from electrical injuries.

Mr. Floyd instigated a novel collaboration of industry, government, and academia to prevent and treat electrical injuries. This collaboration has evolved into the annual IEEE Industry Applications Society Electrical Safety Workshop. He convened the first industry forum to address arc flash as a unique hazard in 1987. With the group, Mr. Floyd helped to classify electric arc flash, which accounts for up to 80 percent of electrical injuries, as a condition distinct from electric shock. This work led to revisions of US and IEEE policies and advances in the design of industrial power systems and protective equipment.

Mr. Floyd’s efforts resulted in the publishing of IEEE standard 902-1998 and the establishment of IEEE Standards Working Group P1657, both aimed at improved industrial electrical safety. Mr. Floyd’s colleagues credit him as a major force in the 50 percent reduction in electrical incident fatalities since 1986.

H. Landis Floyd, II, was born 11 January 1950, in Waynesboro, Virginia. He earned his B.S. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1973. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Delaware.

Mr. Floyd is an IEEE Fellow, a member of the IEEE Industry Applications Society Executive Board, and a past member of the IEEE Standards Board. He has held numerous leadership positions related to electrical safety in the IEEE. Mr. Floyd is currently a senior consultant to DuPont, Vice Chairman of the board of directors at the Electrical Safety Foundation International, and a member of Panel 1 of the National Electric Code. He has co-authored more than 20 papers on electrical safety, and has earned seven prize paper awards. He has been awarded the 1999 IAS Petroleum and Chemical Industry Committee Electrical Safety Excellence Award, along with numerous other awards and honors.