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• Expert model integrating theories of influences on electricians' safety decisions. • In-depth interviews with 60 Ontario electricians to understand safety decisions. • Working energized is not just caused by decision errors or poor safety attitude. • Beliefs, project and job-site factors, and others-on-site affect safety decisions. • Decision tree shows multiple paths to knowingly and unknowingly working energized. Why people engage in unsafe work practices, especially when advised not to, is an important question about human and organizational behavior. We seek insights into such behavior by examining questions about electricians' safety decisions, with focus on why electricians work "energized" (or "live" meaning with electrical energy on) even when safety standards call for de-energizing. Using a grounded theory approach augmented by a mental models methodology, we develop from literature and 19 experts an 'expert model' of influences on electric worker safety decisions. From 60 in-depth electrician interviews we develop an integrated theory, summarized in a decision tree, describing key influences, decisions and events leading to energized work. Findings show electricians' work is cognitively demanding. Working energized is not a simple yes/no choice, but instead is a decision influenced by many task, worksite, individual, organizational, and external factors. Working energized may better be thought of as an outcome arrived at via several pathways, including paths that lead to unknowingly working energized. Each path to knowingly or unknowingly working energized suggests different interventions to reduce risk. Additional key findings include that some electricians omit hazard assessments, perceive that past work by people not trained in electric work increases risk to electricians, and sometimes must negotiate to achieve prioritizing safe work practices over time or production pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]