Arc Flash & Electrical Safety News

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Compliance Takes More Than A Label

An article by Chet Davis, originally published in the November 2005 issue of Plant Engineering Magazine, was republished by Facility Safety Management magazine this month (January 2008). It is called, Compliance Takes More Than A Label. Over two years have passed and the message is still relevant. A key point made by the article is:

"The current arc-flash phenomenon appears to be operating on fear rather than principle. The fear is massive lawsuits and OSHA fines if an accident does occur rather than a sound reasoning as to why a safety culture makes good business sense in daily operations. While it may have taken some fear in the initial movement to motivate companies toward implementing safety standards, if the safety aspect of arcflash is limited to labeling and PPE requirements, the inclination will soon wear off."

From what I've observed, the "inclination" in many cases has not yet worn off. Putting the safety of people first should always be the goal. Safety does not end with applying a warning label. Proper labeling is a critical, and important first step, but establishing an ingrained safety culture is key.

For example, many of the arc flash labels I've seen just list the arc flash boundaries... and they run it all together in a paragraph of text in the center of the label. The information is inadequate and the presentation is unreadable. For a label to be effective it must have complete information, presented in an easy-to-read format. In addition to boundary information an arc flash label should clearly show the required PPE.

The Graphic Product's Arc Flash Labeling Best Practices points out another piece of important information that should be on the label:

"Although labeling is important, the best way to prevent electrical injuries is to de-energize the equipment and use LOTO. Identifying the available upstream lockable point on the label helps enforce LOTO. By Identifying the first disconnect feeding the equipment, LOTO is reinforced and workers are reminded to use LOTO procedures."

Labels: Arc Flash Labeling

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

New Arc Flash Labeling Best Pactices Guide Available Free

A new best practices labeling guide from Graphic Products provides a concise summary of arc flash labeling requirements. Starting with a facility inspection, the guide provides a comprehensive description of what is needed to ensure there is proper arc flash labeling throughout a facility.

The following is the Table of Contents for this best practices guide:

Required Tools
Definitions
....What is Arc Flash?
....Definitions of Terms
Evaluation - Facility Inspection
Label Creation
....What Information Should Be Included On An Arc Flash Label?
....Needed Equipment and Supplies
....Label Creation Steps
....Label Creation Using Die-Cut Labels
....Label Creation Using Continuous Vinyl
Label Placement
....Locations Where Labels Should Be Placed
....Removing Old Labels
Label Maintenance
One Page Arc Flash Hazard Labeling Guide

The Arc Flash Best Practices Guide may be downloaded free.

Labels: Arc Flash Labeling

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Friday, January 04, 2008

Square D Electrical Safety Video

I've featured many videos on this blog. A problem has been that, no matter how good the video, since they came from YouTube many people could not use them. Square D has produced an excellent electrical safety video that is available for downloading. This means you can put this video on any computer and show it anywhere you need to do electrical safety training.

All that is required is a short registration process.

Use this link to go to the registration/download page.

This video covers electrical safety in general, with a heavy emphasis on arc flash safety. A dramatic video of an arc flash explosion demonstrates the effectiveness of PPE and how serious arc flash injuries can be.

Labels: Arc Flash Accidents, Arc Flash PPE, Arc Flash Training