Arc Flash & Electrical Safety News

Friday, September 26, 2008

Eaton Announces Their Participation In Arc Flash Research

Plant Engineeering Live announced that Eaton is a platinum sponsor of the multi-year Arc Flash Collaborative Research Project. The article states:

"Eaton is a platinum sponsor of the multi-year Arc Flash Collaborative Research Project that will go a long way toward understanding arc flash events worldwide. The $6 million to $7 million initiative will involve more than 2,000 test protocols that measure the thermal, pressure, sound, shrapnel, toxicity and radiative phenomena generated in arc flashes, and will explore how enclosures affect the energy released."

The article starts with an overview of arc flash and a summary of what the research project will be looking at. It concludes with this summary of some of the anticipated benefits of the study:

"The Arc Flash Collaborative Research Project will give companies the same degree of information about protecting workers exposed to electrical safety hazards that the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Health and Safety Administration regulations provide for the handling of hazardous chemicals and maintaining safe working conditions, respectively. If OSHA or Congress chooses to implement workplace electrical safety regulations or legislation, project content can serve as the basis for public policy, or may be used verbatim. The same holds true if state agencies or legislatures choose to strengthen on-the-job safety requirements."

You can read the entire article at: http://www.plantengineering.com/article/CA6594344.html

Labels: Arc Flash, Electrical Hazards, Understanding Arc Flash

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Monday, September 15, 2008

Understanding Ground Fault Protection

There is a good article by Ken Cybart of Littelfuse in today's Plant Engineering Live. It provides an overview describing ground fault monitors. The article begins by discussing the causes of ground faults:

"Simply put, a ground fault occurs when electrical current finds a bridge to ground via worn insulations, conductive dusts, water or other “soft grounds,” instead of the normal path back to its source. More than 80% of short circuits in equipment are ground faults, and 90% of these events are due to insulation deterioration on wires and cables."

The article then discusses Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs) and Ground Fault Relays (GFRs). You can read the complete article at: http://www.plantengineering.com/

Labels: Electrical Safety, Preventing Arc Flash Accidents

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Friday, September 12, 2008

ESDA Announced Paladin Real-Time Arc Flash Advisor

The following is based on a press release from ESDA Corporation.

EDSA Corp. has unveiled the Paladin® Real-Time Arc Flash Advisor™, the industry's first software program that enables organizations to make up-to-date assessments of changing arc flash hazards. By maintaining an uninterrupted, 360 degree view of the facility and its potential arc flash hazards, Paladin Real-Time Arc Flash Analytics can provide detailed, updated advisories for site personnel regarding the appropriate safety procedures and protective gear recommended to work in a given vicinity.

Though electrical accidents represent a statistically small percentage of all work-related incidents, they are disproportionately fatal: according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), electrical injuries in the workplace – in particular, phenomena called "arc flash" accidents – result in the death of a facilities worker every 28 hours… even in facilities that have passed formal inspections within recent months.

"Even the best-designed, regularly-inspected facility has arc flash threats that emerge after the inspectors leave, because of changes made within the facility, equipment getting swapped out, and maintenance procedures requiring workers to access off-limits areas for repairs," said Mark A. Ascolese, chairman and CEO of EDSA. "The Paladin Real-Time Arc Flash Advisor is the first software product that can perform intelligent calculations about potential arc flash threats in real-time… an effective way to help enhance worker safety in-between required OSHA inspections."

Understanding the Arc Flash Threat
As defined by IEEE and the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA), arc flash is a strong electric current – and sometimes a full-blown explosion – that passes through air when insulation between electrified conductors is no longer sufficient to contain the voltage within them. This creates a "short cut" that allows electricity to race from conductor-to-conductor… to the extreme detriment of any worker standing nearby. Arc flash resembles a lightning bolt-like charge, emitting heat four times the surface temperature of the sun; anyone exposed to the blast or heat without sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) would be severely -- and oftentimes fatally -- injured.

During a seven-year study conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2,576 U.S. workers died and another 32,807 sustained lost-time injuries -- losing an average of 13 days away from work -- due to electrical shock or burn injuries. These statistics were validated in a second study involving more than 120,000 employees that determined arc flash injuries accounted for 77% of all recorded electrical injuries.

New Real-Time Protection
Used in conjunction with the Company’s Paladin® Live™ platform, the Paladin Real-Time Arc Flash Advisor maintains an uninterrupted watch over site operations -- continually checking all components, equipment, and systems -- to make intelligent recommendations about where potential arc flash hazards have the potential to emerge, and gauge their severity.

Prior to entering the area and beginning work, site personnel simply query the Paladin Real-Time Arc Flash Advisor: the system responds with an up-to-date recommendation on the appropriate safety procedures and PPE necessary to work in the vicinity. Recommendations are based upon IEEE 1584 and the NFPA 70E standards entitled, "IEEE Guide for Performing Arc-Flash Hazard Calculations" and "Standard for Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee Workplaces" respectively.

For example, when performing repairs to equipment in which a worker could accidentally be exposed to an electrical hazard, Paladin Real-Time Arc Flash Advisor will provide specific guidance on gloves, clothing, goggles, helmet, etc., that the worker should wear to increase his or her safety in the event of an accident. Forewarned about the nature of the threat, workers will be able to proceed with a higher degree of knowledge about specific safety risks they may encounter.

About EDSA Micro Corporation- EDSA develops software solutions for the computer-aided design, modeling, real-time analysis, energy management, and preventative maintenance of complex electrical power systems. For more than 25 years, the Company’s Paladin® software products have been used in thousands of commercial, industrial, governmental, and military applications worldwide, to protect more than $100 billion in customer assets, while reducing their energy consumption. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., the Company maintains sales, distribution, and support offices around the world. For more information about EDSA and its products, visit www.edsa.com.

Labels: Arc Flash, Arc Flash PPE, Arc Flash Products, Preventing Arc Flash Accidents

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Thursday, September 04, 2008

IEEE / NFPA joint research update

The IEEE / NFPA Arc Flash Collaborative Research Project is ready to begin testing that, ultimately, should lead to more accurate and effective arc flash standards. An article on the IEEE site provides background on the project.

The goal of the IEEE / NFPA joint research is to create rigorously-tested models of arc flash phenomena that can serve as a reference in creating improved formulas and safety codes. In addition to exploring the effects of varying voltages, arc gaps, enclosures, and so forth on incident energy, researchers will be investigating secondary hazards of arc flash such as toxic gases, sound waves, and ultraviolet radiation.

A network of laboratories around the world, carefully vetted by IEEE / NFPA project members over the last year, will be participating in the study. Total costs of the research are expected to be $6.5 million, of which more than half has already been raised. Ben Johnson, project co-chair, stated: "I expect that we’ll gain information that can lead to improved equipment...if we can save just one life, all this is worth doing.”

Labels: Arc Flash Calculations, NFPA 70E, Understanding Arc Flash

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