Arc Flash & Electrical Safety

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Arc Flash Safety: History and Requirements

Scott Harris published a post on the Industrial Risk Management blog yesterday that discusses the history of arc flash and requirements for protecting people from arc flash hazards. The article opens with:

"Arc flash was first identified by Dr. Ralph Lee in his 1982 'The Other Electrical Hazard: Electric Arc Blast Burns.' Dr. Lee found that as many as 80% of electrical injuries resulted from arc flash rather than from shock, which had always been thought to be the major risk associated with live electrical work."

After discussing the history of arc flash and code requirements, Mr. Harris points out that labeling of arc flash hazards is required, and in particular a 2006 OSHA interpretation letter. The question posed to OSHA was:

"When work must be performed on energized electric equipment that is capable of exposing employees to arc-flash hazards, does OSHA require the marking of the electric equipment to warn qualified persons of potential electric arc-flash hazards — i.e., as required by NFPA 70E-2004?"

OSHA's answer was:

"OSHA has no specific requirement for such marking. A requirement to mark equipment with flash hazard warnings was not included in the 1981 Subpart S revision. However, paragraph (e) of §1910.303 requires employers to mark electrical equipment with descriptive markings, including the equipment's voltage, current, wattage, or other ratings as necessary. OSHA believes that this information, along with the training requirements for qualified persons, will provide employees the necessary information to protect themselves from arc-flash hazards. "

"Additionally, in §1910.335(b), OSHA requires employers to use alerting techniques (safety signs and tags, barricades, and attendants) . . . to warn and protect employees from hazards which could cause injury due to electric shock, burns or failure of electric equipment parts. Although these Subpart S electrical provisions do not specifically require that electric equipment be marked to warn qualified persons of arc-flash hazards, §1910.335(b)(1) requires the use of safety signs, safety symbols, or accident prevention tags to warn employees about electrical hazards (e.g., electric-arc-flash hazards) which may endanger them as required by §1910.145. "

Read the entire blog post here.

Related past posts:
Arc Flash Labeling Best Practices Guide
Arc Flash Labeling Starter Kit

Labels: Arc Flash Labeling, OSHA, OSHA Standards

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Thursday, October 16, 2008

Understanding OSHA Arc Flash Regulations

Here is a video from the Industrial Training University that provides a basic overview of what is required to address arc flash hazards. It covers labeling, arc flash analysis and PPE. It is just under eight minutes in length.

Labels: Arc Flash Training, OSHA Standards, Work Place Safety

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Monday, July 30, 2007

John R. Collier A Comedian With A Very Serious Purpose

John Collier passed away on July 20 at Bethesda North Hospital. John was a senior compliance officer for OSHA, but he was better known as "Mr. Wizard.".

The obituary in the Cincinnati Enquirer stated:

"His magic was getting people to laugh while teaching them how not to get electrocuted. His show 'Wired for Safety' was an attendance draw at events around the country.

'John was a standup comedian, really,' said Dick Gilgrist, area director for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Mr. Collier's vast knowledge of electrical hazards combined with his extraordinary sense of humor and a quick wit to provide a show that was as fun as it was instructive. 'It was John that was truly wired for the presentation,' Gilgrist said."

John was with OSHA for 28 years. During that time he investigated more than 100 accidents and fatalities and was involved in conducting more than 1,600 inspections.

Labels: Electrical Safety, OSHA Standards

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Thursday, July 26, 2007

New Electrical Standards

This is a reminder that OSHA's has revised and updated 29 CFR 1910 subpart S - Electrical Standards. The new standards go into effect in just over two weeks, on August 13, 2007.

In revising 29 CFR Part 1910 OSHA relied heavily on the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA's) 70 E standard for Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee Workplaces.

This revision provides the first update of the General Industry - Electrical Standard since it was originally published in 1981.

Labels: OSHA Standards

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