Avoid Arc Flash Occurrences by Following Industry Standards

Introduction

The arc flash hazard is receiving considerable attention in the present time for a number
of mutually supportive reasons. When a fault occurs, the harmful results can be
devastating and deadly for those who are not properly prepared. Because of the
potentially long-term effects, not only is the individual impacted, but also the family and
employer. Equipment damage is usually considerable, frequently resulting in extended
down time for the installation. Awareness of this hazard has arisen through industry
forums such as the IEEE Petroleum and Chemical Industry Electrical Safety Workshop
and NFPA training conferences. Industry codes and standards have recently included
measures to counter the effects of arc flash. These codes and standards help facility
operators to take preventive steps.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the nature of the hazard and the industry
codes and standards that address it. It also introduces the requirements that facilities
must comply with.

The arc flash hazard

NFPA 70E Standard for Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee Workplaces
defines arc flash hazard as: “a dangerous condition associated with the release of
energy caused by an electric arc.” It is an explosion involving an electric arc operating
at temperatures of several thousands degrees Celsius and a pressure wave created by
the arc. Within a few milliseconds, the energy from this explosion can cause severe
burns and loss of hearing, eyesight, taste and smell. Molten metal particles, equipment
parts and other loose items are expelled from the arc area. Multiple trauma effects
result that frequently prevent the worker from returning to work and cause hardship for
the family in relationships and financial issues as well as medical treatment issues.
Death is common.

Many electricians take pride in their ability to work on energized equipment without
incident. Perhaps they and their employers are not aware of the risk they are taking.
One unexpected condition can initiate the explosion, which is over before reaction time
permits escape. Appropriate training and preparation can be done to minimize the
effects of an arc flash event. The potential hazardous energy can be calculated.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) intended for use in the environment can be used.
In fact, these steps of performing the calculations, providing the training, preparation
and PPE are now industry requirements.

Industry Standards

The primary industry standards that address the arc flash hazard are these.

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• OSHA, 29 Code of Federal Regulations Part 1910, Subpart S
• NFPA 70E-2000, Standard for Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee
Workplaces
• ANSI/NFPA 70-2002, National Electrical Code (NEC)
• IEEE 1584-2002, Guide for Performing Arc-Flash Hazard Calculations

OSHA is an enforcer of safety practices in the workplace. 29 CFR Part 1910.333 states
in part, “Safety related work practices shall be employed to prevent electric shock or
other injuries resulting from either direct or indirect electrical contacts….” Although a
number of related requirements are included within OSHA standards, OSHA field
personnel also carry NFPA 70E and cite to its requirements to enforce safety related to
arc flash.

NFPA 70E might be thought of as a “how to” standard. It provides guidance on specific
steps that must be taken to comply with the more general OSHA statements.

IEEE 1584 provides definitive calculation steps in support of NFPA 70E. It provides a
method to calculate incident energy from which decisions about the kind of PPE needed
are made. The method takes into account the key role of the overcurrent protective
device.

NEC 110.16 requires an awareness label with the following statement.

“Switchboards, panelboards, industrial control panels, and motor control
centers that are in other than dwelling occupancies and are likely to require
examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized shall be
field marked to warn qualified persons of potential electric arc flash hazards.
The marking shall be located so as to be clearly visible to qualified persons
before examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance of the equipment.”

Notice that the label presently requires nothing more than a label to warn of the hazard.
It is a field marking and is not provided by equipment manufacturers. Future revisions
of the NEC requirement are expected to require the marking to contain information such
as the flash protection boundary, incident energy and PPE required.

Electrically safe work condition

Both OSHA standards and NFPA 70E require that equipment be placed in an
electrically safe work condition before employees work on or near them. Essentially,
this requires that equipment be de-energized and that verification be made that the
equipment is truly de-energized before it is worked on. There are exceptions for cases
in which de-energizing would introduce additional hazards or for cases in which the
work cannot be done with the system de-energized. For example, to shut down a life
support system or a ventilation system for a hazardous location would introduce
additional hazard. Trouble shooting might be an example of work that cannot be done
with the system de-energized.

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The point is that the basic requirement, and it is a requirement, is to de-energize before
working on equipment. The reason is that the hazard is removed by de-energizing.
With careful planning, work can almost always be done with equipment de-energized.

However, placing equipment in an electrically safe work condition involves steps of

turning off the supply, locking it off and measuring to verify that it is de-energized.
These steps are done while the equipment is not yet in a safe condition, which requires
that appropriate protective precautions including use of PPE are applied during the de-
energizing process.

Electrical safety program

NFPA 70E requires establishment an electrical safety program for each facility. The
safety program provides for developing practices, providing training for employees and
performance of a flash hazard analysis. It is the responsibility of the employer to
provide the practices and training. The employee is responsible for implementing the
practices according to the training.

Flash hazard analysis

Prior to working on energized equipment, including working through de-energizing

steps, NFPA 70E requires that a flash hazard analysis be performed. The analysis is
required to output the flash protection boundary distance and the type of PPE required
for work on each piece of equipment. In order to establish either of these outputs, an
incident energy calculation is generally necessary.

The flash protection boundary is an imaginary sphere surrounding the potential arc point
“within which a person could receive a second degree burn if an electrical arc flash were
to occur,” according to NFPA 70E.

Incident energy is defined in NFPA 70E as, “the amount of energy impressed on a
surface, a certain distance from the source, generated during an electrical arc event.”

NFPA 70E does not specifically require or exclude any method of analysis. Tables and
guidelines exist in NFPA 70E that provide enough information to perform the analysis
with no other source. This relatively simple approach may be satisfactory when time and
capability to perform more focused analysis, however more accurate calculations can
be done that take into consideration the true conditions of the facility. IEEE 1584
provides the latest information of performing the calculations using methods that are
based on a significant volume of testing.

Summary

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Arc flash is a serious hazard that is potentially devastating to those exposed to it. The
requirements of NFPA 70E aid facilities and users of electricity in understanding how to
reduce the probability of an event and the devastating effect from one. OSHA is
enforcing these requirements. Compliance with these requirements will support the
goal of reducing injuriesand down time.

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