SPARROW RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES

ARC FLASH – Definition

2 -Days

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Learning Objective

After completion of this training session, you shall be able to understand

• Definition

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Boundaries

Limited Approach Boundary

• No unqualified person shall be permitted to approach nearer than the limited

approach boundary of energized conductors and circuit parts.

Restricted Approach Boundary

• No qualified person shall approach or take any conductive object closer to

exposed energized electrical conductors or circuit parts operating at 50 volts or
more than the restricted approach boundary.

Arc Flash Boundary

• Linear distance to prevent any more than 2nd burns from a potential arc flash.

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Representation

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Electrical Safety

Working Distance
IEEE 1584—IEEE Guide for Performing Arc Flash Hazard Calculations 2002
defines the working distance as “the dimension between the possible arc point
and the head and body of the worker positioned in place to perform the assigned
task.”

When incident energy is calculated as part of an analysis, it corresponds to a

specific distance from the prospective arc flash source, making the working
distance a very important piece of information. If a person is located closer than
the working distance, the incident energy increases dramatically.
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Learnings – Summarized for Implementation

• In a major change to the 2015 NFPA 70E, the number of approach

boundaries to protect against electric shock has been reduced from
three to two.

• The two approach boundaries for shock protection are the

Limited Approach Boundary and the Restricted Approach
Boundary.

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Unqualified Person

• The Limited Approach Boundary is the shock protection boundary

farthest away from the energized parts and is established to keep
unqualified persons a safe distance from exposed live parts.

• Unqualified workers may not cross the Limited Approach Boundary

unless briefed on the hazards and continuously escorted by a
qualified person

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When to wear the PPE is a MUST?

• The Restricted Approach Boundary is the shock protection boundary closest to

the energized parts and may only be crossed by qualified electrical workers
following safe electrical work-practices which include wearing appropriate
shock protection PPE and using insulated tools.

• There is also an approach boundary established to protect workers from

exposure to an arc flash, the Arc Flash Boundary.

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Marking – NFPA 70 E 2015

• When an arc flash hazard exists, the arc flash boundary is typically the
outermost of all approach boundaries and must be marked with barricading and
hazard signage.
• One method used to meet this requirement is using red "DANGER HIGH
VOLTAGE” barricade tape which serves the dual purpose of being both a
barricade and a danger sign.

• Workers may not cross the Arc Flash Boundary unless they are briefed on the
hazards and are wearing arc-rated clothing and protective equipment
appropriate for the job task they intend to perform.

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Qualified Person

• One important principle of electrical safety is that an electrical worker must be

“qualified” for the work to be performed.

• The 2015 NFPA 70E defines a qualified person as follows: "A qualified person is
one who has demonstrated skills and knowledge related to the construction and
operation of the electrical equipment and installations and has received safety
training to identify and avoid the hazards involved.”

• The words “has demonstrated” and “identify” are new 2015 additions to the
definition of qualified person.

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Qualified Person

• This change requires an electrical worker to demonstrate their skills and knowledge to a
qualified observer, including the ability to identify electrical hazards. Recordkeeping and
documentation of this skill demonstration should be maintained by the employer or
organization
• Some skills that a qualified electrical worker should be able to demonstrate include:
• Distinguish exposed energized conductors and circuit parts from other parts of the equipment;
• Determine the nominal voltage of exposed energized conductors and circuit parts;
• Determine the approach boundary distances;
• And demonstrate the decision making process necessary to perform job safety planning, hazard
identification, risk assessment and the selection of appropriate risk control methods including
personal protective equipment.

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Approach Boundary Distances For Shock Protec.

• One of the required skills of a qualified electrical worker is determining the

approach boundary distances for the equipment on which they intend to work.
• The approach boundary distances for shock protection are dependent on the
nominal system voltage in AC systems and on the potential difference in DC systems.
• Once this information is known the approach boundaries may be looked up in table
130.4(D)(a) for alternating current or AC systems and in table 130.4(D)(b) for direct
current or DC systems. These table designations are new for the 2015 70E
document.
• Referencing the table for a 480-volt AC system yields a Limited Approach Boundary
of 1 meter or 3 feet 6 inches and a Restricted Approach Boundary of 30 centimeters
or 12 inches.

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Clothing

• Arc-rated clothing and protective equipment is designed to withstand both the

intense heat and force of an arc blast without breaking open or bursting into

flames.

• Clothing that is not arc-rated, such as 100 percent cotton or wool, can burst into

flames and continue to burn even after the arc is extinguished.

• When unprotected workers cross the arc flash protection boundary without arc-

rated clothing and protective equipment, they place themselves at risk of

serious burn injury.

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Clothing

• These burns are often made much worse by the ignition of flammable clothing.

Because burn patient survival is largely dependent on the percentage of body

burned, preventing your clothing from igniting during an arc flash is often the

difference between life and death.

• This is why it is so important for workers to select appropriate arc flash protection.

• Remember that the incident energy level of an arc flash is measured in calories per

square centimeter. The effectiveness of arc-rated clothing and protective equipment

is also measured in calories per square centimeter.

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Clothing

• To provide an appropriate level of protection, arc-rated clothing and protective

equipment must be selected to meet or exceed the predicted incident energy level of
a potential arc flash at the working distance of the task to be performed.

• The working distance is the distance of a worker’s face and chest area from a
potential arc source while performing a specific task.

• One method to determine the appropriate arc flash protection is to perform an

incident energy analysis and calculate the incident energy at the working distance.
Then select arc flash protection rated to meet or exceed this amount of thermal
energy.

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Clothing

• To make it easier for electrical workers to determine appropriate arc flash protection, the
NFPA has calculated the incident energy level at the working distance of common job tasks
performed on common electrical systems. They have also determined the appropriate arc flash
protection for those job tasks and have listed it in Table 130.7(C)(15)(A)(b) for AC systems
and Table 130.7(C)(15)(B) for DC systems.

• Again, it’s critical for you to understand that the NFPA developed these tables based on the
specific short-circuit current, fault clearing time and working distance listed in the table. If
your planned task does not match these specifications, you may not use this table to determine
the appropriate arc flash protection.

• These tables list the required arc flash protection as being in one of four PPE Categories. We
will next explain the requirements of each PPE Category Level.

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PPE Categories

• In a major change for the 2015 NFPA 70E, the 5 Hazard Risk Categories have been
removed and replaced with four

• PPE Category Levels of arc flash protection. Each PPE Category requires a specific
level of protection, measured in calories per square centimeter.

• There are many job tasks that do not present an arc flash hazard and do not require
arc flash PPE. Table 130.7(C)(15)(A)(a) can be consulted to determine if arc flash
PPE is required. When no arc hazards exist, electrical workers may wear long
sleeves and long pants made from non-melting natural fiber clothing such as 100
percent cotton or wool.

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PPE Categories

• PPE Category One requires a worker to wear arc-rated clothing of at least four
calories per square centimeter, a voltage rated hard hat and an arc-rated face shield
or arc-rated flash suit hood.

• PPE Category Two requires a worker to wear arc-rated clothing of at least eight
calories per square centimeter, a voltage rated hardhat and an arc-rated face shield
combined with an arc-rated balaclava. If desired, an arc-rated flash suit hood may be
used instead of the face shield and balaclava.

• PPE Level Three requires a worker to wear arc-rated clothing of at least 25 calories
per square centimeter and an arc-rated flash suit hood.

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PPE Categories

• PPE Level Four requires a worker to wear arc-rated clothing of at least 40 calories
per square centimeter and an arc-rated flash suit hood.

• In addition to the required arc-rated clothing and voltage-rated hardhat, electrical

workers must also wear safety glasses, earplugs, proper footwear and arc-rated gloves
or voltage-rated gloves with leather protectors.

• Also, keep in mind that electrical workers should not wear any conductive material
such as rings, watches, metal frame eye wear or other metal jewelry. These items are
not only shock hazards but can cause serious burn injury when super-heated by an
arc flash.

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Equipment Labels

• As you have seen, determining the appropriate arc flash protection and establishing the

Arc Flash Boundary can be complicated. To make it easier for electrical workers to

determine this important information, the 2015 NFPA 70E requires that the owner of

electrical equipment install field-labels on equipment.

• These labels must display the nominal system voltage, the Arc Flash Boundary and at

least one of the following items: the Arc Flash PPE Category and/ or the Minimum Arc

Rating of clothing and PPE.

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Equipment Labels

• If an incident energy calculation was used to determine the appropriate PPE, then the

incident energy level and corresponding working distance may be substituted on the

label for the Arc Flash PPE Category.

• Having this critical information readily available on the equipment label makes selection

of proper arc-rated PPE much easier for electrical workers.

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Electrical Safe Working Condition

• The best way for electrical workers to protect themselves from the shock hazard and arc

flash hazard presented by electricity is to create an electrically safe working condition.

Creating an electrically safe working condition must always be the first choice for

electrical workers.

• The NFPA’s definition of an electrically safe working condition is “a state in which an

electrical conductor or circuit part has been disconnected from energized parts, locked

and tagged in accordance to established standards, tested to ensure the absence of

voltage and grounded if determined necessary.”

• To create an electrically safe working condition, first determine all possible sources of

electrical supply to the equipment.

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Electrical Safe Working Condition

• • Next, disconnect any active loads, then open the disconnecting device for each source of

electrical supply.

• • Visually verify, if possible, that all blades of disconnecting devices are fully open or that

draw-out type circuit breakers are withdrawn to the fully disconnected position.

• • Then, apply company approved locks and tags to the open disconnecting devices in

accordance with your facility’s lockout/tag-out procedures.

• • Finally, the most important part: testing to verify there is an absence of voltage and

grounding when necessary.

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Absence of Voltage

• Testing for an absence of voltage must be done using an adequately rated test

instrument.

• The test instrument must be verified to be working properly by measuring a known

voltage source immediately prior to voltage testing and again immediately afterwards.

• When testing to confirm an absence of voltage, test each phase conductor or circuit part

both phase to ground and to phase, for all phases.

• Remember that until you have verified the existence of an electrically safe working

condition, the equipment must be considered energized.

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Absence of Voltage

• This means that all electrical safe work practices must be followed including establishing

approach boundaries, using appropriate insulated tools as well as donning voltage rated

shock protection and appropriate arc flash protection.

• Once the existence of an electrically safe working condition is verified, then no electrical

hazards exist.

• This means that shock and arc flash protection are no longer necessary and may be

removed.

• This also means that other workers who are not qualified electrical workers may enter

the area as needed.

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Energized Work

• Remember, creating an electrically safe working condition is always the preferred

method to ensure your safety. In fact, the 2015 NFPA 70E requires that an electrically

safe working condition be created before performing any work unless one the following

conditions exist.

• Energized work is permitted when it can be demonstrated that de-energizing introduces

additional or increased hazards. Some examples include life support equipment,

emergency alarm systems or hazardous location ventilation equipment.

• Energized work is permitted on electrical conductors and circuit parts which operate at

less than 50 volts and it is determined that there is no increased exposure to electric

burns or arcs.
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Energized Work

• Energized work is permitted when it can be demonstrated that the task to be performed

is infeasible in a de-energized state due to equipment design or operational limitations.

Just remember that infeasible is not the same thing as inconvenient.

• Finally, an addition to the 2015 NFPA 70E specifically allows for the normal operation of

energized electrical equipment as long as the equipment meets all of the following

conditions: the equipment must be properly installed and maintained; the equipment

doors and covers are closed, in place and secured, and there is no evidence of impending

failure.

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Energized Work

• An informational note in the 2015 NFPA 70E further explains that equipment is

considered properly installed and maintained when it has been installed and maintained

in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations as well as all applicable

industry codes and standards.

• Evidence of impending failure includes evidence of arcing, overheating, lose or bound

equipment parts or deterioration.

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Energized Electrical Work Permit

• The 2015 NFPA 70E has revised the requirements for when an energized electric work

permit is required as compared to the 2012 Edition.

• • In the few instances when energized work is permitted, the 2015 edition requires a

permit anytime the follow conditions exist.

• • An energized electrical work permit is required anytime work is performed within the

Restricted Approach Boundary.

• • An energized electrical work permit is also required anytime a worker interacts with

equipment when an increased likelihood of injury from an exposure to an arc flash

hazard exists.

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Energized Electrical Work Permit

• • It’s important to note that conductors or circuit parts do not have to be exposed for an

increased likelihood of an arc flash to occur.

• • Some tasks create an increased likelihood of an arc flash and may therefore now

require an energized electric work permit.

• • The energized work permit will include but is not limited to the following information:

• A description of the circuit and equipment to be worked on as well as their location;

• Justification for why the work must be performed in an energized condition;

• A description of the safe work practices to be employed;

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Energized Electrical Work Permit

• The results of the shock risk assessment which includes the voltage to which personnel

will be exposed;

• The Limited Approach Boundary and the Restricted Approach Boundary as well as the

necessary personal protective equipment and shock protective equipment to safely

perform the assigned task.

• Also required on the permit are: The results of the Arc Flash Risk Assessment; The Arc

Flash Boundary distance;

• The available incident energy level at the working distance or the arc flash PPE category;

The necessary personal protective equipment to protect against the arc flash hazard.

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Energized Electrical Work Permit

• The permit should also document the means used to restrict the access of unqualified

persons from the work area and provide evidence of the completion of a job briefing.

• Finally, it should include the signature of authorized members of management

approving the work to be performed while energized. This approval process must

include an electrically knowledgeable person.

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Thank You

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