BREAKING NEWS- OSHA Issues NEW Arc Flash Safety Guidance
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
SOURCE: FacilityExecutive.com
Today, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released updated personal protective equipment (PPE) guidance to provide Americans working on energized electrical equipment proper protection from electrical arc hazards.
The announcement provides guidance for employers and employees to ensure that arc-flash protective clothing and equipment is provided for and worn by anyone working on or near energized equipment. Until this updated OSHA guidance action, over 600,000 workers did not have proper PPE or equipment to prevent injury from deadly arc-flash hazards, despite industry standards such as National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70E: Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace.
This action is OSHA’s first arc-flash guidance update in almost 20 years. It consists of four parts, including a detailed document for employers and three one-page documents for workers. The new guidance was primarily issued to address the two leading causes of arc flash injuries and fatalities in the U.S. today:
Claiming work is deenergized which does not qualify (most work fails the standard) and thus having no AR clothing or other PPE; and
Choosing to work energized when voltage is low (120/208, 277) despite the lack of justification and lack of PPE because of the common and dangerous myth that low voltage isn’t hazardous.
The guidance makes it clear that low voltage, including 120/208, can sustain arc flash, produce molten metal, ignite flammable clothing, and cause severe or fatal injury. All energized work over 50V requires an energized work permit and almost all work requires PPE including arc rated clothing. OSHA also notes the significant majority of tasks which claim to be deenergized do not qualify as such. They do not meet either LOTO (OSHA) or ESWC (NFPA 70E), and thus require PPE, including arc rated clothing: “It is crucial to understand that deenergizing without locking/tagging out does not eliminate the electrical shock and arc flash hazards.”
OSHA further notes that the steps to deenergize are energized work, as are all the steps to reenergize, and as such require PPE including arc rated clothing.
Right Time To Prepare For Electrification
As the U.S. continues to invest in large-scale electrification projects such as electric vehicle (EV) and direct current (DC) chargers, employers will continue to hire workers with limited training and experience against arc flash hazards. The timing of OSHA’s important action better prepares these employers and their new employees to improve workplace safety and prevent avoidable injuries.
The Partnership for Electrical Safety (PES) supports this guidance improvement and commends OSHA leadership for addressing this critical industrial safety concern. Formed in 2020 to advocate for proper PPE and arc-rated and flame resistant (AR/FR) clothing for all Americans conducting work on or near energized electrical equipment, PES represents the leading companies in the PPE and AR/FR clothing industries. PES member companies provide life-saving AR/FR gear for American workers that insulate and protect wearers from the electrical hazards they face.
“This new guidance is a game-changer and could not have come at more appropriate time,” said PES Chairman Scott Margolin. “In addition to the hundreds of thousands of electricians currently being asked to work without life-saving PPE, we’re at an inflection point. Our country is investing in renewing the grid, EVs and DC chargers as the electrification of American continues. OSHA recently made NFPA 70B — maintenance of electrical gear — a standard as well. This is fantastic progress, but will expose far more American workers — many of whom will have less training, experience, and PPE — to potential arc hazards, injuries, and fatalities. OSHA’s guidance update was imperative to clarify requirements and improve safety now. PES applauds OSHA’s urgent commitment to take action.”
SOURCE: FacilityExecutive.com
SOURCE: OSHA.GOV
Electric-Arc Flash Hazards
Did you know...
Arc flashes CAN be caused at low voltage?
“Deenergized” is not the same as locked out?
Wearing flammable undergarments may be dangerous?
An electric arc is a type of electrical explosion. The electric arc produces a bright flash of hot gas, where temperatures can exceed 35,000 °F (19,400 °C), nearly four times the heat of the sun’s surface. The energy released in the arc rapidly heats and vaporizes the metal conducting the electricity, producing an explosive arc blast resulting in deafening noises, supersonic concussive forces, and super-heated shrapnel.
Most arc flash burn injuries are a result of the arc igniting flammable clothing and not from the arc itself.
Flammable Clothing vs Appropriate Arc Rated PPE (AR PPE)
Special thanks to KEMA Laboratories and the Partnership for Electrical Safety for this testing footage
OSHA has produced the following guides to assist employers and employees in understanding and protecting against arc flash hazards:
For Employers
Protecting Employees from Electric-Arc Flash Hazards
For Employees
Additional Resources
NFPA 70E. NFPA 70E requirements for safe work practices to protect personnel by reducing exposure to major electrical hazards. Originally developed at OSHA's request, NFPA 70E helps companies and employees avoid workplace injuries and fatalities due to shock, electrocution, arc flash, and arc blast, and assists in complying with OSHA 1910 Subpart S and OSHA 1926 Subpart K. (viewable for free with NFPA account registration)
Partnership for Electrical Safety. The Partnership for Electrical Safety (PES) believes that every American working on or near energized electrical equipment deserves equal protection from arc flash, including the appropriate arc rated clothing and associated personal protective equipment (PPE). PES seeks to educate those at risk and to make plain to relevant oversight entities the need for use of PPE when doing industrial electrical work, and the extreme human and financial costs of non-compliance.
SOURCE: OSHA.GOV
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