NFPA could burn employers

A consensus standard issued by The National Fire Protection Association has recently begun to have a major impact on electrical work safety in the United States, according to Randy Siebert, Alaska Textiles Inc. business development manager.

“NFPA 70E: Electrical Safety in the Workplace” requires all employees working on or near energized electrical equipment to be qualified to complete such work, and to wear flame-resistant clothing that covers head-to-toe, Siebert said.

The standard affects oil field employers and employees, as well as employers as diverse as hospitals and hotels, he said.

According to association literature, the standard covers the full range of electrical safety issues from work practices to maintenance, special equipment requirements, and installation. “The Occupational Safety and Health Administration evaluates compliance with its electrical safety mandates using the comprehensive information in this important standard,” the association said.

Employers are required under the standard to conduct a hazard assessment that identifies locations and quantifies the severity of potential arc flash events, Siebert said.

“The flame-resistant clothing system that the employer selects must have an arc rating equal to or in excess of the arc flash energy possible for the equipment being serviced,” he said. “An arc rating for a given fabric is the amount of arc flash energy, measured in calories per square centimeter, that results in a 50 percent likelihood of receiving a second-degree burn through the fabric.”

Hazard risk categories specify minimum arc ratings, which can be tied to specific job tasks within the standard, Siebert said. For instance, category two covers arcs up to eight calories — studies have shown that 80 percent to 90 percent of a typical industrial electrician’s work is at or below eight calories — and requires FR clothing whose arc rating is at least eight calories.

Arc flash is an electric current that passes through air when insulation or isolation between electrified conductors is no longer sufficient to withstand the applied voltage, the association said. Arc flash incidents aren’t a rare occurrence.

National “studies have shown that 10 to 15 employees are hospitalized every day with arc-flash burns, which are often catastrophic to the victim, physically, psychologically, or financially,” the association said. “Noncompliance with electrical safety rules can have a dramatic legal, economic, and sociological impact on everyone.”

An employer is responsible not only for its employees, but for the employees of contractors as well, Siebert said. “The person who issued the contract is liable.”

OSHA regulations state, “The employer shall ensure that each employee who is exposed to the hazards of flames or electric arcs does not wear clothing that, when exposed to flames or electric arcs, could increase the extent of injury that would be sustained by the employee.”

—Steve Sutherlin