Electrical and Arc Flash Safety » International Arc Flash Standards

PPE Prevents Serious Injury to Electrician in NZ

Hugh Hoagland — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:18:51 +0000

A 24-year-old electrician received facial burns following an explosion from a sawmill transformer. Wearing the correct protective clothing and equipment prevented more serious injuries, though the gear and safety glasses were black and burned. NZ does not have an absolute requirement to wear arc rated faceshields but it is under consideration.

Sounds like this company was providing arc rated clothing. Clothing ignitions are the most likely thing to kill or seriously injure a worker in an arc event.

Click here to read this article from 2/21/12.

Russian Electrical Network Spends 30 Million Rubles ($101 Million) on Safety

Hugh Hoagland — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:52:29 +0000

More than 30 million rubles (approx $101 million USD) was spent on performance of safety mesasures during a 2011 contest for the best state of safety of structural units. A large part of the funds provided employees with PPE and special clothing, including ones resistant to electric arcing. Russia has adopted clothing meeting IEC 61482-1-2 (similar to ASTM F1506) with a few additional requirements such as single garment test to assure design does not hinder the fabric performance. Interesting the country which developed arc ratings of clothing has no legal requirements yet but Russia is ahead of legislation. We have had the priviledge to test most of the PPE in the Russian market and many of the fabrics are the same as used in the US. Go Russia!

Click here to read the article from 2/21/12.

Testing Standards for Arc Rated Garments

Hugh Hoagland — Thu, 26 May 2011 20:11:54 +0000

Part three on the series of arc flash standards and safety. This article covers international arc test methods used in South Africa and is written by Zarheer Jooma of e-Hazard.

Click here to read full article

Identifying the incidence of electricity-related accidents in Great Britain

Hugh Hoagland — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:09:17 +0000

HSE is a national independent watchdog for work-related health, safety and illness in Great Britain. HSE has put together a research report on identifying the incidence of electricity- related accidents in Great Britain. Be sure to click the link below and then download the full report that is available . If nothing else, read the conclusions section. Interesting stuff.

Click here to read more and download full report on electrical safety studies in incidents in Great Britian

Testing Standards for Arc-Rated Garments.

Hugh Hoagland — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:05:59 +0000

Good article – Part 2 of previously posted article. This article covers recent changes in South Africa requiring NFPA 70E, ASTM F1506, IEC 61482-1 and IEC 61482-2 among other standards for protecting workers from arc flash, shock and other electrical hazards in South Africa. This is even a good overview of the standards for non-South Africans.

Click here to read Part 2 of Arc Flash Testing Standards for Arc-Rated Garments

Mine Explosion in Romania Kills 5

Hugh Hoagland — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:13:39 +0000

Four electricians and an engineer were working on an electrical installation in an underground mine when an explosion resulted in their death. The cause of death is still under investigation, but may have been related to methane.

From my experience this is VERY likely to have been an arc flash but could have ignited methane.

Click here to read more about Romanian Mine Explosion

Arc Flash Explosion of 11Kv Cable Leaves Two Workers Hospitalized in NZ

Hugh Hoagland — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 21:32:01 +0000

Two West Auckland workers were hospitalized with burns sustained when the 11Kv underground cable they were working on exploded. Fortunately, although the workers were both hospitalized for treatment of burns, the injuries are not considered life-threatening. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Click here to read more about the New Zealand Arc Flash

Arc Flash Explosion On Queen Mary 2

Hugh Hoagland — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 14:36:38 +0000

The UK Maritime Accident Investigation Branch is warning cruise lines to check their machinery following the September 23rd arc flash explosion on Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2. The explosion occurred when a capacitor failed and the leaking oil sprayed onto high voltage bars resulting in a significant arc flash explosion. The explosion blew the steel door out of the frame, caused damage to the adjoining steel door, buckled the stiffeners on the bulkhead of the compartment and resulted in extensive damage to surrounding electrical panels. Fortunately, there were no personnel were in the area at the time of the incident but the explosion caused a blackout on the ship that lasted ~ 30 minutes.

Click here to read more about the cruise line arc flash explosion

Arc Flash Label Best Practices

Hugh Hoagland — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:46:23 +0000

We have updated our arc flash best practices information. Read the article below at OH&S Online Occupational Health & Safety Magazine.

Click here for more information on Arc Flash Label Best Practices

Man recovering scrap metal from abandoned workshop fatally injured in arc flash accident

Hugh Hoagland — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 19:51:23 +0000

A father of two has died from injuries he received from an arc flash incident that occured when he was reclaiming scrap metal from an abandoned workshop. The surge of electricity from the blast shot metal debris over 5 meters away and caused 28% burns to the worker’s body. It is speculated that the accident occurred because the workmen wrongly assumed that the power had been completely turned off.

The newspaper link calls this a “pure accident” indicating that they DO NOT understand these incidents are completely preventable by proper lockout/tagout techniques. NFPA 70E calls this creating an “electrically safe work condition”. That did not exist in this incident. Pure accident? No. Purely preventable by a quality electrical safety program. Yes! The laws in his country are very strick on lockout/tagout procedures. Someone did not follow those procedures. Electrical lockout requires testing circuit and the tester to assure there is NO power

Click here to read more about the arc flash fatality