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Home/Articles/2015/Bestpracticesforconductinganarcflashriskassessment
Anarcflashoccurswhenelectriccurrentpassesthroughtheairinsteadofalongitsintendedpath.Theresultis
extremelyhighheatthatcancausesevereburns,blindinglight,andanexplosionthatcanresultinhearing
damageandpotentiallyfatalinjury.MultiplearcflashincidentsoccureverydayinworkplacesacrosstheUnited
States.
MorefromourJunecoverstory
NFPA70E2015:What'schanged
andwhatyouneedtoknow
Theeffectofgrowthonelectrical
equipmentreliabilityandsafety
Theresurgencytocompletingarcflashriskassessmentsandshockriskassessments:Accordingtochanges
madeforNFPA70E2015,theseassessmentsmustbeconductedbeforeanypersonisexposedtoelectrical
hazards.Theriskofanarcflashexplosionoccurringatyourfacilityisnotnegligible,andthetrendofincreased
powerusecombinedwithagingelectricalinfrastructureacrosstheU.S.heightensthedanger.TheElectrical
PowerResearchInstitute(EPRI)estimatesdirectandindirectcoststoanemployerfromafatalelectricalaccident
inthemillionsofdollars.
Navigatingalloftherequirements,conditions,andexceptionsthatresultfromtheseassessmentsrequiresa
greatfamiliaritywiththenewstandard.Specifically,NFPA70E2015Section130.4requiresthatashockrisk
assessmentbeperformedbeforebeginningenergizedwork,andNFPA70E2015Section130.5requiresthatan
arcflashriskassessmentbeperformedto:
1.Determinewhetheranarcflashhazardexists
2.Ifahazardexists
A.Determineappropriatesafetyrelatedworkpractices
B.Thearcflashboundary
C.ThePPEtobeused
Intheend,OSHAwillenforcecompliance,includingtherequirementthatanarcflashfiskassessmentbe
performed.Thecostsofanelectricalaccidentwouldvarybylocation,butwithoutexception,itwouldbefarmore
expensivetoallowonearcflashaccidenttooccurthanitwouldbetopreventit.Thefollowingstepswillhelp
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ensurethatyourarcflashriskassessmentsgoingforwardwillcomplywithbothOSHArequirementsandNFPA
70E2015.
Preparationandbidding
Developing,documenting,training,andimplementingsafetyprogramsandprocedurescanbeexpeditedwiththe
aidofthirdpartyexpertsinelectricalsafetyandassociatedregulationsandstandards.Anarcflashincident
energyanalysisisacomplexproject,andyoumayneedtosolicitbidsfrommultipleproviders.Notewhenyoure
puttingtogetherarequestforproposalthatitsimportantforallbidderstobidonthesamedeliverables.Lower
costbidsmayhaveitemsaddedafterthestudyisdonetocompleteathoroughanalysis.
Anarcflashincidentenergyanalysisisstillthefoundationuponwhichanaccurateriskassessmentisbuilt.Once
youhavetheincidentenergyanalysis,youcancompleteyourriskassessmentandprovideproperPPEandwork
practicesforyourworkers.Itisalwaysagoodideatorequestsamplesofanarcflashincidentenergyanalysis
reportfromeachpotentialserviceprovider.Whilethisreportisbasedontechnicaldata,youneedtoensurethat
thereportuseslanguageandformattingthatrelevantpersonnelwilleasilyunderstand.
Also,ensurethatthecompanyperformingtheanalysisadherestoastandardizedprocessinperformingevery
arcflashincidentenergyanalysis.ThiscorrelateswithIEEEStandard1584,Chapter4andIEEE1584.1.The
entireprojectalsoshouldbeperformedunderthesupervisionofaregisteredprofessionalengineer(PE).
Astandardanalysiswillapplytothreephaseequipmentrated240voltsorgreaterandthreephaseequipment
ratedlowerthan240voltswhenservedfromatransformer125kvaandlarger.Youwillneedtodetermine
whetheryouwantanexpandedscopethatincludes208voltthreephaseequipmentservedfromasmallerthan
125kvatransformerorDCequipmentrated50voltsorhigher.
Datacollection
Beforebeginningtheactualstudy,holdaprojectmeeting(viaconferencecalloronsite)withallpersonnelwho
willbeinvolvedtoestablishroles,responsibilities,andtheplanfordatagathering.Qualifiedstaffmustgatherdata
fromallapplicableelectricalequipment.Requiredinformationincludes:
Datafromtheutility,includingavailablefaultcurrent,operatingvoltage,andspecificsregardingtheutilitys
protectiveequipmentatthepointofservice
Specificsforeachprotectivedeviceintheelectricalsystem,includingmanufacturer,model,available
time/currentsettings,andshortcircuitinterruptingrating
Transformerimpedance,tapsettings,andratings
Conductorspecifics,includinglengths,sizes,andtypesofalloverheadlines,busducts,andcables
Powersystemmodeling
Onelinediagramsmustbedevelopedorupdatedtoshowthecurrentconfigurationandmodesofoperationfor
thepowersystem.Accurateelectricalsystemdrawingsarenecessarytoidentifypowersources,voltagelevels,
electricalequipment,andprotectivedevices.Ifyoualreadyhaveonelinediagrams,updatethedataandwork
fromthem,ifpossible.SKMPowerToolsforWindows,ETAP,andotheravailableengineeringsoftwareis
commonlyusedinthemodeling.
Shortcircuitstudy
Ashortcircuitstudyisrequiredtodeterminethemagnitudeofcurrentflowingthroughthepowersystematcritical
pointsatvarioustimeintervalsafterafaultoccurs.Thesecalculationswillbeusedtodeterminetheboltedfault
current,whichisessentialforthecalculationofincidentenergyandinterruptingratingsofyourequipment.
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Comparisonofequipmentratingswithcalculatedshortcircuitandoperatingconditionswillidentifyunderrated
equipment.
Related Content
NFPA 70E 2015: What's changed and what you need to know
SignificantchangestoNFPA70Esince2012compelupdatedelectricalsafetytraining.
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