Arc Flash & Electrical Safety News

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

An Arc Flash Primer

An article in today's online edition of Consulting-Specifying Engineer by Nicholas Chalhoub, Senior Electrical Engineer with CH2M HILL, is called "An Arc Flash Primer".

As most other articles about arc flash do, Mr. Chalhoub begins this article with an explanation of what arc flash is. I found it refreshing that he began his description of arc flash with the statement "The primary cause of arc fault is human error." He then describes how human error leads to arc flash and how arc flash hazards can be reduced.

The next topics are proper design, preventative maintenance and arc flash calculations. He discusses the goals and objectives of arc flash calculations and provides an example calculation. He then points out:

"After these calculations are generated, the arc flash and shock hazard tags must be printed and placed on the specified equipment. The flash hazard boundary, flash hazard, and the category type should be listed on the tag. Many maintenance and safety personnel have been requesting that the limited, restricted and prohibited approach be listed also."

You can read the entire article at: CSE Magazine

You can learn about arc flash labels and tags on our web site.

Labels: Arc Flash, Arc Flash Calculations, Arc Flash Labeling