Arc Flash & Electrical Safety News

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Cumbersome Paperwork Improves Arc Flash Safety

The following is from an article in the NFPA Journal.

The article titled "Jumping through hoops on the way to safe electrical work practices" reports that a contractor requiring work on energized equipment to be approved by multiple levels of management, has seen less work on energized equipment -- thus safer working conditions. The articled states:

"The amount of energized work his employees perform has decreased substantially, he said; it’s now unusual to perform more than one energized task over the course of a year. His employees just don’t want to spend the time securing the necessary signatures. Also, customers who in the past have been unreceptive to planned outages to facilitate safe work processes have backed off on their objections when faced with signing the authorization document."

Note that the newly released 2012 edition of NFPA 70E® contains revisions to the required information that is to be included on the energized electrical work permit (EWP). The EWP provides detailed safety information for the specific justified energized tasks that will be undertaken.

Labels: Arc Flash, Electrical Hazards, NFPA 70E, Work Place Safety