How to choose your arc flash protective clothing
Choose Your Arc Flash Clothing In Three Easy Steps
The intense energy and very short duration of an electrical arc flash represents a very unique exposure. Complying with NFPA 70E and following these three steps will greatly reduce your chances of injury due to electrical arc flash.
1.Conduct Both a Shock and Flash Hazard Analysis
- A hazard analysis is required to determine the flash protection boundary
- Inside the flash protective boundary,exposure to an electrical arc is predicted to cause a second degree burn injury and PPE is required
- Required FR clothing is based on the specific hazard present
- The severity of the arc hazard is defined as incident energy in calories per centimeters squared (cal/cm2),which may be determined by three methods:
- Method A – Estimates the incident energy based on knowledge of the electrical systems and work practices
- Method B – Estimates the incident energy by determining hazard risk category classifications from tables of common work tasks
- Method C – Lays out a simplified two-category FR clothing system that provides two PPE clothing categories: everyday work clothing and electrical switching clothing. This concept helps assure adequate PPE in facilities with large or diverse electrical systems.
2.Determine PPE Clothing Needs Based on the Degree of Hazard
| Hazard/ Risk Category |
Clothing Description |
Required Minimum Arc Rating of PPE |
| 0 | Non-melting, flammable materials (untreated cotton, wool, rayon, silk or blends) with a fabric weight of at least 4.5 ounces/yard2 |
|
| 1 | FR shirt and FR pants, or FR coveralls | 6-8 cal/cm2 |
| 2 | Cotton underwear, conventional short sleeve shirt and briefs/shorts, plus FR shirt and FR pants, or FR coveralls |
8-25 cal/cm2 |
| 3 | Cotton underwear, plus FR shirt and FR pants, plus FR coveralls | 25-40 cal/cm2 |
| 4 | Cotton underwear, plus FR shirt and FR pants, plus multi-layered flash suit |
40+ cal/cm2 |
3.Select Protective Arc flash and Flame Resistant Clothing and Coveralls
- Garments are rated based on their ability to protect against electrical arcs
- This arc rating is expressed in cal/cm
- The standard requires that garments have a minimum arc rating listed on the garment label
- The protective clothing worn by employees must be based upon the incident energy associated with the task being performed
- Be aware that other PPE may be required for specific tasks including: double-layer FR flash hoods, hard hats, FR hard hat liners, safety eyewear, hearing protection, leather gloves, voltage rated gloves and voltage-rated tools
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