Short answer yes, but how concerned? Well that’s a harder question to answer. As far as I’m aware, there hasn’t been a single arc blast fatality, regardless of the incident energy. This doesn’t mean that it isn’t a hazard but the risk associated with that hazard may be lower than you have been told. Arc […]
Electrical Safety
Our Articles on Electrical Safety
Troubleshooting, SCADA and Energized Work
This is a great followup and use case for a home energy monitoring system, something I wrote about on the blog last week. My new ETS was broken, but how? The electric thermal storage (ETS) unit mentioned in that post stopped doing what its supposed to. When we had it installed I didn’t tie it into […]
Get out of the way when operating switches
When I am developing an Arc Flash Analysis report there are a few recommendations that always survive. They are near the top of the hierarchy of controls, and are set it and forget it type of controls. One of these is remote actuators and racking mechanisms. Both of these systems removes the electrical worker outside […]
Energized Work Permits
Let’s talk about energized work permits. I’ve seen some extremely long and detailed forms outlining what needs to be in the energized work permit that were up to 6 pages. To make things worse, they duplicate a lot of the information that would be in the work order (WO) and job specific risk analysis for […]
Electrical Safety Program Requirements in Canada
Something that I have been thinking about lately is: What are the electrical safety program requirements in Canada. OSHA covers all of the USA, and the minimum Electrical Safety Program requirements can be found here – 1910 Subpart S. In Canada, the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, part VIII mentions written procedures a couple […]
Checklists
Today I’m starting a new-ish feature where I’m publishing a different thought as a twitter audio at least, and maybe a video depending on where I’m located. This first thought is on checklists, and their importance in every electrical safety program. This came to me, again, when I was meeting with a client and they […]
How to Read Arc Flash Labels and Determine PPE Requirements
In order to protect yourself and workers in your facility, it is important that everyone is aware of how to read arc flash labels. Being able to read arc flash labels is crucial for management in determining PPE requirements, and is crucial for both electrical and non-electrical workers to determine whether or not they currently […]
What is Arc Flash
There are really only two types of electrical hazards: shock and arc flash. CSA Z462 gives a short definition for arc flash: Arc flash hazard – a dangerous condition associated with the possible release of energy caused by an electrical arc. Arc flash takes two forms: Arc blast refers to the pressure wave created during […]
Arc Flash Mitigation techniques – PPE
PPE is the last line of defense when it comes to arc flash mitigation, according to the hierarchy of hazard mitigation. Appropriate PPE selection is important to prevent introducing new risks to workers on job sites. Safe PPE Selection In order to select PPE, you first need to have an incident energy study on your […]
Arc Flash Mitigation techniques – Administrative
The second to last line of defence with arc flash mitigation, according to the Hierarchy of Hazard Mitigation, is administrative controls. Administrative controls are implemented after a facility is designed and built, and equipment has been purchased and installed. What the administrative controls really boil down to is your electrical safety program. I’ll break down what that […]