NEC 70E operation of an enclosed 4160 volt switch

[jimrettberg]

Is PPE required to open or close an enclosed switch operating at 4160 volts. What part of 70E is this covered in? Current labels indicate ARC flash boundry of 70 and incident energy of 23. Thanks for your help.

 

[zog]

Yes, you need to wear the PPE that is on the label or use remote switching. Look at the definition in 70E of "Arc Flash Hazard"

 

[Jraef]

Yes, you need PPE. What level of PPE you need may depend on the design and rating of the equipemnt. If the equipment SPECIFICALLY says on the front that it is "Arc Resistent Equipment", then per the new 2012 NFPA 70E, that is HRC 0. If not, it is the HRC that you have determined in the now MANDATORY Arc Flash Study.

By the way, make sure you are using the 2012 version, it took effect for EVERYBODY on Jan. 1. Rememeber that NFPA 70E implementation is NOT tied to delayed NFPA 70 (NEC) adoption by your local state codes, it is enforced separately and immediately. There were a number of "gotcha" changes in the 2012 version that are catching people by surprise.

 

[petersonra]

Yes, you need PPE. What level of PPE you need may depend on the design and rating of the equipemnt. If the equipment SPECIFICALLY says on the front that it is "Arc Resistent Equipment", then per the new 2012 NFPA 70E, that is HRC 0. If not, it is the HRC that you have determined in the now MANDATORY Arc Flash Study.

By the way, make sure you are using the 2012 version, it took effect for EVERYBODY on Jan. 1. Rememeber that NFPA 70E implementation is NOT tied to delayed NFPA 70 (NEC) adoption by your local state codes, it is enforced separately and immediately. There were a number of "gotcha" changes in the 2012 version that are catching people by surprise.

perhaps you would be willing to sare some of those "gotchas".

 

[Jraef]

perhaps you would be willing to sare some of those "gotchas".

Highlights from a presentation I just put on last week:

FR for clothing is no longer enough, you now need AR (Arc Rated).

The fact that the plans and annual reviews are now mandatory is something people didn't realize. Some of these are subtle changes such as adding the term "arc flash boundary" where it wasn't before, etc.

• 110.1(C), requires a documented meeting between the host employer and contract employer
• 110.2(D)(1)(f), employers must regularly supervise & inspect and annually verify that each employee is complying with the safety-related work practices (Mirrors language in OSHA 29 CFR 1910.269(a)(2)(iii).)
• 110.2(D)(3)(3) (Retraining), all employees to be retrained at intervals not to exceed three years.
• 110.7(E) Electrical Safety Program Procedures
• An electrical safety program shall identify the procedures for working within the limited approach boundary and for working within the arc flash boundary of energized electrical conductors and circuit parts operating at 50 volts or more or where an electrical hazard exists before work is started.
• 110.7(F) Hazard/Risk Evaluation Procedure
• An electrical safety program shall identify a hazard/risk evaluation procedure to be used before work is started within the Limited Approach boundary and before work is started within the arc flash boundary of energized electrical conductors and circuit parts operating at 50 volts or more or where an electrical hazard exists.
• 130.1 General (Relocation and New Section) –“…All requirements of this article shall apply whether an incident energy analysis is completed or if the tables 130.7(C)(15) and (C)(16) are utilized in lieu of incident energy analysis…”
• 130.2(A) Safe Working Conditions
  •
  Energized conductors or circuit parts be placed into an electrically safe working condition before an employee works within the Limited Approach Boundary (LAB) - expanded to apply if any of the following conditions exist:
  •The employee is within the LAB (as before)
  •Or is within the Arc Flash Boundary (AFB)
  •Or interacts with equipment where conductors or circuit parts are not exposed, but an increased risk of arc flash hazard exists​

But there are a lot more, I stopped counting at 40 changes. A lot of them are subtle and a lot of them are clearing things up by rearranging the locations of different requirements to be grouped together to make it easier to understand. Some of them are just common sense stuff that I guess had to be added because someone said "But it didn't say that...". The one that comes to mind is that they added the words "and nose" to the balaclava requirement in HRC-2, because it wasn't there before. Somebody must have been selling a balaclava that didn't cover your nose...
:slaphead:

 

[raider1]

Another big change was the elimination of the individual employee control method of hazardous electrical energy control in 120.2(D) and now only recognizes a simple lockout/taggout or complex lockout/tagout as acceptable forms of hazardous electrical energy control.

Chris

 

[jghrist]

Another big change was the elimination of the individual employee control method of hazardous electrical energy control in 120.2(D) and now only recognizes a simple lockout/taggout or complex lockout/tagout as acceptable forms of hazardous electrical energy control.

Chris

The reason for the individual employee control method was to allow voltage measurement or fuse changes within the enclosures of disconnect switches that cannot be opened with a lock installed (per the 70E-2009 handbook). Is it now required to de-energize and lockout the source to the disconnect before working on such a disconnect switch?