Arc FlaSH Labeling

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rnkish

Member
I am an Electrical Contractor.

When we install a new 480v breaker panel, are we required to install an Arc Flash Warning Label?

What if the panel is 208V??

What information needs to be included on this Label?
 

StephenSDH

Senior Member
Location
Allentown, PA
This is the responsibility of the Facility to provide calculated labeling. You are required to add a generic label by the NEC saying Arc Flash Hazard. NEC 110.16 2008 (This is a new requirement with the 2008 code)
 

jim dungar

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Wisconsin
Occupation
PE (Retired) - Power Systems
I am an Electrical Contractor.

When we install a new 480v breaker panel, are we required to install an Arc Flash Warning Label?

What if the panel is 208V??

What information needs to be included on this Label?
The NEC requires you to put a simple 'advisory' label on just about everything that could be serviced while energized.

NFPA 70E, and many customer specifications, requires equipment to have labels that spell out PPE or the amount of incident energy.

So the answer depends on which code you are subject to.
 

rnkish

Member
NEC or 70E

NEC or 70E

70E does have the 3 item exception (<240v, one supply and <125KVA). Keeping this in mind I do Not have to label <240v equipment at all.

NEC 110.16 does not specifiy voltages.

So are we to assume all voltages need to have a generic label per NEC?

Whick code are we to abide by??
 

StephenSDH

Senior Member
Location
Allentown, PA
You must abide by the NEC. The NFPA 70E is above and beyond the NEC. The requirements in the NFPA are not yet required by law, but many plants have fully adopted it as their safety standard to comply with OSHA.
 

jim dungar

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Wisconsin
Occupation
PE (Retired) - Power Systems
70E does have the 3 item exception (<240v, one supply and <125KVA). Keeping this in mind I do Not have to label <240v equipment at all.

NEC 110.16 does not specifiy voltages.

So are we to assume all voltages need to have a generic label per NEC?

Whick code are we to abide by??

Starting with the 2009 edition, NFPA70E always requires labels on equipment. The '240V' exception, you refer to, is only from needing to perform an analysis on equipment.

The NEC does not care what is on the label as long as it 'advises' that an arc flash hazard is present.
 

nyerinfl

Senior Member
Location
Broward Co.
If it is a new panel, it should come with the arc flash label already stickered on the panel, or they should come with stickers, only time I've ever been called on this was re-using existing equipment. They also could make you add the stickers to the main disco and meter, so bring more than one.
 

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
Switchboards, panelboards, industrial control panels, meter socket enclosures and motor control centers that are in other than dwelling occupancies.........

Don't see voltage mentioned in there anywhere.
 

skeshesh

Senior Member
Location
Los Angeles, Ca
Switchboards, panelboards, industrial control panels, meter socket enclosures and motor control centers that are in other than dwelling occupancies.........

Don't see voltage mentioned in there anywhere.

Don't think it's referred to there but calculating available levels of incident allows for choosing the correct PPE to be used by personnel, which is sometimes necessary per some OSHA regulations.

By the way, I'm a member of the local IEEE IAS (Industrial Applications Society) and at one of their meetings about two years ago they had a pretty heated talk about the merits of calculating based on 70E or IEEE1584. I would love to know what what some of you guys think about which is the superior method.
 

rnkish

Member
Calculating

Calculating

I would think most companies that provide Arc Flash Analysis use software to do their calculations. I know ESA has software that is very user friendly and SKM is the most widely used. Does anybody know anything about either?
 

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
Don't think it's referred to there but calculating available levels of incident allows for choosing the correct PPE to be used by personnel, which is sometimes necessary per some OSHA regulations.

By the way, I'm a member of the local IEEE IAS (Industrial Applications Society) and at one of their meetings about two years ago they had a pretty heated talk about the merits of calculating based on 70E or IEEE1584. I would love to know what what some of you guys think about which is the superior method.

We may be talking apple and oranges. We're still in the 2005 and you only had to have the arc flash warning lables stating that proper PPE must be worn. The lables that tell you about the zones are not required here yet.
 

jim dungar

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Wisconsin
Occupation
PE (Retired) - Power Systems
We may be talking apple and oranges. We're still in the 2005 and you only had to have the arc flash warning lables stating that proper PPE must be worn. The lables that tell you about the zones are not required here yet.
PPE and energy levels are required by NFPA 70E not the NEC, as far as OSHA is concerned the current "industry standards' are always in effect.
 

skeshesh

Senior Member
Location
Los Angeles, Ca
I would think most companies that provide Arc Flash Analysis use software to do their calculations. I know ESA has software that is very user friendly and SKM is the most widely used. Does anybody know anything about either?

I'm not familiar with ESA, but I've used SKM. I think ETAP may have something available too. In any case, the software usually have an option as to which method of calculation to use. I was asking some who may have dealt with arc flash reduction design, etc. to comment on which method they perfer.

We may be talking apple and oranges. We're still in the 2005 and you only had to have the arc flash warning lables stating that proper PPE must be worn. The lables that tell you about the zones are not required here yet.

And how do you know what is "proper PPE" if the levels of incident energy are unknown?
 

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
And how do you know what is "proper PPE" if the levels of incident energy are unknown?

I have no idea. I've been trying to get my bosses to send me to some classes, but with the budget cutbacks (training from $40K to $10K) I don't seem to really be getting anywhere.

Zog will usually jump in on a thread like this, I'm kind of surprised that we haven't heard from him.:)
 

skeshesh

Senior Member
Location
Los Angeles, Ca
I have no idea. I've been trying to get my bosses to send me to some classes, but with the budget cutbacks (training from $40K to $10K) I don't seem to really be getting anywhere.

Zog will usually jump in on a thread like this, I'm kind of surprised that we haven't heard from him.

Well the PPE class that's appropriate is based on how much incident energy is available which can vary a great deal at different points of a system. Arc flash labeling itself is not extremely complicated, where it gets messy is designing for reduction. I got a long long way to go untill I know how to pull something like that off, but my father's done projects on the industrial level where the design goal has been to reduce arc flash hazards as much as possible (to reduce cost of maintenance) and at the same time have coordinated protection with electronic relays so that a fault is isolated very quickly so it doesn't propogate through the system. It's definitly a topic I'm interested in but for now I need to learn a lot more basic stuff before I can move on to other things. ;)

I'm still pretty new to the forum so I'm not familiar with Zog but I sure hope to hear from him if he's an expert.
 

rnkish

Member
Labels

Labels

Does NEC require an Arc Flash Hazard Label to be of any certain size?

Does NFPA 70E require a certain size?
 

jim dungar

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Wisconsin
Occupation
PE (Retired) - Power Systems
Does NEC require an Arc Flash Hazard Label to be of any certain size?

Does NFPA 70E require a certain size?
There are no specifications for labels at all.
NFPA 70E recommends, but does not require, using ANSI Z535 for things like color, text size, and dedicated terminology.
 
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