70E Informational Notes

[jonesy29847]

130.7(A) of 2015 contains an informational note as follows;
"It is the collective experience of the Technical Committee on Electrical Safety in the Workplace that normal operation of enclosed electrical equipment, operating at 600 volts or less, that has been properly installed and maintained by qualified persons is not likely to expose the employee to am electrical hazard."

This statement is somewhat contradictory to many opinions that I have heard over the last year.

Can anyone comment as to the purpose of Informational Notes, this seems to indicate lower levels of PPE, or even none at all?

 

[zog]

There is a lot to that statement, first, what is "Normal operation"? Opening a breaker for something like a LOTO? I think so, the intent behind that note (Which are not officially part of the standard) is that the chance of an arc flash occurring is low (I have discussed with current committee members)

Second, and this is the big one, what is "properly maintained"? You have your breakers tested every few years? No, I don't think that is enough. Your breakers are not only tested but also PM'ed and overhauled per the OEM recommended intervals? Yes, I think that is what "Properly maintained" means based off of Chapter 2 of the standard.

There was a lot of debate during the ROP stage of the 2015 edition about this statement and it will be a hot topic until the next revision cycle I am sure. Too much of a grey area there IMHO.

 

[mayanees]

130.7(A) of 2015 contains an informational note as follows;
"It is the collective experience of the Technical Committee on Electrical Safety in the Workplace that normal operation of enclosed electrical equipment, operating at 600 volts or less, that has been properly installed and maintained by qualified persons is not likely to expose the employee to am electrical hazard."

This statement is somewhat contradictory to many opinions that I have heard over the last year.

Can anyone comment as to the purpose of Informational Notes, this seems to indicate lower levels of PPE, or even none at all?

The purpose of the Info Notes (IN) is to give an idea of what the panel members are thinking, and as mentioned, are not enforceable.
But this particular IN was put into the standard for 2015 by the PPE tables 130.7(C)(15)(A)(a) where many operations can be performed now that couldn't be performed in the 2012 edition, like normal operation of a circuit breaker, provided it meets the five listed operation and maintenance standards.