Arc Flash Gear and Insulated Tools

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tkb

tkb

Senior Member
Location
MA
What do your companies supply for Arc Flash gear and Insulated Tools, and what do you require the guys to supply?

I have seen the companies that I have been involved with supply:
  • The outer overalls or pants and jacket
  • The helmet with faceshield and hood
  • High voltage gloves with the rubbers turned in every 6 months and exchanged for currently tested ones.
  • Insulated blankets and matts
  • Insulated tool kits. To be used only on hot work
The guys are required not to wear anything but cotton or FR clothes under their gear. This is supplied by the guy unless it is a company issued uniform or other clothing. Boots are also the responsibility of the worker.

Any hot work required a permit signed by the guy doing the work, the building owner, and the project manager.

What is the standard for equipment that most companies supply for arc flash and hot work?

Edit: If the company supplies the gear, do you outfit each service van or have to share the equipment between crews?
 
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electricalperson

electricalperson

Senior Member
Location
massachusetts
the company i work for has one arc flash suit kit for the entire shop. it sits at a place where were required to use it. we have 1000 volt insulated gloves in our vans that never get tested. i supply all my hot work tools. safety is a joke around here :-? :-? i plan on buying a level 3 suit soon for myself
 
zog

zog

Senior Member
Location
Charlotte, NC
tkb said:
What do your companies supply for Arc Flash gear and Insulated Tools, and what do you require the guys to supply?

I have seen the companies that I have been involved with supply:
  • The outer overalls or pants and jacket
  • The helmet with faceshield and hood
  • High voltage gloves with the rubbers turned in every 6 months and exchanged for currently tested ones.
  • Insulated blankets and matts
  • Insulated tool kits. To be used only on hot work
The guys are required not to wear anything but cotton or FR clothes under their gear. This is supplied by the guy unless it is a company issued uniform or other clothing. Boots are also the responsibility of the worker.

Any hot work required a permit signed by the guy doing the work, the building owner, and the project manager.

What is the standard for equipment that most companies supply for arc flash and hot work?

Edit: If the company supplies the gear, do you outfit each service van or have to share the equipment between crews?
Click to expand...


That sounds about right for a EC, if thats what you are. Depends on what you work on.

My guys all have HRC kits, 40cal suits, and remote breaker racking robots. Then again, it is different work.
 
S

SiddMartin

Senior Member
Location
PA
my company supplies everything except boots and untreated denim jeans. They are just getting onboard w/ the ARC flash awareness, and will soon be requiring us to have our own HV rated tools. (which we could use are tool allowance for)
 
don_resqcapt19

don_resqcapt19

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
retired electrician
I don't understand the need for every electrician to have voltage rated tools...it is a rare case where the OSHA rules permit live work even where you have the required PPE.
 
mdshunk

mdshunk

Senior Member
Location
Right here.
don_resqcapt19 said:
I don't understand the need for every electrician to have voltage rated tools...it is a rare case where the OSHA rules permit live work even where you have the required PPE.
Click to expand...
...but it's not such a rare case where such work is performed anyhow. Call it a step in the right direction, if not the whole journey yet.
 
electricalperson

electricalperson

Senior Member
Location
massachusetts
don_resqcapt19 said:
I don't understand the need for every electrician to have voltage rated tools...it is a rare case where the OSHA rules permit live work even where you have the required PPE.
Click to expand...
i dont know anybody that follows the osha rules 100%. we all work on live things even when we know we shouldnt. just makes it a little safer to use v rated tools
 
quogueelectric

quogueelectric

Senior Member
Location
new york
SiddMartin said:
my company supplies everything except boots and untreated denim jeans. They are just getting onboard w/ the ARC flash awareness, and will soon be requiring us to have our own HV rated tools. (which we could use are tool allowance for)
Click to expand...
Dont worry denim jeans will not be acceptable after dec 2008.
 
D

DAWGS

Senior Member
Location
Virginia
I supply all PPE including boots. Each man has their own PPE up to level 2, and we have one level 3 suit that we share throughout company. I require each man to have a 1000V screwdriver set. The only thing we do hot is bolt in QOB breakers thats why they need the screwdrivers. I also supply 100% cotton company shirts, so they dont have an excuse for not wearing cotton. I havnt gotten to the point of checking under wear yet.:grin:
 
brian john

brian john

Senior Member
Location
Leesburg, VA
My men supply a complete body intact ready to work it is my job to supply training and all necessary safety gear to make sure they take the same intact body home that they brought to work in the morning.

To this post I do need to add we had a Pringle repair scheduled for off hours. I pulled the parts off the shelf and left on the floor in front of the shelf that holds all these parts. An employee comes in does not see the parts, stands on a 55 gallon drum pulls on the box (similar to the one on the floor) slips falls back on his wrist and breaks it. Just got the cast off and it healed wrong. Now they want to operate.

OH we have movable stairs, 6 and 8 foot ladders and a fork lift to utilize in place of the 55 gallon drums.
 
J

jacknife76

Member
don_resqcapt19 said:
I don't understand the need for every electrician to have voltage rated tools...it is a rare case where the OSHA rules permit live work even where you have the required PPE.
Click to expand...

What does this mean? We do energized work all the time. Stabbing buckets, etc. I guess maybe the definition of live work is needed. I get extremely confused with each interpretation. I consider live work to be any instance where there is a live part... line side of a breaker in an MCC bucket requires arc flash preparedness, even when the breaker itself is off.

Are denim jeans permitted under coveralls in category 2? Under a flash suit in category 4?
 
zog

zog

Senior Member
Location
Charlotte, NC
jacknife76 said:
What does this mean? We do energized work all the time. Stabbing buckets, etc. I guess maybe the definition of live work is needed. I get extremely confused with each interpretation. I consider live work to be any instance where there is a live part... line side of a breaker in an MCC bucket requires arc flash preparedness, even when the breaker itself is off.

Are denim jeans permitted under coveralls in category 2? Under a flash suit in category 4?
Click to expand...

They are revising the definition of live work to include interaction with equipment, not just exposed live parts. But the exceptions for "work" (Testing, T/S, etc) will still apply.

Jeans for underlayers will still be OK, they are just removing note 4 from table 10
 
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