Clearance to electric panels is required- but why?

[Ikester]

I am a Safety Consultant for a major insurance company. You guys have helped me out before, and I am in need of your help again. I can find all references I need to maintain clearance to electrical panels (picture interior service panels at your typical fast food reference). What I need to know is why do we need the clearance? What hazard(s) specifically are we protecting against? And if a panel is 48" off the floor, can a food or supply cart at a height of 36" be parked under the panels, or is that in violation of the clearance rule?

Also- why do these panel doors have locks on them (though I have never seen one locked?)

Any help is appreciated- Thanks!

 

[infinity]

Here is a look at 110.26. This might help to answer your question.

110.26 Spaces About Electrical Equipment.
Sufficient access and working space shall be provided and maintained about all electric equipment to permit ready and safe operation and maintenance of such equipment. Enclosures housing electrical apparatus that are controlled by a lock(s) shall be considered accessible to qualified persons.
(A) Working Space. Working space for equipment operating at 600 volts, nominal, or less to ground and likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized shall comply with the dimensions of 110.26(A)(1), (A)(2), and (A)(3) or as required or permitted elsewhere in this Code.

 

[Ikester]

Thanks infinity- this still leaves me with the following:
"sufficient access"- mops and such (often stored against electrical panels)can be moved to allow the "sufficient access". Is the standard intended to keep permanent structures from being built or installed in this area? Is temp storage, such as the food carts, and the mops, OK?

I have no problem explaining the codes and standards- I was really hoping to find out exactly what hazard- if any- we are establishing this space requirement for.

My analogy- you wear eye protection around a grinder to protect your eyes from flying fragments. Why do you need the space around your electrical panel?

 

[ceknight]

Re: Clearance to electric panels is required- but why?

...What I need to know is why do we need the clearance? What hazard(s) specifically are we protecting against?

Two considerations:

(1) In non-maintenance situations, the most likely reason someone will visit that panel is because a breaker tripped. It may be pitch dark, and you don't want someone getting injured tripping over junk in the dark trying to reset a breaker.

(2) For service/maintenance: If someone's poking around inside a live panel, s/he could become energized. :shock: When that happens, it's likely those hands won't obey the brain's command to let go of whatever is energizing them. The clearance space allows the servicer to fall down and/or away from the panel, so the body can drag the hands out of harm's way and possibly save a life in the process.

If the servicer is being propped up by food carts and bread trays, s/he can't fall and thus stays energized and, likely, dead. Further, if the ground is cluttered with stuff during the fall, there's the risk of adding insult to injury on the way to the floor.

 

[petersonra]

clearance

clearance

It seems to me that something that is by its nature temporary and easily moved, such as a cart on wheels, would not impinge upon the working space requirements. Otherwise, the requirement would be a person could not stand in, or walk through the working space area unless he was working on the equipment in question.

Using the area in front of an electrical panel for storage of items that cannot be easily moved (such as heavy or skidded items) would be more problematic.

Something permanently installed in the working space is clearly prohibited.

To respond to another posters comment. If a lighting breaker trips, the emergency lights should come on to get you to the panel. If it is so dark you can't see to reset a breaker, how could you safely navigate to the panel in the first place? If you can see to safely get to the panel, you can push the cart out of the way.

 

[bthielen]

Another consideration is that it is plainly a hazard to not have a clean work area. This holds true in any shop where a cluttered work area is a hazard waiting to happen. Would you operate a table saw while leaning over a pile of scrap lumber? It would certainly be dangerous to do so. Not being able to clear hazards away from the work space around an enclosure is inviting disaster.

I suppose taking it to the letter, Mr. Peterson's analogy could be argued however I would think the intention of the code probably includes temporary storage of items such as mops, carts, etc. In the event of an emergency it may save a life to have easy clear access to an electrical enclosure.

I certainly would not want to have to tell a person's family that I was unable to disconnect the circuit power in time because I first had to move all of the junk I had stored in the way.

Bob

 

[petersonra]

I suppose taking it to the letter, Mr. Peterson's analogy could be argued however I would think the intention of the code probably includes temporary storage of items such as mops, carts, etc. In the event of an emergency it may save a life to have easy clear access to an electrical enclosure.

I certainly would not want to have to tell a person's family that I was unable to disconnect the circuit power in time because I first had to move all of the junk I had stored in the way.

Bob

The requirement is not for emergency access - it is for working space. That suggests someone is working on it, not groping around in the dark trying to reset a tripped breaker or trying to open a breaker because someone on the other end of the building 100 yards away is being electrocuted.

The code does not require that a panelboard have immediate access in an emergency. It is perfectly permissable to put the panelboard in a utility closet and lock the door.

 

[charlie b]

ceknight's reason (2) is the reason that working space is required. But I strongly disagree with any statement to the effect that is OK to store one type of thing in that space, so long as you don't store another type of thing.

Nothing should be allowed to be stored in the space that is reserved for working clearance. Nothing. Not even a mop an bucket or a cart that is easy to move. Nothing. Ever.We should not relax this requirement for the sake of anyone's convenience. Let the maintenance personnel find another place for the bucket.

Why would I be so adamant, when (as some have suggested) some things are easy to move? For two reasons.

(1) We don't want to give a future maintenance person the option of moving the cart or not moving the cart. He or she might think that this is a quick and simple task, and that the effort to move the cart is not worth the effort. Especially since to move the cart they must first move the two large and heavy tubs of cleaning chemicals that are not themselves in the working space, but that prevent the cart from being easily rolled away from its storage location that is in the working space. A wrong choice, the choice not to move anything, can be, as ceknight pointed out, a fatal error.

(2) This stuff breeds! :shock: Pure and simple, this stuff breeds. :shock: :shock:

It's like coming into the house and putting your keys on the dining room table. One set of keys won't clutter up the table. But then you put the day's mail on the table, and you lose control. As soon as there are two things on the table, they begin to breed. Before you know it, there will be three things on the table, then five, then twelve, and when you remove your keys to go to work the next day, there will be twenty things on the table. Then only way to prevent this madness is to make sure the second thing is never placed on the table. One thing won't breed by itself, but two will. And the best way to make sure you never get two things on the table, thus allowing breeding to begin, is never to allow the first thing to get placed on the table. OK. Now I can stop talking to my kids. They are both married now, and they probably have many things on their tables, since they never listened to me anyway. :wink:

Kidding aside, there is one any only one way to draw the line between what is OK to store in the "working space," and what is not OK to store there. That is to allow nothing to ever be stored there.

 

[hockeyoligist2]

ditto charlie b

I Have preached this over and over again at work and it falls on deaf ears. They store flamibles such as blue prints etc. in front of a panel, a fire waiting to happen!

 

[haskindm]

110.26(3)(B) says that "Working space required by this section shall not be used for storage". Period. No exceptions. It does not say that things easily moved may be stored there. It does not say that only mops and cleaning supplies may be stored there. As others have said, this is a safety issue. Someone doing electrical maintenance should not have to move stored materials to access the panel. It is also the "fall space" where the worker may fall if they become energized which will hopefully disconnect them from the energized circuit. This is basic, basic code compliance. The designer and occupant should be aware of this and allow other spaces for storage. Once a spot is used for storage, it is easy for more and more permanent storage devices to be installed. Rather than nitpick about what is permanent and what is temporary storage the code has decided to err on the side of caution and prohibit all storage from the working space about electrical equipment. If you don't want to devote an area to the electrical equipment inside the building, then buy weatherproof service equipment and install it outside, or don't install electricity in the building at all.
Sorry to rant, but this is a sore subject with me.
By the way panel doors have locks on them so that they may be made inaccessible to unqualified persons. It is also so that those that should not have access can be kept out. Would you want the customers in a fast food restaurant to be able to turn off the circuits for the lights? They are allowed because the code says that panels need to be "readily accessible". The definition of readily accessible does not exclude locks. If the code required them to be "accessible" then they could not be locked. Read the definitions in article 100.

 

[bthielen]

Charlie how did you know about my kitchen table?

Bob

 

[muskiedog]

OSHA 1910.303 will help guide you on this. I have been gigged by OSHA and fined for storage in this area. DO NOT STORE ANYTHING in this area.

Whats worse is I have IT guys install there racks right in front of the panels. Drives me nuts. You would think they would get the picture after moving a few already.

 

[Ikester]

Very sound points- I really appreciate you guys helping me on this. Your pointers, analogies, and experiences will help me shed some light as to why this clearance is a requirement.

Thanks again to all!

 

[petersonra]

Kidding aside, there is one any only one way to draw the line between what is OK to store in the "working space," and what is not OK to store there. That is to allow nothing to ever be stored there.

I would tend to agree with that argument. I am just not sure the code requires it. If you look at other sections of the code, it is pretty clear that the intent is to have a safe place available to work. I am not so sure that safety is impeded any if something readily removable is left in front or under a panelboard.

We have already discussed putting doors over panelboards and decided that is acceptable for esthetic reasons. It impedes access to the panelboard, until it is removed.

 

[muskiedog]

Nothing can be in this space. PetersonR


OSHA 1910.303(g)(1)(ii)
Clear spaces. Working space required by this subpart may not be used for storage. When normally enclosed live parts are exposed for inspection or servicing, the working space, if in a passageway or general open space, shall be suitably guarded.

 

[petersonra]

Nothing can be in this space. PetersonR


OSHA 1910.303(g)(1)(ii)
Clear spaces. Working space required by this subpart may not be used for storage. When normally enclosed live parts are exposed for inspection or servicing, the working space, if in a passageway or general open space, shall be suitably guarded.

is something placed there temporarily being stored? or just located there temporarily?

 

[muskiedog]

OSHA will fine you. Nothing means nothing. If you aren't using it for the task of working on the equipment then it is stored. There is no time limit. I have benn gigged for mops, buckets, golf carts, etc..

 

[charlie b]

We have already discussed putting doors over panelboards and decided that is acceptable for esthetic reasons. It impedes access to the panelboard, until it is removed.

The difference is that the electrician knows that the door must be opened; there is no alternative. But if there are a couple things beneath or in front of the panel, the electrician might start thinking, "well, I've just reach over and do this quick job." I would not like that thought to occur to the worker.

If anything is allowed there at all, then more stuff will be put there. It is not possible to control, unless by an absolute prohibition.

 

[cowboyjwc]

A fast food restaurant was used as an example.

With all of the stainless steel around lets say all of a sudden you notice the cook standing there shaking because he is being electocuted by a short that is touching the steel counter. You run to turn off the break but first you have to move the mops and buckets to get to it and then move the rolling shelfs. While all of this is happening we better hope that the breaker trips.

The reason for the lock is to keep people from messing with things they shouldn't be touching.

I'm a stickler for clearances, 3 feet not 2 feet 11 inches, the worse I ever got hurt working with electrical was I did something stupid and got zapped while working in a panel as my arm shot out my elbow smacked right into a cabinet that was too close and I couldn't straighten out my arm for about a week. Imagine if that cabinet had been even closer and I couldn't have gotten my arm out.

 

[charlie b]

While all of this is happening we better hope that the breaker trips.

The following statement is for the benefit of those new to our profession, though there will be many older and more experienced people who find this statement surprising:

THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!

What I mean is that a breaker serving a 120 or 240 volt load will NEVER trip to save the life of a person being shocked by that circuit. NEVER.

The reason is simply that it takes a fraction of an amp to kill a person. If you add a fraction of an amp of current to the load normally supplied by a breaker, it will not be enough current to cause the breaker to trip.

You run to turn off the breaker but first you have to move the mops and buckets to get to it and then move the rolling shelves.

That is probably a safer thing to try to do than trying to pull the person away from the short circuit with your own hands (or with your belt or some other "non-conductive" material). But you can't count on it being possible. Bob was speaking an important truth, when he posted this statement:

The code does not require that a panelboard have immediate access in an emergency. It is perfectly permissible to put the panelboard in a utility closet and lock the door.