Dangers from HID Lamps

[tom baker]

A change to the 2005 NEC Art 410 requires HID luminares in indoor or mixed use sports facilities to have a shield to protect against UV radiation.
Hers an article about teachers from Oregon who had sever eye damage from a broken HID lamp
I sat next to a person in Mike Holts 2005 NEC Changes class who was from Oregon and knew about this incident. These folks may never recover from the eye damage....


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17857910/

 

[memyselfandI]

Interesting article. I will pass it on.

 

[peteo]

Tom,

Thank you for the post. I have relatives there who are teachers and so this is especially scary. Hard to believe that 'they' didn't ensure that safe product was installed to begin with. The very first HID bulb made was known to have this danger, and schools (especially) should benefit from any known safety or health knowledge.

Just one thing noticed, is that my firewall blocked six or seven attempts to invade my OS by doubleclick, a commercial web page tracking service which MS helps host.

 

[peter d]

It seems like the EC might bear some responsibility for this. Having an open MH fixture in a gym seems pretty dumb. If not for the UV issue, theres the issue of hot glass raining down from a broken bulb after being smacked by a ball.

 

[JohnE]

Thanks for the link Tom. I had heard about the possibility of that happeneing, but didn't know about those affected by it.

We've changed out about a dozen Gymnasiums with MH for T5's in the past few years.

 

[neonjoe]

It seems like the EC might bear some responsibility for this. Having an open MH fixture in a gym seems pretty dumb. If not for the UV issue, theres the issue of hot glass raining down from a broken bulb after being smacked by a ball.

I'd say it's more the manufacturer's responsibility. I can't believe these fixtures are made without a protective lens, especially in a gym. The fact is, the arc tube within these bulbs will occasionally explode, shattering the bulb, and like you said, hot glass raining down. Or the Maintenance department. Surely they had to sweep up some glass. The bulb should've been replaced then.

It probably wouldn't be too difficult for the manufacturer to make a retrofit lens, instead of Ms. Follette's chicken little approach.

 

[John Valdes]

It's amazing that the arc tube dosen't get busted along with the lamp. I read about this in our local paper last week. Never crossed my mind. But now I will pay more attention.