Hello,
I saw the video about Donnie's accident for the third time and am finally thinking about personal protective gear.
Can someone recommend a good face shield that is easy to put on and take off?
Also, are the flame retardent shirts worth the investment?
Last but not least, is the type of gear described above just as important for residential type panel work as it is for commercial panel work?
Thanks and have a good Sunday.
there are some folks on here who are well worth listening to,
regarding this type of protection. the word "Zog" comes to mind.
a lot has to do with the available fault current delivered by the
POCO. the bolted fault current computation letter i got from
socal edison for the project i'm currently putting in, was calced
at 32,804 amps (symmetrical). that is for 3 phase 3 wire 480.
so, if you hard fault this, it's gonna make a spark.
twice that oomph is common, and can run upwards of 100,000 amps.
from that, an arc fault survey can determine the fault current
for each piece of equipment in an industrial setting, and the
required level of PPE. that information is supposed to be on
the panel door, so you can dress appropriately.
when i had to drop the dime on this stuff, i got a 40 calorie suit,
the reason was the DWP instructor who taught me, said that
if the arc flash incident exceeds 40 calories, the pressure wave
from it is most likely to be lethal. suits up to 100 calories are
available, and some of them even have little blowers on the back
to force air into the hood, so you can pretend to breathe.
your employer should furnish this equipment. it's his responsibility.
wearing it is yours.
i wore mine today.
the salsbury 40 cal suit i bought cost $1057
the gloves were $232 with protectors and bag.
so, you are in about $1,400. as i said, your employer is required
to provide this stuff if it is needed.
a face shield that isn't arc proof can be worse than nothing at all.
an arc blast is bad enough. having to pick burnt plastic out of your
face in the burn ward is worse.
the minimum salsbury face shield, not high calorie, just basic stuff
you might use on a residential panel, was about $170, 7 years ago.
these guys can steer you in the right direction for your needs, once
you determine what they are.
http://www.burlingtonsafety.com/