What does the NEC & OSHA have to say about PPE when working on energized equipment?

[don_resqcapt19]

......
In my opinion, if the lug is loose this is an easy fix. ...

I don't share that opinion. At the very least, the wire needs to be removed from the lug, shortened, stripped and re-terminated. However that assumes that the lug it self or the lug to bus connection has not been damaged by the excessive heat.

 

[jap]

I don't share that opinion. At the very least, the wire needs to be removed from the lug, shortened, stripped and re-terminated. However that assumes that the lug it self or the lug to bus connection has not been damaged by the excessive heat.

Which is the case 99% of the time.

JAP>

 

[mayanees]

I don't share that opinion. At the very least, the wire needs to be removed from the lug, shortened, stripped and re-terminated. However that assumes that the lug it self or the lug to bus connection has not been damaged by the excessive heat.

Expecting this to be the response is why I wrote:
The EEWP would also review the job for a better determination of success associated with just tightening the lug.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

Which is the case 99% of the time.

JAP>

In my experience, the lug is almost always damaged.

 

[tortuga]

The EEWP

I have no idea what an EEWP is.
Is that a form I should have on the truck?

 

[don_resqcapt19]

I have no idea what an EEWP is.
Is that a form I should have on the truck?

Energize Electrical Work Permit

 

[jap]

In my experience, the lug is almost always damaged.

That's why I put 99% of the time, but, in reality, usually 100% of the time the lug has some type of damage in a heat related issue.

JAP>

 

[don_resqcapt19]

That's why I put 99% of the time, but, in reality, usually 100% of the time the lug has some type of damage in a heat related issue.

JAP>

Sorry, I totally misread your post...we are on the same page

 

[kwired]

I have no idea what an EEWP is.
Is that a form I should have on the truck?

You could possibly write your own form or even hand write something on the spot. Though the one in 70e will likely be taken more seriously from the start should it come to litigation. They likely have things on that form that might easily be forgotten to include should you be making on on the fly. Might be things on that form that don't always apply, but better to be reminded of them and mark doesn't apply than to omit something that does apply.

 

[kwired]

Yes, and, after the whole group has signed the form that spreads the responsibility of doing work on energized equipment, say a short prayer that you are not the one person in the group that they hand the torque wrench to.


JAP>

I would hope since someone's life is potentially on the line here that the facility owner, CEO, other general manager is one of the persons that signs this form and they realize what the potential losses are should something go bad vs what they think the shut down will cost.

Also gives some incentive to design so entire facility shutdown becomes less necessary or at least less often by arranging so that certain sections can be shut down without effecting other sections.

 

[tortuga]

So while your all here on the safety topic, what do you all do when adding a say a 30A branch to a 480V panel?
We'll stick with a 1980's era panel with no labeling for this example.
Say your doing a new breaker, new wire pull into the panel etc.
De-energize the entire panel?
Energize Electrical Work Permit to the boss? (what if your a one man show the owner of the building?)
PPE space suit?
Hire a company to do a safety risk assessment and make a AF label?

 

[hillbilly1]

So while your all here on the safety topic, what do you all do when adding a say a 30A branch to a 480V panel?
We'll stick with a 1980's era panel with no labeling for this example.
Say your doing a new breaker, new wire pull into the panel etc.
De-energize the entire panel?
Energize Electrical Work Permit to the boss? (what if your a one man show the owner of the building?)
PPE space suit?
Hire a company to do a safety risk assessment and make a AF label?

If you de-energize the panel, no PPE required other than to verify it is de-energized, no risk assessment needed.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

I would hope since someone's life is potentially on the line here that the facility owner, CEO, other general manager is one of the persons that signs this form and they realize what the potential losses are should something go bad vs what they think the shut down will cost.

Also gives some incentive to design so entire facility shutdown becomes less necessary or at least less often by arranging so that certain sections can be shut down without effecting other sections.

The sample EEWP in Annex J of 70E has three sections. The first is filled out by the person requesting the work and must include the justification for doing energized work. The second by the electrically qualified person who will be doing the work. The third is the approval by the facility people.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

So while your all here on the safety topic, what do you all do when adding a say a 30A branch to a 480V panel?
We'll stick with a 1980's era panel with no labeling for this example.
Say your doing a new breaker, new wire pull into the panel etc.
De-energize the entire panel?
Energize Electrical Work Permit to the boss? (what if your a one man show the owner of the building?)
PPE space suit?
Hire a company to do a safety risk assessment and make a AF label?

We would have the panel shutdown for the conduit entry, breaker installation, and conductor termination.
We would also have the load end finished, the wire pulled to a pull point close to the panel, and the conduit to enter the panel prefabbed before the panel is shut down to limit the down time.

However that does not really answer the question of how you can verify the absence of voltage as you would need PPE suitable for the hazard, and with no markings you have no idea what the PPE may be. You could make some guesses based on what information you have, but that is not the best idea.

For new project, I specify the Panduit VeriSafe Absence of Voltage Tester. This is permanently installed and lets you prove absence of voltage without removing a cover. I think once there is a couple of more devices like this are on the market the code will start to require such devices. As far a I know the Panduit one is the only one on the market that OSHA says you can use for this purpose, and it is difficult to include a code rue that requires a product that is only available from one manufacturer.

​

 

[hillbilly1]

………. it is difficult to include a code rue that requires a product that is only available from one manufacturer.

​

Didn’t stop them on AFCI’s!

 

[don_resqcapt19]

Didn’t stop them on AFCI’s!

There was more than one brand on the market when the rule fir afcis took effect.

 

[hillbilly1]

There was more than one brand on the market when the rule fir afcis took effect.

All built by Eaton until the other manufacturers could catch up.

 

[kwired]

All built by Eaton until the other manufacturers could catch up.

IIRC some those first AFCI requirements had a start date in the code, presumably to give time to manufacturers - which are the ones offering the most input on AFCI code requirements as well - imagine that.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

All built by Eaton until the other manufacturers could catch up.

I don't believe that was correct at the time the rule took effect. It may have been when it was adopted, but the rule had a future effective date.

 

[mayanees]

I have no idea what an EEWP is.

Tortuga,
NFPA now has free access to the standards, at least for our NFPA 70, 70B and 70E at this time. There are lots more, and eventually I think all of the standards will be accessible.
You need to register, but the Free Access would allow you to bring up the Energized Electrical Work Permit and print it as a pdf. Then you could edit that form with responses using Adobe or BluBeam or with a pen/pencil.
Unfortunately the requirement is that energized work is only permitted if it's more dangerous to turn the equipment off, which applies to places like hospitals. Troubleshooting is permitted without an EEWP, as is opening up panel covers.
I bought the $99/year NFPA Link subscription which is what they're pushing. It's a much-improved version of the Free Access. In fact, I think the Free Access is purposely limited so that NFPA Link looks like the best way to go.
Good luck with it.