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Make the most of your energySM

Compliance Solutions:NFPA 70E 2012 Editionfrom Schneider Electric Services

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Fact:

Electrical hazards cause

more than 300 deathsand 4,000 injuries in the

workplace each year.

Source: Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI)

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Risks associated with shock and electrocution from inadvertent

contact with energized parts have long been recognized as

a threat to electrical workers. It has only been in recent yearsthat awareness of the dangers of arc flash events have been

incorporated into electrical safety standards.

Electrical accidents rank 6th among all causes

of work-related deaths in the United States.*

Regulatory agencies soon recognized the severity and urgency o the

situation. The Occupational Saety and Health Administration (OSHA)

developed laws to protect electrical workers. These laws, in essence,

mandate that work on electrical equipment must be perormed in a mannerthat does not expose the worker to undue risk o injury.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70E: Standard or Electrical

Saety in the Workplace is the document most oten reerenced or electrical

saety. OSHA enorces electrical workplace saety standards outlined in

NFPA 70E. Enorcement may take place ollowing an electrical accident or

during their normal on-site inspection process.

Schneider Electric Services advocates compliance to NFPA 70E: Standard o

Electrical Saety in the Workplace not only or worker saety, but also equipment

productivity. An arc ash accident can render equipment unusable and place

the acility in a costly downtime mode, which could last hours or days.

It is estimated that the combination of a workplace

injury and equipment downtime can cost as much as

8 - 10 million dollars.

* Electrical Saety Foundation International (ESFI)

The Liberty Mutual Research Institute or Saety reports that electrical

injuries are the second most costly workers compensation claim.

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What a Facility Can Do to Complywith NFPA 70E 2012 Edition.

The newly-released 2012 version of NFPA 70E requires the development

and enforcement of an Electrical Safe Work Practices (ESWP) policy. It also

defines the requirements for safe work practices and requires audits and

revisions to keep the safety policy up to date.

Did you know?NFPA 70E-2012, Section 110.1(A) states that

hiring contractors to perorm electrical work

does not absolve the owner o the acility

(host employer) rom assuring compliance to

sae work practices.

The acility owner is ultimately responsible or

saety at their site and must communicate

known hazards covered by NFPA 70E to the

contracted worker(s).

In addition, the owner must report any

contract employees saety violations to the

contract employer.

While basic compliance to NFPA 70E requirements is

established with a fve-step process, a sixth step assists theacility owner with fne tuning the electrical power system,

both or saety and operability.

Step 1: Develop and Audit Electrical Sae Work

Practices Policy

Step 2: Conduct an Electrical System Study to Determine

the Present Degree o Arc Flash Hazards and

Apply Associated Equipment Labeling

Step 3: Ensure Adequate Supplies o Personal Protective

Equipment (PPE) and Proper Tools

Step 4: Conduct Regularly-Scheduled Saety Training and

Audits or All Electrical Workers

Step 5: Maintain All Electrical Distribution System

Components

Step 6: Follow Strategies to Mitigate and Control ArcFlash Hazards

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Step 1

Develop and Audit an Electrical Safe Work

Practices (ESWP) Policy.

Six-step process

The safety policy is aliving document that must be audited andcorrected over time.

This is a written document created by the

employer that covers all areas o the companys

electrical saety practices. It includes such things

as lock out/tag out procedures, method o

qualiying the workers, selection and application

o PPE, methods o establishing a sae work

area, arc ash and shock protection calculations,

equipment labeling, and worker audit procedures.

While the requirement o developing andenorcing a saety policy has been in NFPA 70E

or several revision cycles, it has been urther

refned in the 2012 standard.

NFPA 70E-2012 clarifes and expands upon the

requirement to audit the saety policy itsel. This

audit must be perormed on a three-year cycle to

assure continued compliance o the policies and

procedures to the standard. When the auditing

determines that the principles and procedures

o the electrical saety program are not being

ollowed, the appropriate revisions to the trainingprogram or revisions to the procedures shall be

made. In addition, workers must be evaluated or

compliance to the standards and the policy, and

any deviations must be documented.

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Step 2

Conduct an Electrical System Study to Determine

the Present Degree of Arc Flash Hazards.

This is an electrical system engineering study that is overseen by proessional

engineers amiliar with the power distribution and control equipment and the

calculation methods required. The methodology or conducting an arc ash

analysis is outlined in IEEE 1584 Guide or Perorming Arc-Flash Hazard

Calculations.

NFPA 70E-2012, Section 130.5 states an arc ash hazard analysis shall

determine the arc ash boundary, the incident energy at the working distance,

and the personal protective equipment that people shall use within the arc

ash boundary.

An arc ash hazard analysis must be updated when a major renovation or

modifcation takes place. At a minimum, it should be reviewed every fve years

because changes in the electrical distribution system could aect the results

o the arc ash hazard analysis.

Apply Warning Labels to Equipment.

NFPA 70E-2012, Section 130.5(C) requires that equipment that is likely to

be examined, adjusted, serviced, or maintained while energized shall be

feld-marked with a label containing all o the ollowing inormation:

1) At least one o the ollowing:

Available incident energy and

corresponding working distance

Minimum arc rating o clothing

Required level o PPE

Highest Hazard/Risk Category

(HRC) or the equipment

2) Nominal system voltage

3) Arc ash boundary

In addition, the calculation method and data to support the inormation or

the label shall be documented.

Schneider Electric can assist with providing the full package including thedata collection, analysis, and label installation.

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Step 3

Ensure Adequate

Supplies of PPEand Proper Tools.

Step4

Conduct Regular Safety

Training and Assessments.

Six-step process

Employees working in areas where there are

potential electrical hazards shall be provided

with personal protective equipment (PPE) that is

appropriate or the specifc parts o the body to be

protected. This can include arc-resistant shirt, pants

or coveralls, or a multi-layer ash suit. Additional

PPE requirements consist o ash hoods, voltage

rated gloves, EH-rated saety shoes, saety glasses,

and hard hats. The 2012 edition o NFPA 70E also

requires employees who are working within the arc

ash boundary to wear hearing protection.

Properly-rated equipment is needed to test

voltages. Insulated tools are required or workers

who are to perorm testing and troubleshooting

on energized equipment.

NFPA 70E defnes a qualifed person as one who has skills and knowledge

related to the construction and operation o the electrical equipment and

systems, and has received saety training to recognize and avoid the hazards

involved. This training requirement means that the employee must have

received saety training specifc to the hazards o arc ash, arc blast, shock,

and electrocution.* Electrical workers are not considered to be qualifed by

OSHA until they have received this specifc training.

Further, the employer must veriy, through regular supervision or through

inspection conducted on at least an annual basis, that each worker is

complying with the saety-related work practices required by NFPA 70E.

This requirement has been added in the 2012 issue o the standard.

* Schneider Electric instructors are OSHA authorized Outreach Trainers to ensure your employees are ormally trained and

aware o arc fash hazards per OSHA and NFPA 70E requirements.

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Step 5

Maintain All Electrical Distribution

System Components.

The active components in electrical distribution systems comprise o uses,

circuit breakers, and protective relays that help protect the system in the event

o an electrical ault. These over-current protective devices have a critical

role in controlling the arc ash energy. Thereore, it is crucial to keep these

devices in proper operating condition with a regular maintenance program.

Without proper over-current protection, sustained arcing can subject electrical

workers to much higher levels o energy. On the other hand, modern, properly

adjusted over-current protective devices that have been well maintained are

able to detect an arcing ault condition and clear the ault quickly.

Unless adequate maintenance is perormed, the electrical system study and

the arc ash analysis will not be a correct representation o the potential

perormance o the power system. Thereore,

in addition to compliance with NFPA 70E,

Schneider Electric recommends that acilities

adopt NFPA 70B 2010 Edition: Recommended

Practice or Electrical Equipment Maintenance.

Our qualifed feld services personnel perorm

on-site preventive and predictive maintenance

services or any manuacturers electrical

equipment. Upon completion, a detailed report is

provided that identifes potential issues along with

corrective recommendations.

Equipment must be in an electrically-safe condition during

maintenance, testing, and repair.9

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Six-step process

Step 6

Follow Strategies to Mitigate and Control

Arc Flash Hazards.This oten overlooked step is one o the most crucial in optimizing the saety

and perormance o the power system. The arc ash study perormed in step

two essentially establishes the arc ash energy levels and the required PPE

or the power system in the existing condition. However, the calculated arc

ash energies may be high enough to hinder some normal tasks rom being

perormed within the arc ash boundary o the equipment. For example, an

incident energy o 35 cal/cm2 may be calculated or a 600 volt motor control

center. To protect the worker rom the arc ash levels, PPE such as heavy

arc-rated clothing and ash hood will be needed. Yet, workers may view the

required arc ash PPE to actually be a hindrance to the job. The difculty in

movement under heavy clothing and the reduction in eye sight under the

Shown above: Virtual Main Relay System or Arc Flash Energy Reduction

heavy ash hood make it difcult, i not impossible,

to perorm proper testing and troubleshooting.

The goal o arc ash mitigation is to reduce the

arc ash energy, and thus the PPE, to a level

that permits normal tasks to be perormed on

equipment. Arc ash mitigation has been a rapidly

developing area o research and development or

Schneider Electric. We are constantly working on

new mitigation strategies to promote electricalworkplace saety.

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Arc Flash Mitigation Solutions

Schneider Electric Services provides a variety of arc flash

mitigation solutions for any brand of electrical equipment.

Solution Group 1

Solution Group 2

Lowers arc flash energy by reducing the arcing time.

Over-Current Protective Device (OCPD) Coordination Study

An OCPD coordination study optimizes circuit breaker and relay settings and can be specifed as a

component o the arc ash study. The speed o operation o the OCPD determines the duration o an

arc ash event.

Specialized Relaying Such as Light Sensing Technology

Strategically-placed light sensors in switchgear compartments makes it possible to sense the arc within amillisecond. Modern relays can sense this condition and trip the appropriate circuit breaker. Other relaying

technologies are zone selective interlocking and dierential protection.

Virtual Main Relay

Low-voltage switchgear and switchboards can be subjected to dangerous levels o arc ash incident

energy when ed directly rom a power transormer. Upgrading switchgear with a virtual main relay adds

over-current sensing to the low-voltage side o the service transormer and is designed to trip an existing

upstream ault-breaking device.

Removes worker from location or places a barrier between workerand exposed energized parts.

Infrared (IR) Windows

IR windows allow you to obtain condition and status inormation o electrical equipment

without the need to remove equipment panels. The complete unit is permanently ftted

into electrical equipment and enables inrared inspections to be perormed without

downtime.

Remote Racking System (RRS)

A RRS allows medium-voltage circuit breaker racking operations to be perormed viaa control panel located away rom the cell, removing the operator rom manual contact

with the circuit breaker. In addition, a RRS may reduce the PPE Hazard Risk category

because the worker is removed rom the ash protection boundary.

Wireless Temperature Monitoring System (WTMS)

A WTMS allows or easy feld installation o wireless sensors into low- and medium-

voltage equipment. Sensors can be placed in locations usually not accessible with an

inrared camera. They can be installed on equipment with high arc ash ratings, allowing

equipment condition to be monitored without a risk o danger to personnel or equipment.

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Why Choose Schneider ElectricEngineering Services for NFPA 70ECompliance Solutions?

Schneider Electric USA

1415 S. Roselle Road

Palatine, IL 60067

Tel: 847-397-2600

Fax: 847-925-7500

www.schneider-electric.com/us

D t N b 1910BR1204 F b 2012

Schneider Electric Engineering Services has been proactively engaged in

electrical workplace safety and compliance since arc flash requirements

were first introduced.

Many o our engineers are leaders in IEEE, NFPA, and other power system standard-making

organizations. Specifcally, we:

Have over 100 strategically-located proessional engineers who are collectively registered in every

state o the U.S. to meet state licensing requirements

Are proessional engineers who have in-depth knowledge o power distribution and control equipment

and expertise o the calculation methods required or arc ash analyses

Provide ull-scope NFPA 70E compliance support and solutions

Oer arc ash mitigation solutions through a variety o engineering and electrical distribution services

Established a standardized methodology to complete arc ash analyses along with uniorm reporting

standards nationwide

Provide generic arc ash analysis specifcations to assist customers with specifcation development

Have the capabilities to perorm the arc ash analysis as well as make recommendations or

corrective action(s)

For more Inormation:

888-778-2733Visit www.SEreply.com and enter keycode m625v

Any engineer ing serv ices reerenced herein sha ll be provided by Schneider Electric Engineering Ser vices, LLC, a wholly-owned

subsidiary o Schneider Electric USA, Inc. This document is or inormation purposes only and is not meant to be construed as an

oer to provide engineering services.