Northrock PPE Catalogue - USA Edition

ELECTRIC ARC FLASH

NFPA 70E ELECTRICAL SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE

NFPA® 70E electrical safety related work practices for workplaces and requires employees working on or near energized parts and equipment to wear flame resistant clothing that meets the requirements of ASTM F1506. THE TEST NFPA 70E standard provides the table below as a guideline for the selection of protective apparel when working within the arc flash boundary. The higher the ARC rating value, the greater the protection. ARC 1 (which is low risk) ARC 4 (which is high risk and requires FR clothing with a minimum arc rating of 40).

UFR48

THE RISK An Electric Arc and the resulting Arc Flash is the rapid and dangerous release of energy due to an electrical arcing fault. The extreme heat creates a large amount of thermal radiant energy and produces electrical shock. The risk occurs when working both at low and high voltage.

REQUIRED MINIMUM ARC RAT ING OF PPE/CAL/ CM2

ARC RATED PPE

CLOTHING DESCRIPTION

1 ARC: Arc rated FR Shirt and FR pants or FR Coverall 2 ARC: Arc rated FR Shirt and FR pants or FR Coverall 3 ARC: Arc rated FR Shirt and FR pants or FR Coverall, and arc flash suit selected so that the system arc rating meets the required minimum 4 ARC: Arc rated FR Shirt and FR pants or FR Coverall and arc flash suit selected so that the system arc rating meets the required minimum

1 ARC

4

WHO IS AT RISK? Those working with and around low and high voltage electricity.

2 ARC

8

3 ARC

UFR49

25

INJURIES Thermal burns, hearing loss, blindness, nerve damage, cardiac arrest, shrapnel injury (blast) and potential death.

4 ARC

40

ASTM F1959/F1959M

FT05

ASTM F1959/F1959M is the test method for determining the ARC rating of materials for clothing.

186