Good Electrical Safety Practices To Safeguard Against Arc Flash
Good Electrical Safety Practices To Safeguard Against Arc Flash
If you or your employees are working on or near to electrical sources, then you must have a thorough understanding of the NFPA 70E regulations.
The effects of arc flash can be devastating and result in life-changing injuries, so it’s essential that you put in place good electrical safety practices to safeguard against the potential risks.
The higher the voltage of an electrical power system, the greater the risk for people working on or near energised conductors and equipment. For any workplace where arc flash is a hazard, a robust policy of procedures, risk assessments and protective equipment must be implanted to safeguard the wellness of workers.
Here are three elements that all organisations should adhere to in order to protect their employees from the dangers of arc flash and stay on the right side of the HSE.
1. Carry Out Regular Risk Assessments
You can’t put in place appropriate measures for arc flash protection unless you’re fully aware of the risk that each task poses. Therefore, it is imperative that you carry out a full risk assessment on any electrical job to ensure that you are aware of all risks and can mitigate against them with appropriate actions and process. Your risk assessment will determine whether an arc flash hazard exists and if it does, will determine the arc flash boundary and the PPE to be used when carrying out the task.
2. Safe Working Practices
Once your risk assessment is complete, you’ll be able to develop, document, train and implement safety programs and procedures including:
- Safe working distances
- Elimination
- Time exposure
- Equipment maintenance
- Appropriate PPE
These procedures must be rigorously enforced, and PPE maintained and provided to ensure the safety of all personnel.
3. Well Maintained PPE
The last line of defence against arc flash is PPE. It is up to the employer to provide appropriate PPE following the outcome of an arc flash risk assessment and incident energy calculation.
Wearwell provides a wide range of arc flash PPE – the actual garments you require will depend on your risk assessment and energy calculations.
We understand that it can be difficult to know where to start so, if you do need pointing in the right direction after you have established your good electrical safety practises, just get in touch with us to speak to one of our team. If you already know what you need, our brand new range of multi-norm clothing is at the cutting-edge of arc flash protection and the most advanced workwear of its kind.
For more advice on the wide range of PPE available to protect staff from the risks of arc flash, and what you’ll need to comply with the latest arc flash PPE regulations, contact Werawell on:
- Telephone: 01827 63651
- Email: sales@wearwell.co.uk
