{"id":12244,"date":"2018-05-09T11:00:02","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T19:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2018\/05\/09\/news-6013\/"},"modified":"2018-05-09T11:00:02","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T19:00:02","slug":"news-6013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2018\/05\/09\/news-6013\/","title":{"rendered":"NFPA 70E 2018: What You Need to Know to Protect Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"

Credit to Author: Corey Jasper| Date: Tue, 08 May 2018 23:26:03 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

Exposure to electricity resulted in 154 workplace fatalities and 1,850 cases with days away from work in 2014, according to the 2017 edition of the National Safety Council’s \u201cInjury Facts\u201d data. Industry consensus standards like The National Fire Protection Agency’s (NFPA) article 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, are designed to provide safe work practices and protect personnel by reducing risk when exposed to electrical hazards.<\/p>\n

NFPA 70E requirements<\/a> are updated every three years. Here’s a look at what you need to know about this year’s revision.<\/p>\n

Job safety planning<\/strong>: Previously, a simple job safety briefing sufficed. Now, a written safety plan must be made for all electrical work where employees are exposed to electrical hazards. The condition and maintenance of equipment now must also be accounted for in the plan.<\/p>\n

Equipment labeling<\/strong>: The new exception to 130.5(H) allows for possible alternatives to traditional labeling of equipment providing the option for a digital smart label in the form of a barcode or QR code.<\/p>\n

These labels can link to a central database and give workers easier access to the same necessary hazard information, such as voltage and current and energy levels normally printed directly on the equipment.<\/p>\n

Risk assessment procedure<\/strong>: One of the more significant updates, the risk assessment procedure now specifically requires electrical workers to address human error and its negative consequences on people, processes, work environments and equipment.<\/p>\n

Organizations are required to incorporate the following hierarchy of control methods (in order of priority) to more effectively reduce risk to an acceptable level. This revision takes into consideration that personal protective equipment (PPE) should be considered only as the last line of defense for protecting against injury \u2014 not<\/em> preventing an incident from happening.<\/p>\n

\"NFPA<\/p>\n

Hierarchy of Controls<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Arc flash risk assessment<\/strong>: \u00a0This section has been revised and moved \u2014 now\u00a0Table 130.5(C).\u00a0The table can be used for both ways of doing an arc flash risk assessment \u2014 it now also applies to the incident energy analysis. The assessment protocol is: 1) identify arc flash hazards, 2) estimate the likelihood of occurrence of injury or damage to health and the potential severity of injury or damage to health and 3) determine if additional protective measures are required.<\/p>\n

PPE selection<\/strong>. Formerly part of the Annex material, this table [now Table 130.5(G)] has moved into the standard\u2019s mandatory text. The table provides guidance on the selection of PPE based on the calculated level of incident energy. Based on how the table has separated the different incident energy levels, it leads the user to a more simplified approach to selecting PPE (i.e. using a 2 level simplified approach rather than have 4 or 5 categories to choose from).<\/p>\n

Creating a culture of safety<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the NFPA 70E guidelines provide a comprehensive framework, it\u2019s important to remember that there\u2019s no cookie cutter recipe for managing electrical safety. It largely depends on the facility and the industry in which your business operates. Here are some best practices to consider:<\/p>\n