{"id":13373,"date":"2018-09-17T11:00:21","date_gmt":"2018-09-17T19:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2018\/09\/17\/news-7140\/"},"modified":"2018-09-17T11:00:21","modified_gmt":"2018-09-17T19:00:21","slug":"news-7140","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2018\/09\/17\/news-7140\/","title":{"rendered":"Normal Operating Condition of Electrical Equipment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Credit to Author: Rod West| Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2018 13:20:37 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Did you ever stop to think of the vast number of switches and circuit breakers found in the world?\u00a0 They are found in virtually every market and application around the globe.\u00a0 Operation of those circuit breakers and switches is a common task. It is probably very conservative to say that they are being operated tens of thousands of times each day.\u00a0 Even so, prior to moving the handle workers should always <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.schneider-electric.com\/energy-regulations\/2016\/12\/20\/risk-assessment-electrical-contractors-important-tool\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">assess the risk<\/a> and confirm that the equipment is in normal operating condition.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Normal Operati<\/strong><strong>ng Condition<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Clearly the likelihood of arc flash incident is high when employees are working on or near exposed live parts.\u00a0 Live parts are considered to be exposed when they are not suitably guarded, isolated, or insulated.\u00a0 Normal operation of enclosed equipment is not likely to result in an arc flash provided it is in a normal operating condition.\u00a0 So how do we define normal operating condition?\u00a0 A great start is found in the Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfpa.org\/codes-and-standards\/all-codes-and-standards\/list-of-codes-and-standards\/detail?code=70E\">NFPA 70E.<\/a>\u00a0 Here you will find that to be in normal operating condition, the equipment must:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>be properly installed.<\/li>\n<li>be properly maintained.<\/li>\n<li>used in accordance with instructions included in the listing and labeling and in accordance with manufacturer\u2019s instructions.<\/li>\n<li>have doors closed and secured.<\/li>\n<li>have covers in place and secured.<\/li>\n<li>not show evidence of impending failure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To consider the equipment in a normal operating condition all six of these conditions must be met.\u00a0 If any of the criteria are not met, the equipment is not in a normal operating condition and additional protective measures, including the use of PPE, must be considered.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Understanding the Conditions<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Reviewing each of these criteria will help us to better understand them.<\/p>\n<p>The phrase \u201cproperly installed\u201d means that the equipment has been installed per the manufacturer&#8217;s instructions and installation codes and standards.\u00a0 Consider the wiring methods, workmanship, clearances, operating environment and commissioning.<\/p>\n<p>The phrase \u201cproperly maintained\u201d indicates that the equipment has been maintained in accordance with the manufacturer\u2019s recommendations and industry codes and standards.\u00a0 These are published by organizations such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nema.org\/pages\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NEMA<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfpa.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NFPA<\/a>.\u00a0 A comprehensive maintenance program is invaluable and real time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.schneider-electric.com\/en\/product-range-presentation\/65616-ecostruxure%E2%84%A2-maintenance-advisor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">asset monitoring<\/a> methods can help users gather even more information related to the condition of maintenance.<\/p>\n<p>The next criteria are that the equipment is to be used in\u00a0accordance with the instructions and the listing and labeling.\u00a0 These criteria address potential misuse or misapplication of the product and ensure it is used per the product standards.<\/p>\n<p>The following two items point out that equipment doors and covers must be in place, closed and secured.\u00a0 These are self-explanatory since open or missing equipment covers can expose live parts and increase the likelihood of creating both shock and arc flash hazards.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, the phrase \u201cevidence of impending failure\u201d encompasses a variety of issues.\u00a0 These include arcing, overheating, loose parts, bound mechanisms, physical damage, water or dust contamination, certain odors and corrosion.\u00a0 Workers can use multiple sensory inputs (hearing, seeing, touching, and smelling) to identify signs of impending failure.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Stay Alert<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Repetitive tasks can cause complacency and overconfidence.\u00a0 Prior to operation, workers must make a habit of confirming that equipment is in normal operating condition and know what to do if it is not.\u00a0 Stay up to date on NFPA 70E by joining our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.schneider-electric.us\/en\/partners\/electrical-contractor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Electrical Contractor Portal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.schneider-electric.com\/energy-regulations\/2018\/09\/17\/normal-operating-condition-of-electrical-equipment\/\">Normal Operating Condition of Electrical Equipment<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.schneider-electric.com\">Schneider Electric Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.schneider-electric.com\/energy-regulations\/2018\/09\/17\/normal-operating-condition-of-electrical-equipment\/\" target=\"bwo\" >http:\/\/blog.schneider-electric.com\/feed\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Credit to Author: Rod West| Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2018 13:20:37 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Did you ever stop to think of the vast number of switches and circuit breakers found in the world?\u00a0 They are found in virtually every market and application around the&#8230;  <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.schneider-electric.com\/energy-regulations\/2018\/09\/17\/normal-operating-condition-of-electrical-equipment\/\" title=\"ReadNormal Operating Condition of Electrical Equipment\">Read more &#187;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.schneider-electric.com\/energy-regulations\/2018\/09\/17\/normal-operating-condition-of-electrical-equipment\/\">Normal Operating Condition of Electrical Equipment<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.schneider-electric.com\">Schneider Electric Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[12389,12388],"tags":[12994,15384,12993,12995,12422,12996],"class_list":["post-13373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-scadaics","category-schneider","tag-electrical-contractors","tag-electrical-safety","tag-energy-regulations","tag-nfpa","tag-nfpa-70e","tag-regulations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13373\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}