Northrock PPE Catalogue- Australia Edition

INJURIES​ THERMAL BURNS, HEARING LOSS, BLINDNESS, NERVE DAMAGE, CARDIAC ARREST, SHRAPNEL INJURY (BLAST) AND POTENTIAL DEATH.

ELECTRIC ARC FLASH​ WHAT’S 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.

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

IEC 61482 ​ THERMAL ARC HAZARDS ELECTRIC ARC​

NFPA 70E​ ELECTRICAL SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE

IEC 61482-2 protective clothing against the thermal arc hazards of an electric arc. THE TEST​ The standard has 2 test methods, only 1 test is required to comply with the standard, but both can be carried out.

NFPA® 70E: 2015 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 table 130.7(C)(16) 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).

OPEN ARC METHOD IEC 61482-1-1

BOX TEST METHOD IEC 61482-1-2

The Open Arc test method is used to determine the thermal insulating properties of a fabric when exposed to the energy of an electric arc. All results are in cal/cm² the higher the value, the greater the protection. There are 3 possible values determined during this test method:​ ATPV is the maximum incident energy that protective garment can be exposed to before the wearer would have a 50% probability of 2nd degree burns. ​ EBT is the incident energy on a material that results in a 50% probability of breakopen. ​ ELIM (Incident Energy Limit): This value is the highest incident thermal energy to which the garment can be exposed with a 0% risk of the wearer getting a second-degree burn injury. ELIM values are usually lower calorific values than ATPV and EBT.

During the test the specimen is exposed to an electric arc, simulating typical exposure conditions for a short circuit current, confined in a box for 0.5 seconds.​

REQUIRED MINIMUM ARC RATING OF PPE/CAL/CM2

ARC RATED PPE

CLOTHING DESCRIPTION

1 ARC

1 ARC: Arc rated FR Shirt and FR pants or FR Coverall

4

• For APC 1, the specimen is exposed to a current of 4 kA (400 V, 168 kJ)​

2 ARC: Arc rated FR Shirt and FR pants or FR Coverall

2 ARC

8

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

3 ARC

• For APC 2, the specimen is exposed to a current of 7 kA (400V, 320 kJ) ​

25

4 ARC

40

ASTM F1959/ F1959M-12

ASTM F1959/F1959M-12 is the test method​ for determining the ARC rating of materials for​clothing.

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