By James A. Huddleston, P.E., Senior Consulting Engineer, Fauske & Associates, LLC
OSHA requires that employers implement and document an electrical
safety program to protect their employees from electrical hazards such as shock and arc flash. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 70E is the consensus standard for electrical safety in the workplace and as such OSHA uses this standard when determining compliance.
Look for a testing and consulting lab that has a highly qualified staff of electrical engineers who can assess and make recommendations to mitigate risk associated with electrical hazards in your workplace such as shock and arc flash. Key components of a thorough process are as follows:
- Assessment - Electrical engineers will perform a thorough review and assessment of your entire electrical power system which begins with a site visit to collect and visually verify key data such as single-line diagrams, equipment nameplate data, protective device settings and other required electrical drawings
- Modeling - Your entire electrical power system should then be modeled using ETAP, SKM Power*tools or equivalent electrical engineering software (based upon customer preference) using the information that was gathered during the site visit
- Analysis - Electrical engineers will analyze all short-circuit, incident energies and protective device coordination data resulting from the electrical power system modeling and studies to determine the adequacy of circuit breaker interrupt and bus bracing ratings, in addition to the minimum levels of personal protective equipment (PPE) required for the protection of your employees
- Reporting - A report will be generated which highlights all of the risks within your facility and electrical power system (as compared to NFPA 70E criteria) which will be presented to all of your key stakeholders
- Labeling - All applicable electrical equipment in your facility will be appropriately labeled in accordance with NFPA 70E requirements by our team of electrical engineers and technicians
- Training - Your employees will receive training that is tailored to your needs that will specifically highlight the risks present in your workplace along with the required PPE and safe work practices necessary to mitigate those risks
Other things you might add? For more information or to discuss, please contact AnnMarie Fauske, afauske@fauske.com, 630-887-5213. www.fauske.com
electrical shock, risk assessment