![]() ![]() The ever-increasing power of batteries (in particular lithium batteries) is addressed in the 2021 edition. This change affects potentially every maintenance employee in a workplace.Īlso, circuit breakers that interrupt faults approaching their interrupting ratings are to be inspected and tested according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When circuit breakers are initially switched on after installation or after maintenance has been completed, operators are now required to wear appropriate arc-rated PPE. The new definition: an arc-rated head-protective fabric that protects the neck and head except for a small portion of the facial area.Ĭircuit Breaker Safety and Battery SafetyĬircuit breaker safety and battery safety have new requirements in the 2021 edition. In addition, the definition of balaclava has been changed.Acceptable electrical safety footwear has been expanded in the 2021 edition to go beyond traditional leather footwear to include other types footwear other than leather or dielectric as long as it has been tested to demonstrate no ignition, melting, or dripping at the estimated incident energy exposure or the minimum arc rating for the respective arc flash PPE category.Now qualified workers can wear a category 1 arc rated high-visibility vests (4 cal/cm2) during the workday and not have to remove it to perform electrical troubleshooting or voltage measurements In the past qualified workers that were required to wear high-visibility vests had to remove the vests if the vest did not meet the level of arc flash protection required. The 2021 edition addresses the common practice of wearing high-visibility vests over arc rated clothing. PPE includes nonconductive head protection, eye protection, hearing protection, and arc-rated clothing whenever there is possible exposure to an electric arc flash, insulating blankets, and non-melting footwear. Personal protective equipment (PPE) constitutes part of NFPA 70E®.Manufacturers must now make instructions and recommendations more readable and more accessible. ![]() Manufacturers’ instructions sometimes have been skipped because the information might be hard to access, forcing workers to dig through equipment packaging, or small print instructions have made readability difficult. The 2021 70E® edition places a new emphasis on keeping on file, documenting, and following the recommendations of electrical equipment and PPE manufacturers’ instructions.New to the 2021 edition: classroom training can include interactive electronic or interactive web-based training components. Electrical safety training for employees exposed to specific hazards associated with electrical energy is to be classroom-based, on-the-job, or a combination of the two.Energized electrical conductors and circuit parts operating at voltages equal to or greater than 50 volts are to be put into an electrically safe condition before an employee performs work if the individual is within the limited approach boundary and/or the individual interacts with equipment where conductors or circuit parts are not exposed but an increased likelihood of injury from an exposure to an arc flash hazard exists. ![]() The first priority in implementing these work practices is hazard elimination. For instance, Article 110 of the standard – General Requirements for Electrical Safety-Related Work Practices - has been revised to consolidate general requirements for electrical safety-related work programs, practices and procedures from other articles.
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