Far be it from me to suggest that nobody in Canada understands the importance of electrical safety awareness but there does exist large segments of the electrical industry who are, to put it lightly, not very informed when it comes to how devastating an arc flash incident can be. This runs through all levels, from industrial to residential. Generally supervisors with an electrical background have a good handle on what an electrical arc fault is but a lot of folks out there, electricians included still associate the term “arc flash” with “welders eye”.

An Example of Who’s Ready Now

Yes, large multi-nationals with operations in both the United States and Canada are for the most part leading the charge in awareness and hazard identification. Weyerhaeuser Canada for instance has a policy that outside contractors who have not been through a arc flash awareness program may not perform electrical work on Weyerhaeuser premises. This is a great example of a company going over and above the bar with its due diligence.

An Example of Who’s Not

I live in an area of Western Canada with large amounts of oil activity, when driving most places down the highway I see hundreds of oil and gas wells driven by a variety of motor starters and VFDs. 

Many times you will see service workers from various trades doing their thing at these locations. Sometimes that worker is an electrician. In all the times I have seen an electrician with cabinet door flung open, performing whatever tests with his meter,I have yet to see one wearing an arc rated face-shield or hood .Oft times he or she has an apprentice also sans face-shield peering over his shoulder. Safety glasses yes, but to this day no face-shield. I know in many cases the equipment can not possibly be locked out because the driven equipment, be it a jack or screw pump is operating.

Many tests can be performed on locked out equipment and most things can indeed be fully diagnosed in a de-energized state but some things you just can’t do such as testing voltage imbalance, current load or troubleshooting an intermittent control issue.

Table 130.07 (C)(9)(a) of the NFPA 70E 2004 Edition states that when working on energized equipment rated higher than 240v ( including voltage testing) the hazard risk category is 2*. This indicates that in addition to normal PPE full face coverage protection and hearing protection are required. 

 There is a good reason for this, the short circuit potential of the average motor starter is more than adequate to melt your face, and not in that good Jimi Hendrix guitar solo way. It may never happen in most workers lifetimes but unfortunately someone eventually gets fried.

Yet why do I see workers from some of the large industrial electrical service companies with stellar safety programs not wearing what is actually basic PPE for the task at hand?

The electrical worker in the ski lift incident failed to adequately ensure the equipment was de-energized. The apprentice should have been nowhere near a live cabinet with a drill. That’s clear. But how did they arrive at their predicament? Did they have a clear idea of the hazard potential? Given the accidents that occurred I would be surprised to find out that these two fellows had been educated within a structured and recurring electrical safety training program. 

A Cash Grab by Manufacturers of PPE?

Certainly some organizations have a lot to gain and some of our clients have voiced suspicions that some of the arc flash awareness training out there is being conducted by trainers with questionable background in both electrical knowledge and safety. I have heard reports of some arc awareness programs consisting a large part of “experts” trotting out the latest and greatest Arc Wear with little instruction on actual task procedure or hazard analysis methodology. Thankfully they are easy to spot. But this pseudo-safety training really can leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Despite this a quick glance at page 5 of the NFPA 70E listing the members of the technical safety committee shows the majority of committee members coming from manufacturers, utilities, electrical unions and testing institutes. Canada is represented by a member of the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists. The members of the Canadian CSA Z462 committee also represent a broad and balanced representation of industry. Safe to say the standard was written with the focus of worker safety paramount but also with an eye to keeping methods of protection within a realistic framework.

Thanks for reading and don’t hesitate to forward any questions and/or feedback you have back to me at robsmith@canada-training-group.ca . 

Have a safe day.