Arc Flash Studies - Why are they Important?
The never ending question of why?
It began in childhood, endlessly asking our parents the same question: Why? As an adult, were are reminded of this because children are constantly throwing the same question at us.
Fortunately, these many years of training have prepared us to ask the same thing in our careers, but now we formulate the question as “Why should I do that?”
Why do we need an arc flash study?
I am approached almost weekly by a property manager or engineer asking me, “Why do I have to do an arc flash study of my buildings electrical system?”
Unlike the many questions we have for life, I believe you can answer this question in just two simple steps.
The first step was asking the right question:
“Do I need an arc flash study?”
You are responsible for the safety of your employees in the workplace.
In 1976, OSHA authorized NFPA to create a standard to prevent the loss of lives due to electrocution and arc flash incidents in the work place. NFPA 70E is the standard created for electrical safety and states an arc flash risk assessment shall be performed.
The second step is to schedule your arc flash study.
Not only will the arc flash study protect the integrity of the property, but it will protect the lives of current and future employees.
It is the property owner’s responsibility to make known the possibility for an arc flash risk.
The owner of the building's electrical equipment is responsible for the documentation, installation, and maintenance of the field marked labels. When the arc flash study is completed, equipment will be labeled to identify the risk to both employees and contractors working in and with the electrical system.
