Background
• Involved with the Flame Resistant Clothing market from the service, manufacturing and garment sides for over
15 years.
• Over the past 8 years worked closely with fortune 1000 companies as they look develop PPE programs within their Electrical Safe Work Practices to comply with
NFPA70E/NESC and also Flash Fire programs for NFPA
2113.
• Developed and conducted over 150 educational and informational seminars on the Hazards of Arc Flash and
Flash Fire for NSC, ASSE, VPPPA, NJATC, NECA,
CAER and numerous other associations.

NIOSH Office of Mine Safety and Health Research Topic:
Electrical accidents
•
Electrical accidents are the 4th leading cause of death in mining and are disproportionately fatal compared with most other types of mining accidents.
Electrical shock causes over 90% of all mine electrical fatalities. About one-fifth of these deaths result when high-reaching mobile equipment contacts power lines overhead. Burns are the leading cause of electrical injury by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. They typically result from non-contact electrical arc flashes which can produce temperatures as high as 35,000 degrees F. Pressure waves from the rapidly-heated air cause secondary injuries such as blunt-force trauma, cuts, abrasions, and hearing damage.
One-half of all mine electrical injuries and fatalities occur during electrical maintenance work, with the following electrical components most commonly involved: circuit breakers, conductors, batteries, and meters. The wide variety of electrical injuries on-the-job suggests that no single intervention strategy can eliminate occupational electrical fatalities and injuries. Instead, multi-faceted research approaches that consider not only engineering controls but also organization of work, training, and personal protective equipment are needed to mitigate electrical hazards.The work in this topic area is supported by the NIOSH Mining Electrical Safety and Communications program.
See the NIOSH Mining Products page for software, guides, training materials or other items related to this topic.
• http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/topics/topicpage1.htm
• Center for Disease Control/NIOSH

•
MSHA News Release: [11/05/2008]
Contact: Amy Louviere
Phone: 202-693-9423
Release Number 08-1561-DAL
MSHA fines XXXXXX& Control
$135,000
3 contractors injured in electrical accident
ARLINGTON, Va. The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced it has assessed $135,000 in fines against XXXXXXXXX a contractor at the XXXXXXX cement plant in Comal County, Texas.
Three contract workers were seriously injured in June and, as a result of MSHA's accident investigation, two contributory violations were issued to the contractor.
According to MSHA records, three employees were running conduit into switchgear for a plant expansion project when they suffered arc-flash electrical injuries while testing an energized circuit. Two of the contract employees suffered disfiguring facial burns and permanently disabling burns to their hands. A third suffered second- and third-degree burns to his face and arms. All three victims were qualified electricians with at least 15 years experience.
"Like so many other accidents, this one was totally preventable," said Richard E. Stickler, acting assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. "The contractor should have made certain the power was de-energized before testing the circuit."
Switchgear, used in association with an electric power system or grid, refers to the combination of electrical disconnects, fuses and/or circuit breakers that isolate and de-energize electrical equipment.
MSHA issued an unwarrantable failure citation and fined the contractor $70,000 for failure to de-energize the power circuit. MSHA also issued a regular high negligence citation and fined the contractor $65,000 for using the electrical meter beyond the design capacity intended by its manufacturer.

• What is an Arc Flash?
• Why Arc Resistant Clothing?
• NFPA 70E Standard – focus on PPE
• Creating and AR Clothing Program
• Cost?

70E HRC 2 Arc Flash (480v)

• A dangerous release of energy created by an electrical fault -
Arc temp can reach 35,000 F
• Release will contain:
– Thermal energy
– Acoustical energy
– Pressure wave
– Debris -Copper expands
67,000 times when vaporized
• Fatal burns can and do occur at >10 feet
• Per OHSA, 80% of electrically related accidents, incidents and fatalities among qualified workers are caused by Arc Flash

• Most severe burn injuries and fatalities are caused by non-flame resistant clothing igniting and continuing to burn
• Flame resistant clothing will selfextinguish, thus limiting the injury
• Body area under non-FR clothing is often burned more severely than exposed skin

Testing Video

What is Flame Resistant Clothing?
• Clothing made from fabrics that self-extinguish
• Fabrics may be natural or synthetic
• Designed to limit (not eliminate) burn injury
• Survival, extent of injury, recovery time and quality of life are all dependent on FRC performance

Burn Injury – Chances of Survival
100
80
60
40
20
0
20 - 29.9
30 - 39.9
40 - 49.9
50 - 59.9
Age Range, Years
25% Body Burn
50% Body Burn
75% Body Burn
Source: American Burn Association (1991-1993 Study)

“Primary” vs. “Secondary”
• Primary Protective Clothing
– Definition; “Clothing that is designed to be worn for work activities where significant exposure to molten substance splash, radiant heat, and flame is likely to occur.” Example-
Firefighter Turnout Gear
• Secondary Protective Clothing
– Definition; “Clothing that is designed for continuous wear in designated locations where intermittent exposure to molten substance splash, radiant heat, and flame is possible.”

What Flame Resistant Clothing is Not!

Arc Flash Incident – Chicago April 18, 2004

The details of injury and long term effects
• 2 workers suffered more than 60% 2 nd and 3 rd degree body burn.
• One subjected to induced coma for 60 day period
• 3 rd worker treated and released, today experiencing long term neurological problems – “similar to shaking a baby”
• Worker pulling off hard hat – mesh liner and helmet plastic harness melted – requiring surgical removal
• Incident energy calculated to approx. 22.7 cal/cm²

• Higher amperages, failed breakers, adjacent gear, try-backs, internal contact of energized parts, etc
– When any piece of the equipment or system fails, all calculations and predictions fail with it .
By definition, one can no longer be certain of maximum possible incident energy, or, by extension, probability of ignition of non FR cotton.

• Exempt from NFPA70E
– Utilities
– Railroads
– Off shore ships
– Mines

NFPA 70E
• Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace
• Covers industrial personnel
– Electricians
– Maintenance workers
– Operators

• Shock/Arc Flash/Arc Blast
• Arc Flash Boundary
• Qualified/Unqualified
• Hazard Risk Assessment
• Energized Work Permit

NFPA 70E Categories
One needs an Energized Work Permit

Arc Thermal Protection Value
(ATPV) is defined by ASTM F 1959-00 as:
“the incident energy on a fabric or material that results in sufficient heat transfer through the fabric or material to cause the onset of a second degree burn based on the Stoll
Curve”

Schedule of ATPV ranges associated with common workplace tasks

NFPA 70E Hazard Analysis: Three Options Available
• Calculate specific equipment hazard and match
Arc Rating of clothing to hazard
• Use task based matrix to determine hazard risk category of job
• Simplified two category approach in Annex H

Sample Industrial Calculation
• Conditions
– 18,000 available fault current
– 480 Volts
– 2 inch gap
– 14 inches away
– 10 cycle arc (1/6 of a second)
Results
• 3.84 cal/cm 2
Requires HRC 1
Clothing

Sample Industrial Calculation
• Conditions
– 18,000 available fault current
– 480 Volts
– 2 inch gap
– 10 inches away
– 10 cycle arc (1/6 of a second)
Results
• 7.89 cal/cm 2
Requires HRC 2
Clothing

Comparison of Hazard Categories
HRC1
HC4
HRC2 HRC3 HRC4
FR Shirt ( 4 cal/cm 2 )
FR Pants ( 4 cal/cm 2 )
Arc-Rated Hard Hat
Arc-Rated Faceshield
Voltage-Rated Gloves
Leather Gloves
Leather Footwear
Safety Glasses
Hearing Protection
FR Shirt ( 8 cal/cm 2 )
FR Pants ( 8 cal/cm 2 )
(or FR Coverall of 8 cal/cm 2 )
FR Balaclava ( 8 cal/cm 2 )
Arc-Rated Hard Hat
Arc-Rated Faceshield
Voltage-Rated Gloves
Leather Gloves
Leather Footwear
Safety Glasses
Hearing Protection
FR Hood ( 25 cal/cm 2 )
FR Suit ( 25 cal/cm 2 ) worn over
HC2 Shirt ( 8 cal/cm 2 )
HC2 Pants ( 8 cal/cm 2 )
Voltage-Rated Gloves
Leather Gloves
Leather Footwear
Safety Glasses
Hearing Protection
FR Hood ( 40 cal/cm 2 )
FR Suit ( 40 cal/cm 2 ) worn over
HC2 Shirt ( 8 cal/cm 2 )
HC2 Pants ( 8 cal/cm 2 )
Same as HRC 3

The 70E Solution
Confused by the selection process?
National trend is single layer HRC 2 daily wear and HRC 4 flash gear
Don’t let confusion delay your PPE selection!

• Arc Rated Hard Hat and Face Shield/Chin
Cup
• Standard Safety Glasses (Z 87.1)
• Arc Resistant (AR) Shirt 8 cal/cm 2
• Arc Resistant (AR) Pant 8 cal/cm 2
• Arc Resistant (AR) Balaclava 8 cal/cm
• Voltage Rated Gloves appropriate to the environment
• Leather Protector Gloves
• Leather Footwear
• Hearing Protection

• Arc Resistant (AR) Flash Hood 40 cal/cm 2
• Arc Resistant (AR) Flash Suit Jacket 40 cal/cm 2
• Arc Resistant (AR) Flash Suit Pants 40 cal/cm 2 worn over the
• Arc Resistant (AR) Shirt 8 cal/cm 2
• Arc Resistant (AR) Pant 8 cal/cm 2
• Hearing Protection (ear plugs) or AR
Coverall of
8 cal/cm 2
• Safety Glasses (Z 87.1)
• Voltage Rated Gloves appropriate to the environment
• Leather Protector Gloves
• Hearing Protection
• Leather Footwear
49

• Shirts
• Pants
• Coveralls
• No Mention of Shop Coats and/or Lab Coats

Don’t Do NFPA70E for Compliance – Do
It to Prevent Injury

Create an Electrically Safe Work Condition
•Disconnect From Energized Parts
•LOTO
•Verify – test to ensure absence of voltage
•Ground if necessary
* Remember “Disconnecting” and
“Verifying” is considered Hazardous Work

• Keep It Simple
• Keep It Short
• Make it something that gets read…and understood

• Training Alone does not Qualify Anyone to do electrical work
Only the Employer can
• #1 thing you have to train unqualified people is?
Three-year intervals for employee retraining and for electrical safety program auditing have been included
.

• Hazard Assessment
• PPE Selection
– Protection
– Comfort
– Value
• Care and Maintenance

• Already performed hazard analysis
• Decided level of protection needed, i.e. Arc
Ratings
• Clothing must be chosen
– Everyday garments
– Arc flash suits
– Outerwear?
– Layering to meet levels

• FRC should be appropriate to hazard
• Always the outermost layer
• Worn correctly; zipped, buttoned, etc
• All natural, non-melting undergarments
• Clean, no flammable contaminants
• Repaired correctly and removed from service when needed

• Garments should be cleaned to maximize performance
• Contaminants can “mask” or negate flame resistance
• Care choices
– Home laundry
– Industrial Laundry
– Dry-cleaning

• Burn treatment requires approx. 1.5 days hospitalization per % burn
• Average hospitalization is
19 days, at costs exceeding $18,000/day
• Total hospitalization cost typically ranges from
$200,000 to $750,000, with many over
$1,000,000 USD

Burn Costs: FR vs Non-FR
Medical
Indemnity
Vocational
Expenses
Total
Medical
Indemnity
Vocational
Expenses
Total
Accidents Before FR
Paid
562,677.78
52,182.14
2510.36
931.53
$ 618,301.81
184,572.12
30,143.43
2,393.43
20.00
$217,128.98
Reserve
250,000.00
721,431.00
7,438.00
0.00
$978,928.00
124,999.00
19,226.00
7,606.00
0.00
$ 151,863.00
Source: PECO Presentation by Bill Mattiford, PES-IEEE Seminar.
Accidents
After FR
32,707.38
6,035.28
1,903.55
36.00
$ 40,682.21
9,213.25
1,890.57
1,195.40
10.00
$12,309.92

• Objections to AR are usually based on either cost or comfort…
• Durability, productivity and liability issues reduce real over-time cost of AR to, or below, non AR cotton in energized environments
• Wear tests and current programs clearly show comfort of newer generation AR clothing is equal to like weights of non AR cotton clothing
• Get your assessment done – know your hazard
• Any AR is better than No AR
• Get your layering solutions tested

The Bottom Line
Incidents & Accidents
Happen
“Street Clothing” can and does worsen injury
You Can’t Rely on “It’s Not
Going to Happen to Me”
You Can Do Something
About Your Clothing

Bulwark Protective Apparel
Derek Sang derek_sang@vfc.com