In 2012, both NFPA 70E and the NESC will change personal protective equipment (PPE) and give guidance to utilities and industrial electrical workers that they haven’t previously had. Under NESC 2007, low-voltage (LV) work in utilities had only basic coverage. If 4 cal/cm² arc flash PPE clothing was worn, the company was in compliance. There was no requirement to do an arc flash assessment if 4 cal/cm² clothing was used.

Identifying PPE Mistakes in Electric Arc Flash Programs

After a decade of electric arc testing, incident investigations and incident replications using electric arcs, a few lessons have emerged as critical in assessing a Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) program:

The NESC 2007 standard sets forth quite a challenge to electric and communication utilities in the area of clothing. The new standard, which becomes law in several states, says, "The employer shall require employees to wear clothing or a clothing system that has an effective arc rating not less than the anticipated level of arc energy." This compliance is required by January 1, 2009.
The following challenges will require strategies and decisions by utilities to comply with the NESC standard.

Two standards are needed to specify clothing for high visibility and flame resistance. Most companies in the U.S. choose ANSI 107 (for high visibility) and ASTM F1506 (for flame-resistance clothing complying with NFPA 70E or OSHA 1910.269). Citing both means you will have clothing (shirts and vests primarily) that are highly visible and arc- and flash-fire resistant. However, the flame-resistance side is often a weakness because of manufacturers or marketers who push “flame-resistant” standards that are misleading or outright deceptive.