For over seven years, the author has worked extensively with the Oregon Burn Center and has held countless organizational safety meetings designed to educate workers and increase awareness of the risks associated with working around arc flash hazards. Through these meetings and educational seminars, he has developed insight into the critical factors that are necessary to ensure a program that works for both management and employees.
Personal Protective Equipment, more specifically clothing designed to protect against arc flash hazards, is the last line of defense against worker injury. The need for protective apparel becomes apparent only when other safety measures have somehow failed. In order to protect workers against the risk posed by arc flash hazard, it is critical that any company-wide program incorporate key elements that give it the highest opportunity for success. The key attributes are:
Simple and easy to administer from a management/supervisor perspective.
Apparel choice designed to promote worker acceptance.
Program flexibility to meet corporate requirements.
In larger companies, the successful implementation of such a program is most often the result of a cohesive work effort put forth by a clothing committee, representing the combined efforts of safety, purchasing and end-users. This concerted effort ensures that there is company-wide program buy-in, with champions throughout the organization. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure a program is successfully implemented, resulting in a safer work environment for the employee.
Current statistics show that fatalities from electrical incidents still rank sixth among all causes of work-related death in the US. In 2004, there were 36 fatalities among electrical power-line installers and repairers, with a fatality rate of 30 per 100,000 workers employed.1 The impact of this-physically and emotionally on the employee and his or her family-not to mention the liability of the company is staggering. And the cost of a single electrical injury can exceed US $23 M2 in first year medical plus lifetime medical costs.
Flame-resistant (FR) apparel clearly helps to provide protection to the worker from the hazards associated with arc flash. However, this is the last line of defense. A comprehensive safety program is the initial step to safety for electrical workers. This includes a company-wide arc flash hazard analysis, written work plans, an ongoing safety training program and a culture of safe work practices. Once these safety programs are put in place, the last line of defense becomes the clothing worn by the employee.
