PSIJuly2018

SAFETY
Arc Flash 101
All you need to know to protect yourself from the deadly threat
“Treatment for those
that survive an
incident can require
years of skin grafts,
hospital stays and
rehabilitation”
hen it comes to industrial safety, all of
Wus understand the importance of
wearing a hard hat, protective gloves or
steel toe-capped boots. In fact, most employers
wouldn’t dream of letting teams on-site without
adequate protection, and working individuals
are more than clued up when it comes to the
latest safety requirements. However, the same
can’t be said when it comes to the potentially
fatal risk posed by Arc Flash – a relatively
misunderstood, but extremely common type of
electrical explosion facing many sectors.
PSI met up with Mark Lant, Technical Sales
Manager at ProGARM, to find out why an Arc
Flash is among the most dangerous risk on any
work site, and how you can protect yourself.
The UK’s secret killer?
While awareness around the dangers of an Arc
Flash is on the rise, a concerning number are
still unclear on the hard facts. In fact, according
to research we conducted with the BSIF, 63% of
professionals across the six sectors most at risk
(industrial electrical, power generation, rail,
utilities, wind and petrochemical) aren’t clear on
what Governmental guidelines provide guidance
on how to work safely when Arc Flash is a
threat, while 80% of those that were aware felt
the guidelines were ambiguous.
How many Arc Flash incidents are there in the
UK each year?
Whilst the US has data revealing that there are
approximately five to ten Arc Flash incidents per
day within the US alone, and that the majority of
these events result in injury or a fatality, there
isn’t an equivalent set of data for the UK.
This is because Arc Flash incidents can be
mis-diagnosed as an electrical shock. However,
there are significant differences: an electric
shock occurs when an individual comes into
contact with an electrical energy source.
Electrical energy flows through a portion of the
body causing a shock. Exposure to electrical
energy may result in no injury at all or may
result in devastating damage or death.
In contrast, an Arc Flash is when an arcing
fault releases dangerous levels of radiant
energy, which vaporizes metal that spews from
the arc. The air is super-heated causing pressure
waves that can throw individuals across rooms
and create a deadly molten shrapnel. Treatment
for those that survive an incident can require
years of skin grafts, hospital stays and
rehabilitation. They may never recover
sufficiently to regain their lifestyle.
How can installers protect themselves?
While there is no way to be fully protected from
an arc flash incident, protective clothing can
prevent the most fatal of consequences.
However, it’s not just protective outerwear that
is needed to ensure protection, as the material
worn beneath an Arc Flash protective jacket is
just as crucial as outer clothing. While the outer
garments are key components for providing
protection, they are not enough to match the
risk posed to an operative’s safety and effective
base layers are needed to defend against the
risk of an Arc Flash.
The flames caused by an Arc Flash may not
actually come into contact with skin through the
protective outer layers, but the extreme heat
from the event can melt the materials used to
manufacture everyday undergarments, including
nylon, cotton, and polypropylene. This will
inflict burns and potentially cause non-Arc Flash
protective undergarments to melt into the skin
underneath their PPE, potentially causing skin
infections.
As well as this, it’s crucial to make sure that
protective clothing is comfortable. All too often,
PPE clothing is worn incorrectly because an item
is too bulky or rigid, making it all too easy to roll
sleeves up or undo a jacket, which seriously
compromises the safety of the individual
against Arc Flash.
To overcome these issues, it’s important to
ensure that comfort is at the forefront of any Arc
Flash protection innovation, to guarantee that
the garment’s protection level isn’t
compromised through incorrect use, offering the
wearer the ultimate level of protection without
obstructing day to day tasks.
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