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As opposed to flame burns, flash burns are defined by intense heat in a short period of time. Explosions due to natural gas, propane, gasoline, and other flammable substances can cause serious injury, even death.
Paragraph (l)(8) of 1910.269 addresses protecting employees from flames and electric arcs. This paragraph requires employers to: (1) Assess the workplace for flame and electric-arc hazards (paragraph (l)(8)(i)); (2) estimate the available heat energy from electric arcs to which employees would be exposed (paragraph (l)(8)(ii)); (3) ensure that employees wear clothing that will not melt, or ignite and continue to burn, when exposed to flames or the estimated heat energy (paragraph (l)(8)(iii)); and (4) ensure that employees wear flame-resistant clothing[1] and protective clothing and other protective equipment that has an arc rating greater than or equal to the available heat energy under certain conditions (paragraphs (l)(8)(iv) and (l)(8)(v)). This appendix contains information to help employers estimate available heat energy as required by 1910.269(l)(8)(ii), select protective clothing and other protective equipment with an arc rating suitable for the available heat energy as required by 1910.269(l)(8)(v), and ensure that employees do not wear flammable clothing that could lead to burn injury as addressed by 1910.269(l)(8)(iii) and (l)(8)(iv).
Paragraph (l)(8)(i) of 1910.269 requires the employer to assess the workplace to identify employees exposed to hazards from flames or from electric arcs. This provision ensures that the employer evaluates employee exposure to flames and electric arcs so that employees who face such exposures receive the required protection. The employer must conduct an assessment for each employee who performs work on or near exposed, energized parts of electric circuits.
Incident heat energy for single-phase-to-ground exposures. Table 6 and Table 7 provide incident heat energy levels for open-air, phase-to-ground electric-arc exposures typical for overhead systems.[2] Table 6 presents estimates of available energy for employees using rubber insulating gloves to perform work on overhead systems operating at 4 to 46 kilovolts. The table assumes that the employee will be 380 millimeters (15 inches) from the electric arc, which is a reasonable estimate for rubber insulating glove work. Table 6 also assumes that the arc length equals the sparkover distance for the maximum transient overvoltage of each voltage range.[3] To use the table, an employer would use the voltage, maximum fault current, and maximum clearing time for a system area and, using the appropriate voltage range and fault-current and clearing-time values corresponding to the next higher values listed in the table, select the appropriate heat energy (4, 5, 8, or 12 cal/cm2) from the table. For example, an employer might have a 12,470-volt power line supplying a system area. The power line can supply a maximum fault current of 8 kiloamperes with a maximum clearing time of 10 cycles. For rubber glove work, this system falls in the 4.0-to-15.0-kilovolt range; the next-higher fault current is 10 kA (the second row in that voltage range); and the clearing time is under 18 cycles (the first column to the right of the fault current column). Thus, the available heat energy for this part of the system will be 4 cal/cm2 or less (from the column heading), and the employer could select protection with a 5-cal/cm2 rating to meet 1910.269(l)(8)(v). Alternatively, an employer could select a base incident-energy value and ensure that the clearing times for each voltage range and fault current listed in the table do not exceed the corresponding clearing time specified in the table. For example, an employer that provides employees with arc-flash protective equipment rated at 8 cal/cm2 can use the table to determine if any system area exceeds 8 cal/cm2 by checking the clearing time for the highest fault current for each voltage range and ensuring that the clearing times do not exceed the values specified in the 8-cal/cm2 column in the table.
Paragraph (l)(8)(v) of 1910.269 does not require arc-rated protection for exposures of 2 cal/cm2 or less. Untreated cotton clothing will reduce a 2-cal/cm2 exposure below the 1.2- to 1.5-cal/cm2 level necessary to cause burn injury, and this material should not ignite at such low heat energy levels. Although 1910.269(l)(8)(v) does not require clothing to have an arc rating when exposures are 2 cal/cm2 or less, 1910.269(l)(8)(iv) requires the outer layer of clothing to be flame resistant under certain conditions, even when the estimated incident heat energy is less than 2 cal/cm2, as discussed later in this appendix.
Additionally, it is especially important to ensure that employees do not wear undergarments made from fabrics listed in the note to 1910.269(l)(8)(iii) even when the outer layer is flame resistant or arc rated. These fabrics can melt or ignite easily when an electric arc occurs. Logos and name tags made from non-flame-resistant material can adversely affect the arc rating or the flame-resistant characteristics of arc-rated or flame-resistant clothing. Such logos and name tags may violate 1910.269(l)(8)(iii), (l)(8)(iv), or (l)(8)(v).
Paragraph (l)(8)(iii) of 1910.269 prohibits clothing that could melt onto an employee's skin or that could ignite and continue to burn when exposed to flames or to the available heat energy estimated by the employer under 1910.269(l)(8)(ii). Meltable fabrics, such as acetate, nylon, polyester, and polypropylene, even in blends, must be avoided. When these fibers melt, they can adhere to the skin, thereby transferring heat rapidly, exacerbating burns, and complicating treatment. These outcomes can result even if the meltable fabric is not directly next to the skin. The remainder of this section focuses on the prevention of ignition.
Paragraph (l)(8)(v) of 1910.269 generally requires protective clothing and other protective equipment with an arc rating greater than or equal to the employer's estimate of available heat energy. As explained earlier in this appendix, untreated cotton is usually acceptable for exposures of 2 cal/cm2 or less.[6] If the exposure is greater than that, the employee generally must wear flame-resistant clothing with a suitable arc rating in accordance with 1910.269(l)(8)(iv) and (l)(8)(v). However, even if an employee is wearing a layer of flame-resistant clothing, there are circumstances under which flammable layers of clothing would be uncovered, and an electric arc could ignite them. For example, clothing ignition is possible if the employee is wearing flammable clothing under the flame-resistant clothing and the underlayer is uncovered because of an opening in the flame-resistant clothing. Thus, for purposes of 1910.269(l)(8)(iii), it is important for the employer to consider the possibility of clothing ignition even when an employee is wearing flame-resistant clothing with a suitable arc rating.
Under 1910.269(l)(8)(iii), employees may not wear flammable clothing in conjunction with flame-resistant clothing if the flammable clothing poses an ignition hazard.[7] Although outer flame-resistant layers may not have openings that expose flammable inner layers, when an outer flame-resistant layer would be unable to resist breakopen,[8] the next (inner) layer must be flame-resistant if it could ignite.
Non-flame-resistant clothing can ignite even when the heat energy from an electric arc is insufficient to ignite the clothing. For example, nearby flames can ignite an employee's clothing; and, even in the absence of flames, electric arcs pose ignition hazards beyond the hazard of ignition from incident energy under certain conditions. In addition to requiring flame-resistant clothing when the estimated incident energy exceeds 2.0 cal/cm2, 1910.269(l)(8)(iv) requires flame-resistant clothing when: The employee is exposed to contact with energized circuit parts operating at more than 600 volts ( 1910.269(l)(8)(iv)(A)), an electric arc could ignite flammable material in the work area that, in turn, could ignite the employee's clothing ( 1910.269(l)(8)(iv)(B)), and molten metal or electric arcs from faulted conductors in the work area could ignite the employee's clothing ( 1910.269(l)(8)(iv)(C)). For example, grounding conductors can become a source of heat energy if they cannot carry fault current without failure. The employer must consider these possible sources of electric arcs[9] in determining whether the employee's clothing could ignite under 1910.269(l)(8)(iv)(C).
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