A Shocking Investigation

Workplace electrocutions occur in Australia at an incident rate of approximately 10 deaths/year. Approximately 50% of these are electrical workers but most electrical worker electric shock/near miss incidents go unreported. Such incidents present an opportunity to learn and prevent similar incidents in the future. This is achieved by a thorough investigation using trained and qualified personnel that can investigate an electric shock and/or arc flash incident at short notice. This is where PowerLogic’s Electric Shock investigation courses come into their own.
Arc Flash Management – Part 2

Part 1 focused solely on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the management of the arc flash phenomenon. The main messages in the article were that cotton clothing is flammable, will significantly add to injuries and is unsuitable for electrical workers. What the article did not mention is the administrative controls that go with the use of PPE such as procedures, SWMS’s, signage, training, etc. In Part 2 we are looking at options that are higher up the hierarchy of controls than PPE. These take longer to implement, are more costly but offer longer term, much more effective controls that keep the electrical worker safer than just using PPE.
Arc Flash Management – Part 1 (PPE)

We have been busy over recent weeks, whilst locked down due to Covid-19, putting an Arc Flash Management Training Course together. One of the topics covered in the training is arc rated PPE and this is the topic for this Part 1 article. Part 2 will focus on other management options which will take longer to implement than PPE but will be higher up the hierarchy of safety controls and so provide more effective controls.