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NFPA
70E: More on Flash Protection
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This article is provided
courtesy of Snell
Infrared, a thermographic training company.
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Our article in the last issue about the new standard from National Fire
Protection Association, NFPA 70E, generated a great deal of interest. To
comply with these important standards many thermographers who perform electrical
inspections will be wearing special eye protection from the flash associated
with an electrical arc. The photograph below shows a Nomex® hood with
with UV face plate. |
The "bee keeper's hood" offers flash protection for the neck and head.
The face shield must be used with additional head and neck protection,
such as a scarf, to comply with NFPA 70E.
The use of eye
protection is critical to preventing the damage or permanent blindness
that can be caused by arc flash. Unfortunately protection has a price.
Wearing these devices can be uncomfortably warm. Also, even though the
face shields are treated to minimize condensation, "fogging up" is still
an issue in cool ambient conditions. For these two reasons you will need
to work more carefully and slowly in order to work safely! |
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Another safety issue is the difficulty of seeing into an eyepiece while
looking through the face shield. Consider using an high quality, active
matrix LCD viewing screen or a remote TV monitor instead. We expect to
see more and more manufacturers of imaging equipment offering an LCD screen
as an option to solve this problem. |
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Will all this hassle be worth it? We think so. The typical paybacks for
thermographic electrical inspections are still tremendous, so working more
slowly or buying an extra monitor should not be an issue. As for the discomfort,
we feel it is a reasonable price to pay for personal safety. |
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