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Jim Phillips (brainfiller)
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Post subject: PPE Used for Operating Lighting Circuit Breakers  Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 9:35 am |
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| Plasma Level |
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Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:00 pm
Posts: 1736
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
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This week’s question might “spark” a bit of debate. If one uses the Hazard / Risk Tables in NFPA 70E, the task of turning the lights on at the office in the morning is classified as HRC 0. This is true of both 120V and 277V breakers. Calculations could lead to the same result i.e. incident energy < 1.2 calories/cm^2. According to Table H.3(b), HRC 0 requires non-melting fabric/untreated natural fiber, hearing protection, long sleeve shirt etc. This week’s question: Where lights are controlled from breakers at a lighting panel, what protection do employees/staff use to turn on the lights?- Nothing special
- Clothing and Protection based on Table H.3(b)
- Something else - we would love to hear the stories
- We don't use breakers to control lights
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Jim Phillips, P.E.
Brainfiller.com
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A King
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 7:36 am |
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Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:06 am
Posts: 136
Location: Michigan
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[font=Tahoma]The 2012 70E Handbook actually gives this example towards end of annex F to illustrate the process of performing a hazard assessment and risk analysis.[/font]
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MIEngineer
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Post subject: Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 7:48 am |
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Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:10 am
Posts: 36
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Initially had nothing special, just quick training on proper operation; stand off to the side, turn head, etc. But we always questioned the need for CAT 0. Then a 30 year old breaker failed an flashed at a woman, no injuries, she was just scared. We had proceeded to install switching outside of the panel to eliminate the need for the breakers used as switches.
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geh7752
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 3:59 pm |
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Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2008 5:11 pm
Posts: 143
Location: Connecticut
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Just because it looks similar to a switch it's not... it's designed to be a protection device. This is a case of the wrong device for the wrong application... unless the breaker is switch duty rated. Or more likely the company is too cheap to spend $15 worth of materials for a dedicated UL listed "on-off" switch.
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Zog
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 8:09 am |
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Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 11:58 am
Posts: 1103
Location: Charlotte, NC
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Speaking of 120V arc flash, any updates on the IEEE research on the <240V <125kVA issue?
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Jim Phillips (brainfiller)
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Post subject: Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 2:22 pm |
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Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:00 pm
Posts: 1736
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
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Zog wrote: Speaking of 120V arc flash, any updates on the IEEE research on the <240V <125kVA issue? Nothing new, it's stuck in the ditch of substantial debate for now. We meet again this autumn and there will probably be many new things to report at that time. Stay tuned!
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Jim Phillips, P.E.
Brainfiller.com
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Gary B
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:02 pm |
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Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2007 7:10 pm
Posts: 262
Location: NW USA
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I hope you are able to bring common sense to these committees, because this is where standards committees loose much credibility. Many churches were wired without light switches depending instead on a switching duty panel installed at the rear. One cannot imagine the bell ringer donning arc Flash PPE to turn on the lights. Keep it real folks.
I'm sure we can find extreme cases where this didn't work well, however; building a code around extreme cases is not necessarily improving safety.
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