Once you've answered the questions about your key problem areas, you might determine that the incident energy level cannot be reduced any farther. From here, what you can do is use the information in your incident energy study to establish safe working boundaries and acquire warning labels. The incident energy study should indicate the likelihood of an arc flash event occurring. Knowing the risks, you can assign appropriate working boundaries for the tasks involved with energized equipment. The incident energy study should have different "levels" assigned to each piece of equipment that is a part of the study. These levels correspond to recommended working distances, and you can use these levels to label all of your equipment so that every worker understands the risks of working on energized labelled equipment.
determine working boundaries can also be used to determine PPE requirements. If for example you must work closer than the recommended working boundary, the incident energy study will recommend the level of PPE required for doing energized work at different working distances.
In order to determine what PPE you need, you'll have to use the relevant standards. CSA Z462 in Canada and NFPA 70E in the USA both have extensive tables describing what
appropriate PPE is for the various levels of incident energy on a work site. It is important to also adhere to any and all local and regional standards for your area.
An incident energy study is required for determining safe working boundaries and PPE for the work site. Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this article, sign up for our newsletter for more content like this, and share this article with your colleagues with buttons below.
