Easy compliance is every manager’s dream. Companies that strive to keep their employees safe while following best practices need to keep on top of the standards and the products that immerge to make their life and standards compliance simpler. There are six products on the market that represent major improvements in 2006 to make compliance easier. Whether you are following NFPA 70E for electrical safety or the NESC changes (National Electric Safety Code), compliance will be much easier with these new products.

Both the new NESC and NFPA 70E require employers to perform a job hazard assessment and arc hazard flash assessment. Both standards approach this differently but give good guidance on how to accomplish compliance. Both standards consider arc flash, shock hazards and risk when making PPE selections. NFPA 70E’s tables are a straightforward guide but you may have to read between the lines for the risk element if you are doing your own arc flash calculations. 70E considers bolted covers 1-2 hazard risk categories higher than hinged covers and so on. Use these guidelines when drawing up your PPE matrix.

When standards become mainstream, as NFPA 70E has, options which make life easier for the electrical contractor immerge. NFPA 70E as a “best practice” safety standard is now becoming readily accepted. So contractors who provide NFPA 70E training have an edge in gaining contracts with companies becoming more concerned about the “host employer clause”. This emphasis will make quality contractors who have solid safety programs for their workers more competitive and the least risk for larger companies and those wanting a quality job done safely. Even Canada is making this the primary standard for their provinces. CSA will adapt NFPA 70E as a Canadian National Standard in the near future with revisions for the Canadian Electrical Code.

With the advent of NFPA 70E (www.nfpa.org) and the 2007 NESC (http://standards.ieee.org/nesc/) new products have been coming online every few months to make compliance easier. In 1997, Paulson developed the first arc flash shields to protect to 40 cal/cm². The following year Paulson and Oberon both developed face pieces to take 100 cal/cm² or more and other products started growing. Leggings were developed so that 50-inch coats could still be used and provide lower leg protection. Now cooling devices and lights on hoods are a great new option. Companies are researching and releasing new products at an increased rate since test standards are making comparison effective. Below are my picks for the best new arc flash PPE products of 2006.

HRC4 Kits: Sa lisbury ( www.whsalisbury.com) , NSA ( www.nsamfg.com), Steelgrip ( www.steelgripinc.com) Oberon ( www.oberoncompany.com) , CementexUSA ( www.cementexusa.com) , Certified Insulated Products ( www.insulatedtools.com). Kits have made compliance easy. Just pick a kit and get in compliance. The things to watch in kits are getting the right gloves and ensuring FR clothing is worn all the time by electricians. The most common mistake is picking a single size glove for everyone. Though this may make sense on the surface since everyone can use everyone else’s gloves, it will reduce compliance since detailed work is very difficult in gloves which are too large. Another common mistake in ordering kits is to get gloves for the highest voltage worked on. When you only purchase medium voltage gloves such as Class 2 gloves, you ensure the workers will not use the gloves for low voltage tasks like landing a control wire in a hot box or troubleshooting 480V. This again ensures they will not be in compliance. Picking the right voltage rating AND size for the gloves helps ensure use of the gloves. Another common mistake in using the HRC2 kits is not providing FR daily wear. The kits make compliance easy but do not ensure compliance like daily wear does. Many companies who have accidents where kits are the only compliance option fail because the worker doesn’t wear the FR all the time. Providing flame resistant daily wear alone will prevent most fatalities in arc incidents where there is no shock. Industrial laundries like Cintas, Aramark, UniFirst and GK Services offer flame resistant upgrades on uniforms at reasonable rates. Most companies are moving toward a flame resistant HRC2 uniform so most work can be done without changing and the company can add an HRC4 kit to protect in the higher level jobs.

Steelgrip 40 cal/cm² hood ( www.steelgripinc.com): This is the lightest weight 40 cal/cm² suit in the industry. I developed this for Steelgrip in 1999 and they have kept improving it. It is now over 40 cal/cm² in protection but still the lightest weight, most breathable 40 cal/cm² suit in the market. But Steelgrip didn’t stop there, they have added their cooling system which features a quiet new fan and the only removable cooling fan on the market. The Steelgrip fan system runs on AA batteries so it is easy to keep cool in the workplace even if you are wearing the suit for hours at a time.

NSA 65 cal/cm² hood (www.nsamfg.com): NSA has developed this hood using lightweight Kevlar® for the outer shell. NSA’s CrossVent technology offers two blower fans and the new design allows for removal of the fans for laundering. Stanco offers a similar fan design and deserves an honorable mention but the NSA suit is the lightest in the market for 65 cal/cm² exposures.

Carhartt FR Arctic Winter Jacket (www.carharttfr.com): This is the “crème de la crème” of winter wear. When Carhartt filled out the line this past year with several new offerings in their FR line, they won the hearts of many linemen, electricians and others in need of FR winter wear. There are many other good winter wear lines like Workrite, Bulwark, NSA, Steelgrip and ActionWear but Carhartt should be considered by anyone looking at FR winterwear.

Paulson and Salisbury Arc Goggle: Though it doesn’t fit the full description of the NFPA 70E hood, this goggle, with the right balaclava (race car driver’s hood), can protect to almost 40 cal/cm². That is quite some feat for a goggle and hood combo and it promises to be less expensive and much more breathable than the bee-keeper’s style hoods. OK, you might call this combo bee-keeper’s style, but either way full face protection is becoming easier to use, more breathable and less restrictive. With a balaclava worn around the neck and the goggle on the top of the hard hat until needed, this lets the worker have 40 cal/cm² on the ready all the time. This will become a mainstay of many of the linemen in the coming years for NESC compliance (mark my word on this one).

Paulson and Salisbury 70% Light Transmission Arc Shield: This shield, sold by Salisbury and Paulson under different brands, has taken the market by storm. It provides 70 percent +/- 5 percent light transmission and allows the most color recognition of any 8 cal/cm² shield on the market. HRC2 compliance has never been easier. Look for a new 80 percent shield in the coming months. Things are getting cooler and clearer in the arc flash market.

Consider these new products when looking at your electrical safety program. When making changes or if you see issues with compliance, consider replacing equipment with more user-friendly versions which will make compliance easier. Training your workers on the reason PPE is needed and the things which can go wrong goes a long way toward ensuring compliance. Taking the worker’s perspective while considering your concerns for compliance and accident prevention usually go a long way toward worker acceptance.

Hugh Hoagland (hugh@arcwear.com) tests clothing and PPE in the electric arc in his company ArcWear.com and e-Hazard.com provides training and hazard assessment services.