PS: Here's my revised Proposal, if you don't like it send a comment!
Proposed Annex K:
FROM NFPA 70E,
This annex is not a part of the requirements of this NFPA document but is included for
informational purposes only.
K.1 General Categories.
There are three general categories of electrical hazards: electrical shock, arc-flash, and arc-blast.
K.2 Electric Shock.
Approximately 30,000 nonfatal electrical shock accidents occur each year. The National Safety
Council estimates that about 1000 fatalities each year are due to electrocution, more than half of
them while servicing energized systems of less than 600 volts.
Electrocution is the fourth leading cause of industrial fatalities, after traffic, homicide, and
construction accidents. The current required to light a 7½ watt, 120 volt lamp, if passed across
the chest, is enough to cause a fatality. The most damaging paths through the body are through
the lungs, heart, and brain.
K.3 Arc-Flash.
When an electric current passes through air between ungrounded conductors or between
ungrounded conductors and grounded conductors, the temperatures can reach 35,000°F.
Exposure to these extreme temperatures both burns the skin directly and causes ignition of
clothing, which adds to the burn injury. The majority of hospital admissions due to electrical
accidents are from arc-flash burns, not from shocks. Each year more than 2,000 people are
admitted to burn centers with severe arc-flash burns. Arc-flashes can and do kill at distances of
10 ft.
K.4 Arc-Blast.
The tremendous temperatures of the arc cause the explosive expansion of both the surrounding
air and the metal in the arc path. For example, copper expands by a factor of 67,000 times when
it turns from a solid to a vapor. The danger associated with this expansion is one of high
pressures, sound, and shrapnel. The high pressures can easily exceed hundreds or even thousands
of pounds per square foot, knocking workers off ladders, rupturing eardrums, and collapsing
lungs. The sounds associated with these pressures can exceed 160 dB. Finally, material and
molten metal is expelled away from the arc at speeds exceeding 700 miles per hour, fast enough
for shrapnel to completely penetrate the human body.
My Proposal sent in today:
"Qualified Person. One who has been trained in the skills, and has knowledge related to the construction and operation of electrical equipment and installations, and has received formal documented and certified safety training to recognize and avoid the hazards involved. In addition, one who is certified and authorized to test, energize, clear, ground, tag, and lockout circuits and equipment in accordance with established safety practices and who is trained in first aid and in the proper care and use of protective equipment, such as rubber gloves, hard hat, safety glasses or face shields, and flash resistant clothing, in accordance with established safety practices."
In their memory and for those who have suffered a terrible death or accident and who were untrained and not qualified persons.
Ask Donnie!
http://www.nema.org/stds/fieldreps/codealerts/The guys that made this safety video probably weren't qualified:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYp0vbebTfs
