One of the guys I work with being safe.

It was hot in that room from what he said.



Bob

What'na devil's he working on?? (The moon comes to mind!) That suit should come with a power cord... to plug in the air conditioning!

Thumbs up for using PPE

-Randy

Bob, Good Deal!
How much did the rig cost, do you know?

(Does he also tend bees?)

He is about to do a inferred (sp?) survey of some 13.8KV switchgear.

I do not know what the whole set up cost, I will ask.

I have not been trained as he and a few others have been, this may well be overkill for the hazards of this particular job but to much protection is always better than to little.

And yes he sells honey on the weekends.

Bob

Hey guys,
That suit is not overkill for that aplication. NFPA 70E stipulates the required arc protection clothing for doing electrical work. It is based on the voltage and the type of work being done.

We have to use them from time to time. They are not fun. Quite warm.

About $800-$1000 comes to mind on the price.

I'm doing some arc flash calculation for a client on a 12kV-480V substations because the NFPA70E table has notes that indicate that the table will not apply to that application.
Unfortunately, the result of the calculations indicate that the face and chest of the personnel operating the infrared scanner must be approximately 10' away from the energized bus with the highest category PPE (level 4). I'm not sure how they will perform the test, maybe with the camera duct taped to a hookstick, but that sounds more dangerous than having the guy stand there and do the test himself.

The main reason for the high incident energy is the lack of instantaneous protection upstream, only 51 relays and CB's with LS characteristics only.

[This message has been edited by Ron (edited 07-14-2004).]

The first time the ir guys came to our plant we got to go along and watch. One of our guys almost earned a darwin award when tried to point to breaker in a 480 panel that was avery sexy orange. Fortunately someone grabbed his arm.

mvp,
I'm constantly swating peoples hands away from panels! They go to point at something & they think they need to go in & touch things... I've gotten to the point where I carry a small fiberglass "pointer" stick that I'll hand off if they wanna point to something

-Randy

Hi everyone. My first time posting on the board. The picture that started this is my partner. The suit costs our company just under $2000.00. We do not use this level of PPE often. Very hot and difficult to work in.

I also have people wanting to point and touch equipment. What are they thinking?

Al

Hey I know this guy!

Welcome Al.

Al is one of the few in the company that is trained for this work.

Bob

NFPA 70 E at work, Kudos to the company this guy works for.
The only issue I have seen when wearing the proper PPE is when our guys are suited up for hot work and along comes someone from the PoCo and laughs at our guys.

The worst 'pointing idiot' that I ever met was using his metal pen to point out live 15kV bus in a fusible switch that had the rear cover removed. I left the room after telling the boss "I don't even want to RISK doing the paperwork on this one."

I have a second hand story about people pointing. When I was taking my medium voltage certification course the instructor told this story. An engineer was on top of a very high voltage substation transformer (I don't recall the exact voltage but 138KV comes to mind) when he pointed up towards the conductors to illustrate something to the two electricians below. The resulting arc killed him and the two electricians on the ground. The point of the story was how when you get to about 5kv you do not have to touch anything to get electrocuted.

How do you know exactly where to walk in a substation without dying, anyway? Are there marks on the ground, or is it all training and knowing where not to step?

Must be scary walking into one for the first time, knowing that one misstep and a few hundred KV will come out and kill you like lightning...

Welcome, zorinlynx;
It's extremely that you get proper training before even THINKING of going into a medium of high voltage situation. You will not get a second chance; if you are uncomfortable, don't go in the area. If your boss forces the issue, consider quitting right there. No responsible foreman would expect an untrained person to risk his life when they aren't ready to work there. I used to give tours in-house and let folks know that the guests who WEREN'T nervous about the 15kV equipment needed to wait outside. Too many people have been hurt or killed leaning on or backing into something. Remember that you need to respect electricity; it won't cut you any slack. If you get close enough (and the distance can change with the weather) it will bite you.

Also, if you work with a buddy and the flash gets you both, who's going to call for help? Always have someone outside of the 'danger area' watching your back.

Simple rules...never work alone, keep your hands in your pocket when not working, don't touch anything and don't approach unless someone standing closer to the equipment tells you to.