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Abstract—Sharing the same goals and overlapping member- ilar to the original Annex K printed in 2004. The only additional
ship, IEEE and NFPA are committed to improving electrical safety Annex K material, added in 2009, is a short section on arc
in the workplace. Knowledge about electrical hazards, particu- blast. NFPA 70E focuses on establishing a safe workplace for
larly arc flash hazards, has expanded greatly since the first 2002
edition of the IEEE Standard 1584, IEEE Guide for Performing employees involved with the installation, troubleshooting and
Arc-Flash Hazard Calculations. In the NFPA 70E Standard, 2004 maintenance of electrical equipment. Moreover, the purpose of
edition, the 1584 arc-flash hazard calculations were included in 70E as defined in Section 90.1 is “to provide a practical safe
the recommended methods for quantifying the potential inci- working area for employees relative to the hazards arising from
dent energy exposure. In 2004, IEEE and NFPA initiated the the use of electricity [1].”
IEEE/NFPA Arc Flash Collaboration Project to conduct research
and testing which would lead to a greater scientific understanding Understanding the nature and consequences of electrical
of the arc flash hazard. Presently, IEEE Standard 1584 is in the hazards provides the impetus for developing and following
process of major revision. Subsequent editions of NFPA 70E— electrically safe work practices. Over the last decade, consid-
the 2009, 2012 and 2015—have greatly expanded the coverage erable effort has been expended in redeveloping 70E with the
of the arc flash hazard. However, NFPA 70E Annex K, which goal of establishing safer work environments. Annex K should
addresses the general categories of electrical hazards, has changed
little since the 2004 edition, except for the addition of a short convince employers how critical electrical safety programs are.
paragraph on arc blast hazards in 2009. This paper suggests Annex K should also convince workers how critical it is to
content for expanding the 2018 NFPA 70E Annex K. follow safe work practices and to be able to recognize unsafe
Index Terms—Arc flash, electrical hazard, electrical safety, elec- electrical conditions. For the maximum effectiveness of 70E,
trical shock, NFPA 70E. redevelopment and expansion of Annex K needs consideration
in three areas. Annex K should identify 1) the range of electrical
I. I NTRODUCTION hazards; 2) the threshold electrical parameters capable of caus-
ing various physiological responses and injury from electrical
Even an extremely low-level shock causing a startle reaction 2 The term “low-voltage” refers to system voltages up to 600 V. The Na-
(an uncontrolled muscular reaction) has a potential for injury, if tional Electric Code [11] considers voltage over 600 V, “high voltage.” The
descriptive term, “high voltage” in Section III most aptly refers to all “medium
it causes a response such as tripping or falling. The threshold voltage,” distribution and transmission systems associated with voltages of
startle reaction for an adult is 0.5 mA, the maximum level 2400 V and higher.
2712 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 51, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 2015
TABLE VI
P RESSURE T HRESHOLDS [43]
TABLE VII
P RESSURES R ECORDED F ROM A RC T ESTS
Fig. 2. Burn survival: function of age and body percentage burned (Data
source: 2002–2011 National Burn Repository data [33]).
TABLE V
T EMPERATURES ON M ANNEQUIN ’ S E XTENDED H AND AND N ECK [34]∗
TABLE IX
L IGHT L EVEL M EASUREMENTS IN R ECENT P UBLICATIONS
TABLE XI
OSHA “E LECTRIC A RC ” AND “B URN ” R ECORD
I NJURIES (1984–2007) [58]∗
[51] S. L. Severin, N. L. Newton, and J. F. Culver, “A study of photostress and Zhenyuan Zhang (S’13) received the B.S. degree
flash blindness,” USAF School Aerosp. Med., Brooks Air Force Base, from Chang’an University, Xi’an, China, in 2007.
TX, USA, Rep. SAM-TDR-62-144, 1962. He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree
[52] R. A. Wilson, R. Harju, J. Keisala, and S. Ganesan, “Tripping with the in electrical engineering in the Energy Systems Re-
speed of light: Arc flash protection,” Proc. 60th Annu. Conf. Protective search Center, Department of Electrical Engineering,
Relay Eng., College Station, TX, USA, Mar. 27–29, 2007 pp. 226–238. The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington,
[53] A. D. Stokes and D. K. Sweeting, “Electric arcing burn hazards,” IEEE TX, USA.
Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 134–141, Jan./Feb. 2006. His focus lies in arc flash research, but he has
[54] Reporting Fatality, Injury and Illness Information to OSHA, Title 29 Code also been involved in hybrid energy storage, smart
of Federal Regulations, Std.1904.39, Jan. 19, 2001. grids, renewable energy, electrical safety analysis,
[55] NFPA/IEEE Research and Testing Planning Committee (RTPC), Final and power systems analysis.
Report, Jul. 28, 2005. Mr. Zhang has served as a Project Associate for the IEEE/NFPA Arc Flash
[56] T. Gammon, Unpublished analysis of OSHA Records, “electric arc” key Research Project since 2010.
term, Mar. 2005/Sep. 2008.
[57] W. R. Wilson, “High-current arc erosion of electric contact materials,”
Trans. AIEE Power App. Syst. III, vol. 74, no. 3, pp. 657–663, Ben C. Johnson (AM’74–SM’90–F’97–LF’07) is
Aug. 1955. presently Senior Consultant for Thermon Manufac-
[58] C. Wellman, “OSHA Arc-flash injury data analysis,” presented at the turing Company, San Marcos, TX, USA. His career
IEEE Industry Applications Society Electrical Safety Workshop, Daytona spans a broad range of industrial experience, includ-
Beach, FL, USA, Jan. 31–Feb. 3, 2012, Paper ESW2012-28. ing 44 years with Thermon and eight years in the
petrochemical industry with Ethyl Corporation and
Diamond Shamrock Corporation. He was Thermon’s
Tammy Gammon (S’91–M’99–SM’06) received Vice President of North American Sales for five
the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the Georgia years and Thermon’s Vice President of Engineering
Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA, all in for 12 years, responsible for product application
electrical engineering. design, field and construction services. He was pre-
Since 2003, she has been a Senior Electrical Engi- viously Thermon’s Vice President of Research and Development. He is the
neer with John Matthews & Associates, Cookeville, holder of eight patents in the field of surface heating and is responsible for
TN, USA. She performs research and analysis in numerous new product innovations. He has authored or coauthored 19 papers
power and power quality issues, in fires of electrical for various societies. As United States delegate to the International Electro-
origin, in electrical arc and shock injuries, and in technical Commission (IEC), he is the Convener for TC31 Maintenance Team
product design and manufacturing. 79-30, Electrical Equipment in Flammable Atmospheres, Electrical Resistance
Dr. Gammon is a Licensed Professional Engineer Trace Heating and US Technical Advisor for IEC TC27, Safety in Electroheat
in the State of North Carolina. She served as the Research Manager for the Installations.
IEEE/NFPA Arc flash Research Project from 2006 until 2014. Mr. Johnson is a member of the U.S. Technical Advisory Committee for IEC
TC31. He served as Cochair of the IEEE/NFPA Collaboration on Arc Flash
Research.
Wei-Jen Lee (S’85–M’85–SM’97–F’07) received
the B.S. and M.S. degrees from National Taiwan
University, Taipei, Taiwan, and the Ph.D. degree
from The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA),
Arlington, TX, USA, in 1978, 1980, and 1985, re-
spectively, all in electrical engineering.
He has been involved in research on arc flash and
electrical safety, utility deregulation, renewable en-
ergy, smart grid, microgrid, load forecasting, power
quality, distribution automation and demand side
management, power systems analysis, online real-
time equipment diagnostic and prognostic systems, and microcomputer-based
instrumentation for power systems monitoring, measurement, control, and
protection. Since 2008, he has also served as the Project Manager for the
IEEE/NFPA Arc flash Research Project. He is currently a Professor with the
Department of Electrical Engineering and the Director of the Energy Systems
Research Center at UTA.
Prof. Lee is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas.