Focused Research on Arc-Flash Hazards [Electrical Safety]

When this column was written, the IFFF Industry Applications Society (IAS) had published four issues of IRPF Industry Applications Magazine and three issues of IRPF Transactions on Industry Applications in 2018. Those issues contained 319 peer-reviewed technical articles and papers. Of those, 24 covered electrical safety topics, and seven of the 24 focused on arc -flash hazards. The seven provided a good picture of the breadth and depth of the work being done to protect our workers, showing the value of the forum provided by the IEEE and IAS for focused research to improve workplace safety. Two of the articles fell in the category of new research, where industry is learning more about arc -flash hazards beyond the limits of previously published works. Many engineers trying to analyze their systems for arc -flash energy have been asking questions about the lower limits of voltage and to what lower limits should they be concerned about arc fl ash.