Page 5 - September 2020 Track N Times

SAFETY FOCUS

Electrical Safety

By: Chris Locke, Manager Field Safety

Electrical Safety is the Focus topic in the WORD for September.

A high current fault (short) can create an electrical explosion by forming a high energy arc flash which rapidly vaporiz-
es metal and insulation material. An electrical explosion is the sudden release of energy due to a short circuit be-
tween power phases or a phase to ground. It is important to realize that a very large amount of energy is available on
the bus of most electrical panels when they are operating within their normal design parameters. For example a phase
to phase short circuit on a 400 Amp, 120/208 Volt panel can instantaneously release over 100 kilowatts of energy
during a fault condition and not blow the protective fuse or circuit breaker. An electrical explosion of this magnitude

will destroy the panel and can start a fire causing severe injuries or even death.
This is important for you to know and understand. Why? LORAM equipment generates a lot of electricity. One ex-
ample is that a 400 series grinder produces 3.9 Megawatts of electricity in 3phase at 480 volts. How much
electricity is that? Enough to power 682 average homes!

So how do we protect ourselves? First and foremost is that we eliminate coming in contact with it by turning off the
electrical producing source as our first line of defense. Using proper electrical PPE and electrical testing tools we veri-
fy zero energy. Who verifies zero energy? Properly trained individuals that are working with in the limitations of their
electrical competencies.

Continued

PAGE 3 SEPTEMBER 2020