Protecting Your Workers and Facility from Electrical Hazards
Arc flash incidents send over 2,000 workers to burn centers annually, with temperatures reaching 35,000°F—four times hotter than the sun's surface.
An arc flash study is not just a regulatory checkbox; it's a critical safety assessment that can save lives and prevent catastrophic facility damage.
An arc flash study analyzes your electrical system to calculate the incident energy levels at various points throughout your facility. This engineering analysis determines:
Arc Flash Boundaries
Safe approach distances for workers
Incident Energy Levels
Thermal hazard in calories/cm²
PPE Requirements
Required protective equipment levels
Equipment Labels
NFPA 70E compliant warning labels
The study follows IEEE 1584 calculation methods and NFPA 70E requirements to provide accurate, site-specific hazard assessments accepted by OSHA and insurance carriers.
OSHA 1910.335 and NFPA 70E require employers to assess arc flash hazards before employees work on energized equipment. Non-compliance can result in:
Without an arc flash study, your electrical workers are operating blind. They don't know what PPE to wear or whether the task is even safe to perform energized.
Real Example:
Hospital maintenance electrician was resetting a tripped breaker in a 480V switchboard. No arc flash study existed. Incident energy was 42 cal/cm². He wore cotton clothing (zero protection). A fault occurred during reset, resulting in severe burns over 40% of his body. Hospital faced $2.8M in settlements and OSHA fines.
In the event of an arc flash incident, failure to conduct proper hazard assessment can expose your organization to significant legal liability. Many insurance carriers now require arc flash studies as a condition of coverage for facilities with electrical systems above 240V.
Without incident energy calculations, workers may be under-protected or performing tasks that should require de-energization. We regularly find workers wearing Level 2 PPE (8 cal/cm²) on equipment with 40+ cal/cm² incident energy.
Equipment without proper arc flash labels leaves workers guessing about required PPE and safe approach distances. Labels must be updated every 5 years or after system changes.
Any modifications—new equipment, utility transformer upgrades, or circuit changes—invalidate previous studies, creating hidden hazards.
Studies reveal where better coordination or different device settings could reduce incident energy levels by 50% or more, making tasks safer and less expensive to perform.
Many facilities discover they're not meeting NFPA 70E requirements until an incident occurs or OSHA inspects. Proactive studies demonstrate due diligence.
Best Practice: Schedule during planned outages to verify protective device settings and gather accurate equipment data.
Total Timeline: 4-6 weeks depending on facility size. Expedited service available for urgent compliance needs.
$750K-$1.5M
Average arc flash incident costs (medical, legal, downtime)
$5K-$25K
Study cost depending on facility size
30-300x
ROI preventing ONE incident
Requires arc flash hazard assessment and establishes PPE requirements based on incident energy levels.
Industry-standard methodology for calculating incident energy and arc flash boundaries (2018 edition current).
Mandates assessment of electrical hazards and use of appropriate protective equipment.
Requires flash protection warning labels on equipment likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized.
Professional Engineer Stamp: Studies must be signed and sealed by a licensed PE for legal compliance and insurance acceptance.
Don't wait for an incident to expose electrical hazards in your facility.