May 22, 2009

SALISBURY BY HONEYWELL

Use of Arc Rated Flame Resistant clothing and personal protective equipment is being adopted as policy by companies that are using CSA-Z462, a new electrical safety best practices guide.

Safety Regulation

CSA electrical standard an aid to new safety code

PETER KENTER

correspondent

In January, the Canadian Standards Association released CSA-Z462, a voluntary best practices guideline that represents the country’s first national workplace electrical safety standard. However, there’s some uncertainty among Ontario’s electrical contractors as to what role the standard will play in daily working life.

Part of the confusion may have to do with the 2009 Ontario Electrical Safety Code, which took effect on May 1, convincing some contractors that the CSA standard has become law.

“Electrical safety is covered in Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, but the CSA standard doesn’t replace that legislation,” says Len Cicero, an executive member of the CSA-Z462 Technical Committee, and president of Lenco Training & Technical Services of Burlington, Ont.. “It’s a best practices guide and a supporting document that tells you how to get into compliance with the legislation.”

Some contractors may also believe that the CSA standard applies only to electrical workers. Instead, it applies to any worker potentially at hazard for working in proximity to electrical equipment, including HVAC personnel, millwrights, engineers or even project staff.

“Bottom line is, the standard applies if the door is open on a control panel or the cover is off a distribution panel, and the power is on, or if someone is verifying power is off with an electrical tester,” says Cicero.

So what power does CSA-Z462 currently have?

The existence of the standard itself can impose duty of care obligations on employers.

“If something happens that could have been prevented by adhering to the standard, a company can be held accountable,” says Cicero.

In other cases, larger companies are adopting the CSA standard as company policy and requiring the same of smaller contractors who want to work for them.

Contractors who adopt the policy are required to provide workers with Arc Rated Flame Resistant (FR) clothing and personal protective equipment (PPE) when they work on energized electrical systems.

Electrical contractors may be required to work on energized systems while performing diagnostic work, or while troubleshooting problems as a new system is energized.

“Current regulations already state that employers must protect workers from electrical shock and burns,” says Cicero. “The CSA standard specifically addresses both electrical shock and arc flash hazards.”

Cicero stresses that this does not mean that workers will have to wear complete arc flash suits all of the time.

“This is the type of PPE consisting of complete FR clothing and an equipment system that covers the entire body except for the hands and feet — pants, jacket, and a beekeeper-type hood fitted with a face shield,” he says.

These suits vary greatly in price depending on size and calorie rating, says Lisa Nicodemo, with the Sales and Marketing department of Lineman’s Testing Laboratories, a Toronto-based supplier of electrical safety equipment.

A suit consisting of a jacket, bib, overalls and hood, for example, can range from about $900 to $1,500.

“An example of a good, inexpensive solution is what is referred to as the simplified HRC (Hazard Risk Category) 2 daily wear to be worn by workers for their entire shift,” says Cicero.

“This may consist of a combination FR shirt and pant, or coverall which is generally more than adequate protection for 80 to 90 per cent of regular tasks.”

Al Gordon, President of Gordon Electric in London, Ont. and President of the Electrical Contractors Association of London says that his workers have been equipped with the suits, but notes that smaller contractors are reluctant to buy them, due to the initial capital outlay.

“The full FR suits are difficult to move around in and you look like you’re from outer space while wearing them,” he says.

“But contractors are becoming aware that if you don’t wear them now that the standard has described their use, you could be charged.”

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