Arc Flash PPE Selection for Data Center Personnel: What South African Standards Recommend
The South African data center market is projecting a promising situation as MNCs like Huawei, Amazon, and Microsoft are expanding their operations there. On the flip side, with opportunities come challenges, and frequent load shedding in South Africa poses a serious threat of arc flash incidents in data centers in South Africa. The toggling between on and off puts extra strain on electrical appliances which can lead to failures and arc flashes. Power surges and an overloaded backup system due to load shedding further elevate the threat of arc flashes.
A great solution for mitigating these risks due to arc flashes is to conduct an Arc Flash Study and Analysis for your Data Center Facility in South Africa. This Arc Flash study helps you in multiple ways by
- Identify and evaluate potential Arc flash hazards
- determining the incident energy levels at the electrical system
- ensuring compliance with the standards
- suggesting protective measures like PPE clothing, panel labeling, and upgrading devices to arc-resistant equipment.
- educating the workforce on the impact of Arc Flashes and the use of correct PPE
- offering detailed documentation of the findings
PPE for arc flashes- Hazard Protection Gear- what is its relevance?
An arc Flash is associated with high temperatures, blasts, flying of debris, and sometimes electric shocks. PPE or Personal Protective Equipment for arc flashes in data centers in South Africa includes the following:
- Flame-resistant (FR) clothing like FR shirts, jackets, pants, and overalls.
- Face shields and hood to protect from exceptional heat and light
- Arc-rated leather gloves with rubber insulation to protect from shocks
- Arc-rated helmets and headgear with face shields
- Arc-rated head and neck protectors, balaclavas
- Boots made of leather or rubber with arc rating to protect from shocks and burns
- Safety goggles with an arc-rating
- Aprons, vests, and arc-rated earplugs.
Data Centers, being heavy with electrical installations and heavy-duty electrical equipment must make it a practice to engage workers in enlightening about the safety measures and PPE.
The role of PPE for arc flashes is to protect the person wearing it from the ill effects of arc flash hazards.
As such, the functions of PPE can be summarized as:
- protection from high temperatures in the range of 19,000 degrees Celsius, thus reducing the severity of burns
- the insulated gloves with the PPE help protect from electric shock accompanying the Arc Flashes.
- arc Flashes inculcate eject debris, molten metal, and shrapnel at high speed. PPE helps electrical workers protect themselves from these dangers.
- Respirators or hoods in the PPE set keep workers from inhaling harmful fumes and gases.
- Compliance with standards and safe work practices gives employees a sense of reassurance and a conducive working atmosphere.
With so many functional advantages of PPE for arc flashes, Data centers in South Africa must implement this in their safety audit.
Step-by-step process to select the right PPE for data centers in South Africa
South African data centers adopt different standards to choose the right PPE for Arc flashes in their facility. However, the steps to be followed to identify the PPE are:
- conduct an arc flash Study for your Data Center facility in South Africa. An Arc Flash study collects data, runs it through software applications like ETAP for Arc Flash simulations, and calculates the incident energy levels at various nodes in the system. The incident energy, calculated in cal/cm² gives a fair idea of what category of PPE must be recommended.
Care Labs is a premium provider of arc flash studies for South African Data centers. Advanced software applications, tools, and best practices along with adherence to standards make these services a popular choice for top data centers in South Africa.
- Identify the level of PPE required to safeguard the person wearing it. The clothing must match the rating of the equipment. This includes the arc-rated clothing from head to toe.
- Training the workers involved and enlightening them through awareness programs and activities.
- Updating and reviewing the PPE time and time again to ensure they are in good condition to be used in case of emergencies.
PPE categories in South Africa- How to identify them?
South African authorities follow internationally accepted standards for selecting the PPE for arc flashes such as the NFPA 70E, and IEC 61482-1-2. Based on this, the Arc Flash PPE selection for Data center personnel and South African standards recommendations are:
- Category 1- for an arc-rating 4-8 cal/cm²
- Category 2- for an arc-rating 8-12 cal/cm²
- Category 3- for an arc-rating 12-25 cal/cm²
- Category 4- for an arc-rating >25 cal/cm²
Other regional standards like SANS 724:2012, SANS 10142:2017, and SANS 60079 Series are considered while selecting the right PPE for arc flash in Data Centers in South Africa.
As a final point, it is also important to give necessary and proper training to the workers involved. They must be trained in wearing this FR clothing and must be aware of its maintenance and limitations.
Arc Flash is a serious threat to any data center as it incorporates heavy-duty electrical machines. PPE is an integral part of ensuring safety during arc flash events, different standards are used across the world. When it comes to Arc Flash PPE selection for Data Center personnel, South Africa adopts both widely accepted international standards as well as regional codes.
Does your facility need an Arc Flash study service? Do you need guidance to select the best PPE? Contact our professionals at Care Labs to learn more.
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