Hi there,

I am curious if anyone (or any standards) are using the official ISO 7010 symbol for arc flash? I am about to embark on a major hazard labeling campaign for a fleet of ships. I am in Canada and following CSA Z462 guidance. I plan to exercise the option to not include the detailed hazard data on the labels, and instead provide electrical hazard catalogs which the labels will reference. This concept is discussed in Z462. Since there will be hundreds (or thousands) of labels, this mitigates against the frequent label format and terminology changes in the electrical safety standards.



I think it is great that there is an official hazard symbol for arc flash, separate from shock and blast. Any others using this symbol on labels yet?

References:

https://www.iso.org/obp/ui#iso:grs:7010:W042

Our company was on the committee and drew the symbol for IEC/ISO. The new IEC 61482-1-1 FDIS for arc ratings of garments it the first I know to cite the symbol. The new IEC Guide for Arc Flash Risk assessments will likely recommend the symbol also. Just make sure you use it in accordance with the ISO copyright. Normally it can only be used in conjunction with an ISO standard. This may not apply to end user uses like labels but I would check.

https://www.iso.org/obp/ui#iso:grs:7010:W001

ISO says the symbol "cannot be used on its own and requires a supplementary sign to give further information about the hazard."
The use of the Triangle Warning is likely OK but we have been told the symbol with the shield (used for PPE) must have an associated ISO standard on the label which uses the symbol. There is currently no ISO standard or IEC standard for Arc Flash Hazard Assessment.

Good luck.

Thanks very much for the reply elihuiv.

I would be very interested to see the label format suggested in the IEC Guide for Arc Flash Risk assessments, which appears to not be published yet. A quick google image search for arc flash labels shows several vendors selling labels which use the symbol. I appreciate that many label vendors do not closely follow hazard label standards though, so I refer to these with caution.

There are two IEC documents under way that will assist with arc flash risk assessments. They are being developed within IEC Technical Committee 78 - Live Working of which I am the Chair. The first document is a proposed Technical Report titled “Guidance document for end users for electrical arc flash PPE” It is in the early development stages.

I worked with a U.K. colleague to develop the first draft of the Technical Report and it does include, the new arc symbol is part of the draft. (Thanks to Hugh's group for drafting the symbol!) Once completed, this new document will hopefully make it easier for everyone to be on the same page.

A second Technical Report has been in the works for a while and is about correlating the results of arc test methods to electrotechnical applications in order to select the proper electric arc protective equipment. This document focuses more on the arc flash calculations.

Getting the word out to the electrical community is quite important – thanks for helping.