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EU Equivalent to NFPA 70E Electrical Safety in the Workplace
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Author:  Skeletonian [ Tue Aug 16, 2022 5:41 am ]
Post subject:  EU Equivalent to NFPA 70E Electrical Safety in the Workplace
Tere!

I stumbled across this forum through Bing search, so forgive me if I am breaking any forum pho-pas.

I have an electrical background from the USA of around 16 years. NFPA 70E has always been drilled into me as the electrical safety bible for all of my career.

Earlier this year I took a job at a start-up here in Estonia. And the first thing I had an issue with is the lack of any electrical safety. I have spent week trying to comb through several IEC Standards here trying to find any comparison to recommended PPE for different voltage levels, as spelled out in NFPA 70E. I am hoping someone here has a bit of information to set me in the right direction. Most of the standards I have read are really just on how to certify as electrically safe, but none so far have spelled out what PPE should be worn at certain voltage levels (low, medium, high).

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

Stay Safe!
Author:  Jim Phillips (brainfiller) [ Thu Aug 18, 2022 7:06 am ]
Post subject:  Re: EU Equivalent to NFPA 70E Electrical Safety in the Workp
Skeletonian wrote:
Tere!

I stumbled across this forum through Bing search, so forgive me if I am breaking any forum pho-pas.

I have an electrical background from the USA of around 16 years. NFPA 70E has always been drilled into me as the electrical safety bible for all of my career.

Earlier this year I took a job at a start-up here in Estonia. And the first thing I had an issue with is the lack of any electrical safety. I have spent week trying to comb through several IEC Standards here trying to find any comparison to recommended PPE for different voltage levels, as spelled out in NFPA 70E. I am hoping someone here has a bit of information to set me in the right direction. Most of the standards I have read are really just on how to certify as electrically safe, but none so far have spelled out what PPE should be worn at certain voltage levels (low, medium, high).

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

Stay Safe!

Welcome to the Arc Flash Forum!

Specific global guidance similar to NFPA 70E is lacking as you have seen. I conduct training programs internationally and have been to many countries where most will request including NFPA 70E in the training due to a lack of other standards. PPE selection is based on a number of factors (NFPA 70E, IEEE 1584) but the main factor is select an arc rating sufficient for the available incident energy. Good luck and stay safe!
Author:  jvrielink [ Mon Aug 22, 2022 7:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: EU Equivalent to NFPA 70E Electrical Safety in the Workp
Things are not that terrible, electrical safety does exist in Europe ;)

The EU equivalent of NFPA 70E is EN 50110. Like most European standards it is not quite as descriptive as NFPA 70E, instead it leaves details like PPE selection to those responsible for electrical safety (I'm guessing that's you). Your national standard that extends EN 50110 may have additional requirements.

As arc flash requirements are sparse, your best bet is picking and choosing from NFPA 70E and setting up your own procedure with the additions you're making. If your PPE has a CE mark and rating in cal/cm² you're good to go.

Be careful with class 1 and 2 as they don't translate to cal/cm². DGUV 203-077 is a German standard to calculate arc hazard for those: do not use it as it is bad.
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