I am hearing rumor that our company will be requiring all electrical personal to wear a Full Brimmed Hard Hat. I have not seen any official Policy or been told this Formally, so just trying to do some homework and get out in front of this. I have never seen a marking on a Hard Hat showing how many cal/cm2 it was rated for nor can I find anything ins ANSI Z89.1 stating anything for this. Just the Electrical Insulation Classes "C" - Conductive and no electrical insulation, "G" - General and up to 2,200 Volts and "E" - Electrical and up to 20,000 Volts. Is anyone aware of any other testing or standard for providing an Arc Flash Rating for Hard Hats?

Furthermore, I have never seen an Arc Flash Suit and/or Head Protection that utilizes a Full Brimmed Hard Hat. Anyone ever seen this?

Maybe, someone in the Forum that works for a manufacture and/or a testing facility could help clarify how they get the arc flash ratings for their head protection and why hard hats are not labeled with hazard they are tested for?



Thanks!
James

I did a published (IEEE Paper) paper with this data on that material. While in some exposures the hard had suspension can melt, the materials take a LOT to ignite or melt. Melting in a regular brim didn’t occur on the MSA V-Guard until over 40 cal/cm². There is NO standard, I proposed one but was shot down by ANSI and the ASTM committees. Easy to do and there have been many tests. I’ve seen one or two hard hat melts. One or two burns but the worst was caused by a non-AR hairnet ignition.

ArcWear and r-Hazard have this data as I am retired.

Hugh Hoagland

Thanks Hugh!

I've always thought the brow pad would be the most problematic part. I believe mine is polyester. When wet with sweat, the moisture might flash into steam; and when dry likely to melt. Right there in front unless covered with a face shield.

I’ve been arc testing for 28 years and not see it with the open arc we is except when something ignores from under it. In ove 230 investigations, I’ve seen it twice but VERY high energies for not wearing a shield. Strangely it’s VERY rare. Probably due to the fact that 60-80% of the arc energy is IR so it doesn’t go around a curve. The videos I capture show just the convection currents which transmit much less energy.

Hope that Helps,

Hugh Hoagland

Not to derail the conversation, and not doubting the statement, but for my own curiosity: are there any IEEE papers or the like that discuss this? I don't recall having seen anything that quantifies arc flash energy in this way.

Not a derail. Good question.

See

E TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 50, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 2014
Clothing in Arc Flash: Four Types of Arc Exposure
and the Effect of Moisture on Garment
Appearance After an Arc Event
Elihu Hoagland, Senior Member, IEEE, Mikhail Golovkov, Member, IEEE,
Claude Maurice, and Phillip Clark, Member, IEEE

Thanks very much!