2018 NFPA 70E Informative Annexes

Almost half of the pages in the 2018 edition of NFPA 70E are devoted to 17 informative annexes. Even though technically the annexes are not part of the mandatory text, there is an incredible amount of additional information, examples and guidance found in the “second half” of NFPA 70E.

I have compiled a summary of each annex and identified some of the more significant changes found in the 2018 edition of NFPA 70E. Some of the text is paraphrased due to the size of some changes i.e. too much to list in this article.

Annex A, Informative Publications: Since references to standards such ASTM and ANSI have moved from the mandatory language to informational notes, similar changes were made to annexes A and B. They were combined into Annex A and renamed “Informative Publications.” Annex A reads, “The following documents or portions thereof are referenced within this standard for informational purposes only and are thus not part of the requirements of this document.”

Annex B, Reserved: Since the material in Annex B was combined with Annex A, Annex B is presently not used.  It was easier to simply list it as “Reserved” rather than renumber all of the subsequent annexes.

Annex C, Limits of Approach:  This annex provides information to better illustrate the concept of approach boundaries. Although each of these boundaries are covered in Chapter 1, this informative annex provides further discussion and diagrams regarding the limited, restricted and arc flash boundaries.

Annex D, Incident Energy and Arc Flash Boundary Calculation Methods:  Plain and simple, this annex can hurt your head.  Various methods for performing arc flash calculations make up this annex.  Methods include the theoretical Ralph Lee Method which was introduced in the 1980’s.  Equations from the Doughty-Neal Paper are listed which are empirically derived and more comprehensive than previous theoretical methods.  And my favorite (Since I’m Vice-Chair as of this writing – I’m biased!) are the equations from IEEE 1584.  Each of the equations found in the actual standard are listed here including arcing short circuit current, incident energy and arc flash boundary equations.

Annex E, Electrical Safety Program:  Have you been looking for examples of Electrical Safety Program Principles, Controls and Procedures that are from NFPA 70E 110.1?  This annex provides quite a list of examples of each.

Annex F, Risk Assessment and Risk Control: Previously titled “Risk Assessment Procedure,” Risk Assessment was first introduced in the 2015 Edition of NFPA 70E.  This annex contains and in depth view of the process and has been revised and reorganized as follows:

F.1 Introduction to Risk Management

F.2 Relationship to Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems

F.3 Hierarchy of Risk Control

F.4 Hazard-Based Risk Assessment

F.5 Task-Based Risk Assessment

F.6 Risk Assessment Methods

Annex G, Sample Lockout/Tagout Program: At the heart of establishing an electrically safe work condition is Lockout/Tagout.  Discussed in great detail in Article 120, this annex provides a sample of a Lockout/Tagout program.

Annex H, Guidance on Selection of Protective Clothing and Other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): H.4 Conformity Assessment of PPE was added. Section 130.7(C)(14) now requires PPE to conform to appropriate product standards. This annex references ANSI/ISEA 125, American National Standard for Conformity Assessment of Safety and Personal Protective Equipment, and provides three levels of conformity assessment.

Level 1 conformity is where the supplier or manufacturer is making a self-declaration that a product meets all of the requirements of the standard(s) to which conformance is claimed.

For Level 2 conformity, the supplier or manufacturer also has a registered ISO-9001-quality management system or equivalent quality management system, and all testing has been carried out by an ISO-17025-accredited testing laboratory. For both levels, the supplier declaration of conformity is required to be made available for examination upon request.

Level 3 conformity is where products are certified by an ISO-17065-accredited, independent, third-party certification organization (CO). The CO directs all product testing and must review or retest all changes to the product if necessary. Compliant products are issued a declaration of conformity, and products are marked with the CO’s mark or label.

H.4.3, Equivalence, states the conformity levels are not equivalent to each other and the level or rigor required to demonstrate conformity should be based on the potential safety and health consequences of using a product that does not meet a stated performance standard.

H.4.4, Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity, defines the minimum requirements that should be part of the declaration of conformity.

Annex I, Job Briefing and Planning Checklist:  This annex provides a sample of a “check the box” style job briefing and planning checklist.

Annex J, Energized Electrical Work Permit: 130.2(B) Energized Electricals Work Permit provides the details of when EEWPs are required, what are the elements of the permit as well as exception.  This Annex provides a sample energized electrical work permit as well as a flow chart.

Annex K, General Categories of Electrical Hazards: This annex lists background information regarding electrical hazards as well as many statistics.  It was greatly expanded in the 2018 edition, and many new statistics were added.

K.2, Electric Shock, states that electrical injuries are more often fatal than many other injury categories. For example, from 2003 to 2009, there were 20,033 electrical injuries, of which 1,573 were fatalities, totaling one fatality for every 12.74 electrical injuries.

K.3, Arc Flash, references information from 29 CFR Subpart V, which identified 99 injures that involved burns from arcs resulting in 21 fatalities and 94 hospitalized injuries from 1991 through 1998. It also provides other statistics regarding electric shock and burn injury.

Annex L, Typical Application of Safeguards in the Cell Line Working Zone:  This annex provides details and illustrations of typical safeguards such as protective boots, gloves and other protection concepts

Annex M, Layering of Protective Clothing and Total System Arc Rating: Layering of arc rated clothing is an option to increase the over all arc rating.  However special consideration needs to be made as simply adding the arc ratings of the layers does not always work. The combined rating can often be greater than the sum of the ratings but a few cases have shown that it can be lower.

Annex N, Example Industrial Procedures and Policies for Working Near Overhead Electrical Lines and Equipment:  Contact with energized overhead lines is frequently fatal.  This annex provides an example of an industrial procedure for working near overhead electrical systems.

Annex O, Safety Related Design Requirements: Several revisions and additions are made to this annex, including the following:

O.2.3, Incident Energy Reduction Methods: Shunt trip was added as an eighth method for incident energy reduction.

O.2.4, Additional Safety by Design Methods: This is a new list of methods that have proven to be effective in reducing the risk associated with an arc flash and shock hazard. The list includes methods such as finger-safe components, arc-resistant equipment, remote racking and remote operation.

Annex P, Safety Related Design Requirements:  Electrical Safety should begin at the design phase of an electrical power system.  Safety by design as it is often called, included many methods and concepts outlined in this annex.

Annex Q, Human Performance and Workplace Electrical Safety: This new annex addresses how the concept of human performance can be applied to workplace safety. Studies by high-risk industries indicate human error is often a cause of incidents. The premise of this annex is that human error is a frequent cause of electrical incidents.

There is quite a bit of good information stored in the last half of NFPA 70.  Certainly worth taking a look.