New 2021 NFPA 70E Standards

Submitted by CWEA Safety Committee

Announcements

NFPA 70E requirements for safe work practices to protect personnel by reducing exposure to major electrical hazards. Originally developed at OSHA’s request, NFPA 70E helps companies and employees avoid workplace injuries and fatalities due to shock, electrocution, arc flash, and arc blast, and assists in complying with OSHA 1910 Subpart S and OSHA 1926 Subpart K.

Access new fact sheet which highlights key elements of this important Electrical Safety Standard. Here is a snapshot. Find the fact sheet HERE

• Article 110: Some requirements in Article 110 have been reorganized for a more logical progression, including moving general principles of lockout/tagout from Section 120.2 and general principles of an electrically safe work condition and energized work requirements from Section
  130.2. New subsection 110.5(K) requires that an employer’s electrical safety program include a policy on establishing an electrically safe work condition.
• Article 130: Sections 130.1 and 130.2 have been rewritten to accommodate the relocation of information from former Sections 130.2(A) to 110.3 and to keep the focus of Article 130 on requirements related to work involving electrical hazards.
• Table 130.5(C): Revisions have been made to Table 130.5(C), which can be used to help estimate the likelihood of occurrence of an arc flash incident, including a new entry for the initial circuit breaker or switch operation and again after maintenance, as each has a higher likelihood of an arc-flash event.
• Section 350.9: Energy thresholds for electrical equipment and systems in laboratories have been revised to accurately reflect the data in the Informational Note’s resource document, and the capacitive circuit threshold has been deleted to prevent duplication and potential confusion with new Article 360.
• Article 360: This new article on the safety-related requirements for capacitors has been added.

Source: NFPA