What is Arc Flash and How Can You Prevent Injury from One?
An Arc Flash can result in life-altering injuries for electricians and anyone else that encounters them. These events in which an electrical current travels through the air either from one conductor to another or from a conductor to the ground can cause irrecoverable injuries and death for even a qualified person. Ensuing blasts can exert 2,000 pounds per square foot of pressure. Shards of molten metal hotter than 35,000 degrees Fahrenheit will pierce the skin. The simple act of breathing can cause one’s lungs to explode. Third degree burns, permanent deafness and blindness have resulted from Arc Flashes.
Such incidents can also have an incalculable effect on the electrical worker’s family. Some Arc Flash victims require constant medical care. The financial impact can exceed $1,000,000 in doctor’s bills.
Arc Flash personal protective equipment is crucial in helping to protect against the hazards of Arc Flashes. Our supplier partner National Safety Apparel provides everything needed to be compliant with NFPA 70E for PPE Category Levels 2-4 as defined by NFPA 70E-2018. They include: ArcGuard gloves, kits, hoods, coats/jackets, faceshields, bib overalls, balaclavas, blankets and Arc Flash Kits. Arc Flash clothing and gear is often sold as kits, making it easy to buy everything you may need, and easy to store in a bag that can be stowed in your truck or at your workplace, always accessible for when you may need it.
Another one of our partners, Chicago Protective Apparel offers a range of Arc Flash PPE to protect vulnerable workers. Their PPE1 kits (Minimum Arc Rating of 4 cal/cm2) and PPE2 kits (Minimum Arc Rating of 8cal/cm2) include the clothing needed to protect against Arc Flash injuries: arc-rated long-sleeve shirt and pants or arc-rated coveralls, arc-rated flash suit hood or arc-rated face shield and arc-rated balaclava, arc-rated jacket, parka, rainwear, or hard hat liner (AN). The kits also include the following protective equipment: E-rated hard hat, safety glasses or safety goggles (SR), hearing protection (ear canal inserts), heavy duty leather gloves, arcrated gloves, or rubber insulating gloves with leather protectors (AR) and leather or dielectric footwear, or footwear tested to demonstrate no ignition, melting, dripping at the estimated incident energy exposure.
Chicago Protective Apparel’s PPE3 (Minimum Arc Rating of 25 cal/cm2) and PPE4 (Minimum Arc Rating of 40 cal/cm2) Arc Flash Kits contain the following to protect against the additional hazards: arc-rated long-sleeve shirt (AR), arc-rated pants (AR), arc-rated coverall (AR), arc-rated arc flash suit jacket (AR), arc-rated arc flash suit pants (AR), arc-rated arc flash suit hood, and arc-rated jacket, parka, rainwear, or hard hat liner (AN). The protective equipment in these kits includes: E-rated hard hat, safety glasses or safety goggles (SR), hearing protection (ear canal inserts), heavy duty leather gloves, arc-rated gloves, or rubber insulating gloves with leather protectors (AR) and leather or dielectric footwear, or footwear tested to demonstrate no ignition, melting, dripping at the estimated incident energy exposure.
Anchortex is proud to partner with organizations that provide the tools to protect against Arc Flash injuries. The range of the protective apparel and equipment we offer can defend workers when these life-altering occurrences happen.
Click shop our selection of Arc Flash Protection kits and arc flash protective equipment by ArcGuard by National Safety Apparel, Chicago Protective Apparel, and Steele Grip. Contact us for custom kits and items not shown. We also sell a wide selection of flame resistant and arc-rated protective clothing by these and other top PPE brands.