What is an arc flash warning label

The 2008 National Electrical Code, NFPA 70, states in 110.16 Flash Protection.

"Switchboards, panel boards, industrial control panels, meter socket enclosures, and motor control centers that are in other than dwelling occupancies and are likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized shall be field marked to warn qualified persons of potential electric arc flash hazards. The marking shall be located so as to be clearly visible to qualified persons before examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance of the equipment."

Determining flash protection boundary and the appropriate PPE would be useless without the information being communicated to the personnel working on or in near the potentially hazardous equipment. Codes and regulations requires switchboards, panel-boards, industrial control panels, and motor control centers to be field marked to warn personnel of the potential electric arc flash hazards. While not every type of equipment is expressly named, industrial control panels covers every enclosure that may contain exposed energized conductors or components. The markings are to be located so they are visible to the personnel before examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance of the equipment. The marking is intended to reduce the occurrence of serious injury or death due to arcing faults to person who works on or near energized electrical equipment. The warning label should remind a qualified worker who intends to open the equipment for analysis or work that a serious hazard exists and that the worker should follow appropriate work practices and wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) for the specific hazard. Any unqualified person must not be near open energized equipment. The NEC labeling requirements apply to any electrical equipment installed or modified after 2002. Examples of arc hazard warning label are shown below:

Sample arc flash label created using Arc Flash Analytic software

Sample arc flash label created using Arc Flash Analytic software (alternate layout)

Equipment labels should comply with the facility's safety policies and with the requirements of the local authority having jurisdiction. They should be made of durable material suitable for the environment where they are to be applied. Labels for outdoor equipment should be UV resistant.

To achieve maximum safety, these labels should be installed on all existing enclosure doors, removable panels, etc. If you lack the time or expensive equipment to print the required labels internally, let us do it for you. ARCAD's arc flash label printing services make NFPA 70, OSHA and CSA Z462 compliance simpler.