What is personal protection equipment (PPE)?

Personnel can be protected from some of the shock and flash hazards by wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). Until equipment is placed in a safe work condition per NFPA 70E 2000 Part II 2-1.1.3, it is considered live. It is important to note that conductors and equipment are considered live when checking for voltage while putting equipment in a safe work condition. PPE includes clothing, gloves, tools, face protection, and glasses. The purpose of PPE is to prevent burns to the body that could cause death. The head and chest areas are the most critical and must be protected. Although burns on the person's limbs are serious, they usually are not likely to cause death. Different types of clothing have different ratings. For example, gloves have a voltage rating to protect from electrical shock. Cotton and fire retardant (FR) clothing all have thermal ratings. Table below is usually used to determine the minimum rating of Personal Protective Equipment in calories per centimeter squared, with the intent to protect the worker from the thermal effects of the arc flash. It has the personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements divided into five hazard levels.

(1)- Defined in ASTM F 1959-99 as the incident energy on a fabric or material that result in sufficient heat transfer through the fabric or material to cause the onset of a second-degree burn.