What to Look for and What You Can Do to Prevent Arc Accidents From Occurring
Insulating Rubber Gloves
In no circumstance shall repairs be made to insulating gloves in the field.
What to look for:
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Chemical Attack Swelling caused by oils and other petroleum compounds. |
Snags Damage shown here is due to wood and metal splinters and other sharp objects. | Crackling & Cutting Damage caused by prolonged folding or compressing. |
What you can do:
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Avoid Folding Gloves The strain on rubber at a folded point is equal to stretching the glove to twice its length. |
UV Checking Damage shown here is due to wood and metal splinters and other sharp objects. | Avoid Storing Inside Out Gloves should never be stored inside out. This strains the rubber severely and causes ozone cutting. |
Storing your PPE:
Proper storage mean that gloves must not be folded and need to be kept out of excessive heat, humidity, ozone, and any chemical or substance that could damage the rubber.
Leather Protectors:
Proper Care is essential to user safety. They should be inspected when inspecting rubber gloves.
Metal particles, imbedded wire, abrasive materials or any other substance that could physically damage the rubber gloves must be removed from the protector before use.
Leather protectors are the life of your rubber gloves.
They should always be worn over rubber gloves to provide the needed mechanical protection against cuts, abrasions, and punctures.
To ensure worker safety and integrity, gloves need to be worn with leather protectors and be stored properly when not in use.
What you can do:
• Use your glove bags
• Never force more than 1 pair in a bag
• By doing so the gloves will lie flat and last longer
• Proper storage extends the life or your gloves and sleeves
• Hang your glove bag when possible
• Insert glove fingers up
Arc Flash Definition:
A release of thermal energy from an electric arc by the vaporization and ionization of materials, reaching temperatures up to 35,000 °F. Exposure to these extreme temperatures both burns the skin directly and causes ignition of clothing. (2004 NFPA 70E).
