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A multi-year project on arc flash research recently got a
boost with a US$500,000 sponsorship contribution from Schneider Electric, adding
more resources to the estimated US$6.5 million joint research initiative by the
Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) and the National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA).
Schneider Electric’s North American Operating Division,
based in Palatine, Ill., made the half-a-million-dollar donation to the Arc
Flash Collaborative Research Project in a bid to help improve electrical
standards and protect worker safety, according to Jim Pauley, Schneider
Electric’s vice-president for industry and government relations.
 An arc flash is an electric current that is passed through
air when insulation or isolation between electrified conductors is no longer
sufficient to withstand the applied voltage. The flash is immediate and can
cause severe injury. Every year, burn centres are treating more than 2,000
cases of extended injuries among workers caused by arc flash, according to IEEE
research.
“We believe this project will produce the data necessary to
further our understanding of the arc flash phenomena, which will help us design
safer components and provide better guidelines for safely maintaining
electrical equipment,” Pauley said in a statement.
Sue Vogel, director of technical committee programs for the
IEEE Standards Association, welcomed the contribution saying it will “help
speed the work of this project and ensure a solution that will help save
lives.”
The collaborative research initiative by the IEEE and NFPA
was designed to better define arc flash hazards and provide information to
improve electrical safety standards, predict hazards associated with arching
faults and accompanying arc blasts, and provide employees with practical
safeguards in the workplace.
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