While performing routine maintenance, a voltage verification test is required per NFPA 70E to establish and verify an electrically safe work condition. This process poses numerous risks and includes various steps to meet compliance. GracePESDs like the Safe-Test Point allow you to test voltage inside the enclosure without opening the door, while voltage indicator PESDs provide a visual indication of voltage presence, enabling a safer and more productive means of conducting mechanical and electrical Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) procedures.
When properly incorporated into an Electrical Safety Program, PESDs mitigate risks involved with one of OSHA's top most cited violations; the control of hazardous energy. But how and when each device is best suited for each step of the process may require some clarification. For starters, GracePESDs voltage indicators are best suited for verifying the presence of voltage. This is visually represented by flashing or non-flashing LED lights from the device that is hardwired to the load side of an electrical feeder or disconnect switch.
However, when the lights are no longer illuminated, this is not to be considered an accurate representation of the absence of voltage. In order to verify absence of voltage, a qualified electrician must go beyond visual verification and test for absence of voltage using their voltmeter. This is where our Safe-Test Point and Voltage Test Station would come into play.
GracePESDs for Mechanical LOTO
Failure to perform proper mechanical or electrical LOTO can lead to electrocution, electrical shock, arc flash, and other hazards. In addition to hefty fines issued by OSHA for non-compliance, these hazards often result in lost time wages, compensation claims, permanent disability, and fatalities. Voltage indicators improve safety around live voltage by identifying faults before maintenance is performed, or simply by providing a visual indication that energy is present when it's assumed to be absent.
Voltage indicators are permanently installed self-powered devices that are typically hardwired to the load side of an electrical feeder or a disconnect switch. These indicators illuminate whenever hazardous voltage is present in any individual phase and assist task-qualified personnel with enhanced productivity and reduced risk while performing mechanical LOTO tasks.
GracePESDs for Electrical LOTO
After so many arc flash incidents with our clumsy pal, Burnie; Les made it his life goal to find a safer, smarter, and more productive method of performing electrical LOTO procedures. The result was the GracePESDs Voltage Test Station. This PESD provides the same benefit of a voltage presence LED indicator and combines with our Safe-Test Point, which enables a qualified electrician to measure both the presence and absence of voltage. The Voltage Test Station conveniently places its voltage indicator and Safe-Test Point within a UL rated protective housing.
While performing routine maintenance, a voltage verification test is required per NFPA 70E to establish and verify an electrically safe work condition. This process poses numerous risks and includes various steps to meet compliance. The Voltage Test Station allows qualified electricians to equip their voltmeter and test for absence of voltage using the Safe-Test Point. Simply insert your metered probes into the high-impedance test points and measure from line-to-line and line-to-ground to take a reading. The LED voltage indicators will illuminate when voltage is present and will also help diagnose leg loss and stuck blade scenarios.
In comparison to their methods in the past, with the Voltage Test Station, Les found the answer to keeping people safe and assets secured by enhancing NFPA 70E compliance. It's one thing to use warning labels to keep people away from voltage, but the ability to keep voltage away from people is truly a testament to safety-by-design. In order to test out the effectiveness of the Voltage Test Station, they held a little competition to see which method was safer and more efficent...
.jpg?width=2296&height=1208&name=Automation%20Social%20Media%20Ads%2022103%20(1).jpg)
Grace Technologies will be exhibiting at Automation Fair 2022 in Chicago, November 16-17. Our newest electrical safety and predictive maintenance solutions from GracePort, GracePESDs, & GraceSense will all be on display at Booth #327. If you saw our booth last year, you're not going to want to miss out on what we've got in store this year! Stop by our booth for a first-ever look at some new innovations that we're very excited to unveil.
On November 16 & 17 from 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM, Grace CTO, Andy Zimmerman, will present session #PT44: "Improving Industrial Safety and Productivity with Secure IoT Devices, the Cloud, and a PLC". This session will explore the role that Predictive Maintenance and the IoT are playing in worker safety and equipment reliability. Register today!
