arc flash

Training and Planning Go a Long Way Toward Reducing Electrical Dangers


Many industrial settings pose real dangers to those who work in them, should proper safety procedures not always be followed. Falls alone cause thousands of deaths nationwide every year, and many of these tragedies could be avoided. While physical dangers rank highest among those that take human lives at job sites, there are plenty of hazards of other kinds that need to be accounted for. At high voltages, for example, electricity can also be extremely deadly, and it can cause damage of other kinds, as well.

Most commonly, electricity causes harm to workers through direct means. When an electric current of great enough magnitude passes through a person's body, tissues will be destroyed and the heart itself can even stop beating. Accidents of these kinds are always to be avoided by every means possible, but doing so will not eliminate all of the dangers that electricity can pose.

Another potentially deadly kind of electric accident happens when current passes not through a person but instead jumps through the air. When voltages are high enough, electricity can leap directly through the air in its pursuit of ground, instead of remaining confined to a circuit intended for its passage. When that happens, the amount of energy will sometimes be enough to begin ionizing the molecules in the air itself, with a fourth form of matter known as plasma being created.



As this process continues, the resistance of the newly ionized medium will drop, often causing the current to rise even higher. Eventually, an explosive event known as an arc flash can arise, with great destructive power being unleashed in the process.

Because accident of these kinds can be so deadly and damaging, the arc flash training Florida workers receive is always of great importance. By arranging arc flash safety training Florida employers can be much more confident that such potentially harmful accidents will not occur even in environments where the conditions might sometimes allow for them.

Arc Flash Consultants who are able to assess job sites can also point out ways of lowering the risks even more, thereby potentially saving lives and a great deal of money in the process. By working closely with experienced arc flash study Florida businesses can build in another important layer of defense on top of the safety skills and habits that their workers learn through training. While a single arc flash can be devastating, there are therefore good ways of making it much less likely that the potentially dire consequences of any such accident will ever need to be faced.