Permanent Electrical Safety Devices (PESDs)

WORKPLACE ELECTRICAL SAFETY has found its way to every facet of our electrical world.  Manufacturers eagerly seek design changes in electrical equipment that are more compatible with the NFPA 70E/CSA Z462 standards.  Maintenance departments need to keep equipment running, so they look for smarter, safer and more productive ways to do so.  Amidst this swirling change and the rising tide of electrical safety, permanent electrical safety devices - and thru-door voltage detection - floats to the top every time.  Here is why:

Keeping personnel away from live voltage is foundational to electrical safety.  More importantly, electrical safety demands a precise answer to the question, “Is voltage present?”.  PESDs go a long way in providing the very first answer to this all-important question, while a voltmeter provides personnel with a second, redundant answer.  PESDs also provide visibility of voltage from outside the enclosure without exposing personnel to the hazard.  Surprisingly, those using PESDs on their equipment have found this concept to be overwhelmingly embraced by all levels of maintenance people.

“Supervision is seeing the value of using panel voltage detectors.  It is my opinion that your process of eliminating the exposure is much more achievable than changing a culture.”  Mike Murphy, NECA-IBEW Senior Trainer

Understanding the principles for creating an electrically-safe work condition are found in NFPA 70E 120.1 helps you better apply our thru-door voltage detection products.  These principles teach us how these simple devices become effective safety tools for reducing risk to workers. 

The below resources will help you make your lock-out tag-out (LOTO) procedures safer and more productive:     

	Thru-Door Voltage Detection Makes Sense:  An explanation of how our combination VoltageVision® and ChekVolt® pro  ducts meet the requirements of NFPA 70E 120.1/CSA Z-462-08 4.2.1 for creating an electrically safe work condition.		Voltage Indicator: How Does It Work?:  Commonly asked questions on the application of the VoltageVision® family of volt age indicators.  Topics include: grounding, applications within different power systems (high resistance and isolated ground systems), fusing short circuit rating, and voltage imbalance, Analysis of the sample LOTO in 70E Annex G, Comparison between a voltage indicator and a voltmeter.
	Voltage Indicator Overcurrent Protection Application Note: Why would you fuse or not fuse a voltage indicator?  Included is a brief discussion on the NEC and NFPA 70E issues, a hazard risk analysis, NEC tap rule, UL 508A work around.		Voltage Portals Improve Non-Contact Voltage Detectors (NCVD) Application Note:  What is a Voltage Portal? How does a NCVD work? Can a NCVD be validated? Why does a voltage portal make the NCVD pen more reliable? Thru-door voltage detection is also a means of labeling voltage sources with labels that do something.
	NEW Whitepaper!  Safer Lock-out Tag-out with Permanent Electrical Safety Devices:  Electrically Safe Work Conditions Based on NFPA 70E and OSHA.  Article 120.1 of the NFPA 70E establishes the procedure for creating an electrically safe work condition.  Since this was written, the day-to-day practice of electrical safety has changed...click here to read more.