Great River Energy :: Delivering Electricity

Substation PPE requirements for arc flash protection

Anytime you will be working in a substation, please remember -- the requirements for personal protective equipment (PPE) vary from substation to substation based on how close you will be to specific equipment and the amount of heat an arc flash in that particular situation would produce. Your safety is important to us. Please refer to the information below for PPE requirements by substation and commonly used clothing.

Requirements by substation

View this list to see PPE requirements for each distribution substation. For best results, view at 150 percent.

Arc flash PPE requirements list »

Commonly used clothing by hazard risk level

The arc flash PPE requirements list shows which level of fire retardant (FR) clothing is required at each substation. The chart below shows commonly used clothing options for each level.

Hazard risk level	Commonly used fire retardant (FR) clothing at this level	Minimum ATPV* (Cal/cm^2)
Level 1	FR shirt and FR pants, or FR coveralls, or Single base layer of FR protection	4
Level 2	FR undergarments (undershirt and underwear), FR shirt and FR pants, or FR undergarments and FR coveralls, or At least 2 layers of FR protection	8
Level 3	FR undergarments (undershirt and underwear), FR shirt, FR jacket, FR pants and FR coveralls, or At least 2 layers of FR protection	25
Level 4	FR undergarments (undershirt and underwear), FR shirt, FR jacket, FR pants and FR coveralls, or FR undergarments (undershirt and underwear), FR shirt, FR pants and multi-layer flash suit, or At least 3 layers of FR protection	40

An Arc Thermal Protective Value (ATPV) refers to the minimum incident energy (in calories per cubic centimeter) that protective equipment can be exposed to and prevent the onset of a second-degree burn.

Questions?

If you have any questions about arc flash PPE requirements, please contact Kirk Wulf at 763-241-2260 or e-mail kwulf@grenergy.com.

Safety