Industrial Electrical Room Safety: Requirements Guide

Industrial Electrical Room Safety: Requirements Guide

The Electrical Room is potentially the most hazardous place in your building when it comes to electricity. That is because most of your large equipment will be housed there. 
For this reason, there are some safety rules and guidelines in place that are specific to the electrical room.  

In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into a checklist of safety requirements and recommended best practices for industrial electrical rooms.

 

 

1. Door

The entry point to an electrical room should set the tone for safety within.  

First, you should invest in robust, fire-resistant doors. These doors act as a crucial line of defense for the rest of the building, protecting against potential fire hazards within the electrical room.

Electrical room doors should have clear signage stating “Danger, High Voltage”. If you want to take it a step further, you can even state the highest voltage present on the sign. 

Consider supplying Qualified Electrical Workers (QEWs) with their own keys or access codes. This ensures that only qualified and authorized individuals have entry, keeping unqualified personnel out of harm's way.

Make sure that your electrical room doors do not lock from the inside (equipment side) as you want to allow easy escape in the event of an emergency. 
You also want to make sure the door swings outward, in the direction of exit travel, and is equipped with panic hardware, unless the door is more than 25 feet away (7.6 meters). 

All workers should be trained in the dangers and procedures associated with entering electrical rooms.

2. Fire Rating

Examining the fire safety aspects of an electrical room is also highly recommended. 

A sprinkler system may be located so that it sprays into the dedicated space, so long as the piping is not in the space.

Despite a century-long history of successful sprinkler installations in electrical rooms, concerns for firefighter safety near live equipment and potential water damage have fueled debates. 

NFPA 13 addresses these concerns by allowing the omission of sprinklers in electrical rooms if all the following conditions are met: 
•    The area is solely for electrical equipment.
•    Only dry-type or liquid-type fluid electrical equipment with stated K-class is used.
•    The equipment is housed in a 2-hour fire-rated container with penetration protection.
•    The room does not allow storage.

 

3. Working Space Clearance Distances

Your electrical room is not a storage room! 

Maintaining a clear working space around electrical equipment will increase efficiency and safety. The Canadian Electrical Code (CEC), National Electrical Code (NEC), and international standards such as the IEC and ComSOP all mandate specific clearances to ensure workers can safely access equipment, as well as escape in the event of an emergency. 

We will focus on the CEC and NEC. In general, for equipment 600V and under, your working space should match what is seen below: 

 

 

Now let's go through some of the subtle differences between the CEC and NEC.

Width of Working Space:
While the CEC seems to only be concerned with whether you can open the hinged doors to 90 degrees, The NEC gets a bit more specific.
It states that the width of the working space should be the width of the equipment enclosure, or a minimum of 30 inches, whichever is greater. 

Height of Working Space:
The CEC states that the minimum headroom of working spaces around switchboards or MCCs should be 2.2 meters.
The NEC states that the working space shall be clear and extend from the floor to a height of 2 meters (6.5 feet). 
I am not sure why the CEC demands the extra 0.2 meters, maybe Canadian electricians really like their headroom. 

Depth of Working Space: 
The CEC provides this table for deciding the working space depth:

 
For equipment 1000V and under, the NEC gets even more specific when it comes to working space depth. They provide the following table:

 
Condition 1: Exposed live parts on one side of the working space and no live or grounded parts on the other side of the working space, or exposed live parts on both sides of the working space that are effectively guarded by insulating materials. 

Condition 2: Exposed live parts on one side of the working space and grounded parts on the other side of the working space. Concrete, Brick, or tile walls shall be considered grounded. 

Condition 3: Exposed live parts on both sides of the working space. 

Both the NEC and CEC state that the working space depth shall be in addition to the space required for the operation of drawout-type equipment in either the connected, test, or fully disconnected position.

They also state that the working space depth shall be sufficient for the opening of enclosure doors and hinged panels to at least 90 degrees.

 

4.  Entrance to and Exit from Working Space 

The Canadian Electrical Code (CEC) states that if your electrical room contains equipment with a rating of 1200A or more than 750V, it must be arranged so that it is still possible to escape, or “egress”, in the event of equipment failure without being injured.

This is typically accomplished by having multiple exits, or multiple aisles. 

If it is infeasible for you to add an extra escape route, then you must ensure at least 1.5 meters of working space around the equipment (even with equipment doors open). 

The NEC has put even more rules in place when it comes to electrical room egress, requiring exits of 6.5 feet tall by 2 feet wide at each end of the workspace when large equipment is present (see below).

 
They give two exceptions that allow for a single exit path:
1.    The path is continuous and unobstructed.
2.    The working distance is doubled. 

This example shows an arrangement where a worker could become trapped behind arcing equipment:

 
This shows an example of a path that is continuous and unobstructed:

 
Here is an example of the working space being doubled to allow for only 1 entrance. 

 

5. Equipment Labels

All electrical equipment in your electrical room, and any other part of your site, should have detailed ID labels.
Good Equipment ID labels will list a unique name for the equipment, as well as the voltage, and which piece of equipment is feeding it. 

An example of a good equipment label can be seen to the right. 

Clear and visible signage is essential for quick identification and communication of potential hazards. 

If you are interested in learning more about how to properly label your electrical equipment, this blog may be for you.

I strongly recommend you conduct an arc flash study and apply arc flash labels on all electrical equipment as well, to ensure workers can quickly identify PPE requirements. 

 

6. Ventilation 

Your electrical room should have a good ventilation system, to keep equipment from overheating. You will also want to have a good filter for your ventilation system and clean it regularly, or you will have a collection of dust. 

A good ventilation system will also help remove humidity and keep things dry during the wet season. 

Check the temperature of your electrical room and make sure that it does not exceed the recommended temperature of any of the electrical equipment in the room. 

If your electrical room runs hot, you should consider AC or better ventilation, as it will extend the life span of your equipment. 

 

7. Illumination

Both the CEC and NEC agree that an electrical room must have adequate illumination for maintenance tasks to go smoothly and efficiently.
But what does “adequate illumination” really mean?

The general idea is that your electrical room needs to be bright enough to see everything easily without straining. 

Although no standard will give you a straight answer, The IESNA Lighting Handbook makes a recommendation of 20-50 FC (Foot Candles) in a mechanical/electrical room. 

That’s right, illuminance is measured in foot candles. 

A foot-candle is the amount of light that hits a 1ft2 surface when 1 lumen is shined from 1 foot away.
 
To determine the required lumens, you will need to multiply your room square footage by your room foot-candle requirement.

For a 100-square-foot electrical room requiring 20-50 foot-candles, the calculation would be as follows:

Minimum Lumens: 100 sq. ft. x 20 fc = 2,000 lumens
Maximum Lumens: 100 sq. ft. x 50 fc = 5,000 lumens

You can buy a light meter and go around measuring this, but you can probably just use your best judgment.  

 

8. Single Line Diagram

Standards like CSA Z462 require you to maintain a detailed Single-Line Diagram (SLD) of your electrical system. 

We recommend that you have a blown-up poster-sized version of your SLD hanging on the wall of your electrical room. 

Knowing how the power is distributed to equipment can improve efficiency during troubleshooting and maintenance. If you would like to learn more about SLDs and how to create your own we have another great blog post for you. Create Your Own Single Line Now

 

Conclusion

Prioritizing safety in your industrial electrical room is crucial for fostering a secure and efficient work environment. By implementing the guidelines and best practices outlined in this comprehensive guide, you've equipped your team with a valuable checklist to protect your electrical room against potential hazards.

Remember, periodic reviews and updates to your safety protocols will ensure that your electrical room remains a secure hub for powering your operations. 
By adopting these practices, you not only adhere to regulatory requirements but also contribute to a culture of safety and responsibility within your industrial facility.

Thank you for exploring this guide, and if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at colton.rossiter@leafelectricalsafety.com 

 

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