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Certification for Arc Flash Compliance

Posted on April 10, 2012 by lewellyntech

Jay Smith, Jr., Lewellyn TechnologyThank you for your questions regarding Certification. I want to be clear that Certification for Arc Flash Compliance does not exist and that is why Lewellyn Technology does not offer it. Sure, we can sign a piece of paper, and call it certified, but without merit that’s all it is – a piece of paper. The bottom-line: if you protect your employees from known electrical hazards, then you are doing what you should be doing. Arc Flash Analysis, Electrical Safe Work Practices Training, PPE, Safety Program Development, and Arc Flash Labeling are all required as part of ensuring workplace safety, and if you start working on these items and truly look at how to protect employees, then compliance will naturally follow. There are vendors out there that say they offer Certification. That is great, but it isn’t recognized by anyone other than the organization printing the paper. My advice: hire a safety company, understand the process, and protect your employees.

Jay Smith, Jr.
Executive Vice President
Lewellyn Technology, Inc.

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You Need a Partner in Safety, Not Just Another Vendor

Posted on March 26, 2012 by lewellyntech

Jay Smith, Jr., Lewellyn TechnologyDon’t let Google choose your vendor. Arc Flash Assessments are not something you find using Google. Yes, it can be a good starting point, but you must do your homework going forward. Many times you will find that the websites you are viewing are merely store fronts for Brokers or Re-Sellers. Sometimes even equipment manufacturers come up that simply sell your project to the low-bidder. Using the Internet to get quotes is okay, even Lewellyn.com comes up in the Top 5 in most searches, but don’t let the proposal you receive from that search affect your decision. There are a number of questions and actions you must take after you find vendors to supply proposals:

1. Ask for resumes of the Electrical Engineers that will be working on your project. Not just what clients they have worked with, but what school did they go to, what is their experience, how long have they been working with the current company.

2. Get the PE number for the Professional Engineer that will be reviewing and overseeing your project, ensure he/she has had at least 10 years performing Arc Flash Assessments.

3. Research what the company actually does, how long have they been in business, what is their focus.

4. Ensure that there are no sub-contractors working on your project. From the data collection to the engineering analysis, you must ensure the work is not sub-contracted out. What will you do in 5 years when that sub-contractor is no longer affiliated with this vendor?

5. What is the business goal of the vendor? If their goal is not electrical safety and hazard mitigation then question how they can help you mitigate hazards.

In summary, an arc flash assessment is not something you buy off the shelf, then put back on the shelf when you are done. Implementing NFPA 70E will change the entire maintenance and safety culture of your company forever. You need a partner in safety, not just another vendor.

Jay Smith, Jr.
Executive Vice President
Lewellyn Technology, Inc.

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Thank you to the attendees of our NFMT Baltimore presentation!

Posted on March 14, 2012 by lewellyntech

Jay Smith, Jr., Lewellyn TechnologyI wanted to thank everyone that came out to hear Daryn Lewellyn speak at the 2012 NFMT Show in Baltimore. It is refreshing to see that so many of you are still concerned about how to implement NFPA 70E, how to get Electrical Safety Training completed, and how an Arc Flash Analysis is performed. We are here for the next 2-days so please feel free to come by and see us at booth #2043 at NFMT!

Jay Smith, Jr.
Executive Vice President
Lewellyn Technology, Inc.

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New Workplace Safety Show Episodes

Posted on March 2, 2012 by lewellyntech

Check out the newest episodes of Workplace Safety Show!

In this episode of the Workplace Safety Show, Daryn talks about his recent article which focuses on moving away from citation avoidance and moving toward injury prevention.

View more Workplace Safety Show videos

In this episode of the Workplace Safety Show, Jay and Daryn discuss how arc flash hazards are not industry-specific – they pertain to any facility containing electrical equipment such as schools, colleges, grocery stores and more.

View more Workplace Safety Show videos

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The Minimum For Workplace Safety Isn’t So Hard To Figure Out

Posted on February 28, 2012 by lewellyntech

Daryn Lewellyn

Ask yourself, “When it comes to electrical hazards in the workplace, what is the minimum my facility has to do to comply with OSHA?” Many people will spend countless hours studying this question, reading OSHA regs, studying NFPA 70E, forming committees, getting the corporate attorney involved, hiring consultants, blah blah blah. The minimum isn’t so hard to figure out.

The minimum you have to achieve concerning electrical hazards in the workplace is to “Prevent Injuries Caused By Electrical Hazards.” That’s the minimum. So the real question needs to be “How Do We Prevent These Injuries.” 

Only when your thinking moves away from citation avoidance and toward injury prevention can we begin to protect people. As far as a hit to the bottom line, the citations are tiny compared to the cost of an injury. Electrical injuries are expensive. Let’s prevent those and not worry so much about a citation.

Daryn Lewellyn
President & Founder
Lewellyn Technology, Inc.

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Lewellyn Bulwark Arc Flash Seminar a Success!

Posted on February 24, 2012 by lewellyntech

Yesterday, Lewellyn and Bulwark provided a discussion regarding Arc Flash Analysis, NFPA 70E Training, and proper use of PPE. We want to thank all of our friends and colleagues that came out to see us! Great crowd and great questions.  Keep your eyes on lewellyn.com, we plan on offering additional Free Seminars around the country in 2012 and we’re planning a webinar in June. Thanks again for all who came out to see us in Ontario.

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There Is What’s Right: Safety Trumps the Bottom Line

Posted on February 14, 2012 by lewellyntech

Daryn LewellynBy Daryn Lewellyn
President & Founder
Lewellyn Technology, Inc.
Print(printable version)

I’m angry right now. I tell my employees to never write anything in anger because you’ll be sorry later when you’ve cooled off. I’m going to go ahead and write this in anger because I’m pretty sure I’ll still be angry later.

I just spent an hour on OSHA.gov reading news releases, weekly fatality reports, investigation summaries, statistics, etc. I also spent some time searching the internet for news stories on workplace accidents. Then I did the thing that always gets me the most, I began reading obituaries of those killed at work. These are not merely employees, these are people – people with families. Of course, it always lists the survivors. I always pay particular attention to the children and grandchildren. In this day and age, obituaries have been dramatically changed by technology. There are pictures on funeral home websites of those killed, and there are comments left from friends and family. These people were loved – this was a mother’s son, a little girl’s daddy. These people will be missed.

Frequently, I’ll spend an hour like this and I always start out saddened by the stories of tragedy brought on by workplace accidents, then that sadness turns to anger. Anger because if you look at the details of the incidents that resulted in injury or death so many of them could have been easily prevented. If you look at the fatality reports you can see that the knowledge, procedures, technology, and recognized best practices to prevent these injuries have been around for years. Years. Yet this still goes on.

There are employers out there that do care very much about the safety of their employees and do all they can to protect them. They don’t do it for financial reasons. They do it because it’s the right thing to do. I applaud you if you’re one of these employers. These companies can still have a tragic accident. This rant is not about you. It’s about those that didn’t make the effort in the first place.

Some of it is ignorance on the availability of solutions to these hazards or even that a hazard exists. That’s really no excuse. With the volumes of information on the internet, it’s hard to believe that in a few minutes you can’t find some answers that might save lives.

Some of it is the, “that won’t happen here”, mentality. It can happen anywhere. Just spend an hour as I just did and you’ll see lots of people who thought the same thing. Thinking that, “it won’t happen here” is just foolish. Don’t hang your hopes on that as a safety strategy.

Some of it is the belief that “we’re not sure if that regulation applies to us, in our state or industry, OSHA hasn’t really adopted that standard so we’ll wait.” Waiting for OSHA to adopt the latest fall protection standard, combustible dust standard, electrical standard, etc. before you take action might play well in the boardroom, but it doesn’t play well at the funeral home. Forget about the OSHA regulations, if you have an existing hazard and an organization has written a national consensus standard addressing that hazard, pull your head out of the sand and adopt that standard best that you can.

Recently, a potential client, a safety professional wanting to do what is right said, “the bean-counters (his word) say we’re not implementing a safety standard because going along with business as usual and having an accident or getting a citation is less expensive than implementing the standard.”

To start with, that is an awfully brave thing to say when you operate an adding machine and not a piece of industrial equipment. No offense is meant to CFO’s and accounting folks, they often are among the first to push for safety as they see the monumental costs associated with not doing safety well. But not everyone is on board with that thinking.

Secondly, he is probably wrong about the math. There have been numerous studies done that show safety is good for the bottom line long term. Safety makes good business sense in a lot of ways. The studies are out there and easy to find.

And lastly, you can’t justify that statement anywhere but the boardroom. It’s horrible anytime someone creates a balance sheet with money on one side and people on the other. Life’s too short for you to be remembered as the guy that saved a few bucks to help the bottom line next quarter, but someone died as a result. I saw Warren Buffet on TV last night. He said something like, “too many people worry too much about next quarter’s numbers, not enough are thinking about the lifetime of an investment.” Think longterm.

Sorry for the rant. And I was right, I’m still angry. I know as an employer myself, of employees that are out in facilities everyday facing hazards, it can be challenging. There is a bottom line I want you to think about. The bottom line is there is what’s right. The bottom line is we can easily prevent so many of these tragedies – let’s do it. The bottom line is that the information to accomplish this for so many hazards is out there and easy to do. The bottom line is the people running businesses of all sizes in this country are good people, the people with bottom line responsibility are good people, all I ask is that you consider these bottom lines that I have pointed out. Not just the bottom line reflecting the company’s profit. There is what’s right.

Watch Daryn and Jay discuss this article on the Workplace Safety Show:

View more Workplace Safety Show videos

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The Importance of an Electrical Safety Program

Posted on February 7, 2012 by lewellyntech

Jay Smith, Jr., Lewellyn TechnologyMy attendance at a recent pre-bid conference provided further insight into the goals of many companies that currently advertise they conduct Arc Flash Analysis. As an employer, you are required to have an Electrical Safety Program in place that addresses maintenance procedures, lockout tagout, PPE Policy, Training Requirements, Live Work Permits, and Arc Flash Analysis. The Safety Policy is the foundation that holds all of this together. Sure, you can buy PPE off the internet, Arc Flash off the Internet, Labels off the Internet, the NFPA 70E Book off the Internet, but if the company(s) chosen to do all of this is not able to tie it all together in a policy that can be implemented and put in place and understood by your workers immediately, you still have not accomplished your goal. Choose a company that can be your partner in safety, a company that will write your safety policy, help you implement PPE and Training, and be there to Improve Workplace Safety and Performance, not just there to apply labels. At Lewellyn Technology, we will write your comprehensive Safety Policy because it’s our obligation, not our product.

Jay Smith, Jr.
Executive Vice President
Lewellyn Technology, Inc.

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Don’t Base Arc Flash Hazard Analysis on Price

Posted on January 18, 2012 by lewellyntech

Jay Smith, Jr., Lewellyn TechnologyUnfortunately, we heard it again yesterday: “I wish now we hadn’t purchased our Arc Flash Analysis based on price.” The client that made this statement called us to schedule NFPA 70E Training. We had provided a proposal for their Arc Flash Assessment, but because we are a bit more thorough and our focus is on mitigation, the result was that our proposal was a bit more of an investment than one of the “Big Box Companies.” The problem is that the company they selected doesn’t actually do all of the work, they subcontract it out, and safety is not their business. The company didn’t provide labels, they didn’t provide a report delivery, they didn’t provide mitigation, and they were barely onsite during the process – all things required as part of an Arc Flash Analysis. While we understand that price points are a part of life, the case needs made from the safety department to the purchasing departments that this is a safety study, it’s not a commodity and you can’t treat the safety of employees as a product you pick off the shelf, or use a coupon for while shopping. There are good companies out there who provide quality NFPA 70E Training and Arc Flash Analysis, but you sometimes have to look past a few extra dollars and select the company with the most experience, most qualified staff, and in this specific case, a company whose sole business is Arc Flash Analysis and NFPA 70E Training.

View more Workplace Safety Show videos

Jay Smith, Jr.
Executive Vice President
Lewellyn Technology, Inc.

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Tunnel Vision and Workplace Safety Don’t Mix

Posted on January 9, 2012 by lewellyntech

Amanda JerrellWorkplace injuries happen. As an Electrical Engineer at Lewellyn Technology I spend my career striving to identify and reduce electrical hazards to provide electricians across the country with safer working conditions. I am proud of the work we do to develop a growing safety culture. Everyone who gets up and goes to work ought to be able to come home when the work is completed. However, I am guilty of forgetting to look beyond my electrical world. I received a rude awakening to this fact last week and a reminder of things I already knew but hadn’t specifically thought about in ages when a loved one was injured on the job.

My working world revolves around two primary electrical hazards: shock and arc. I know what causes these, I know how real the dangers are, and I understand how the proper training, PPE, and electrical design can be used to protect people from the inherent dangers that are electricity. But I tend to forget that to get to that bus duct you have to go up in a lift. To access that rooftop air handler you have to walk across a roof. To get to the electrical room you have to walk across a fork lift path. Plus there are confined space hazards, chemical hazards, and vehicular hazards just to name a few.

There are so many things that can be said about safety and it will all sound cliché at this point. I just want to remind everyone that workplace safety encompasses a lot of things. Tunnel vision doesn’t do any good. Don’t fall into that overly focused rut I have been in, pay attention to what is happening around you.

Amanda Jerrell
Electrical Engineer
Lewellyn Technology, Inc.

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