Safety

newenergy

There seems to be a really wide gap between what safety procedures are recommended/required and what is actually done.

Assume you are installing panels on a second story roof that isn't terribly steep and has comp shingles. The house has 200A service.

What protective equipment would you use/wear during what phases of the installation?

(fall protection - fire/arc flash proof clothing/shield - gloves/shoes - ladder accessories - etc.)

mike95490

Re: Safety

T shirt, shorts, and a cold one in the hand !

Is it always keep one hand in the pocket, or one hand on the ground ?

What is reality ?

I guess in your case, having to ask the question, means you are not ready to climb up on the roof. You have the hight, granules on the shingles, and the slope to deal with. You could wear a safety harness, but those things snag on everything on the roof, and installing solar, there is a lot of stuff to snag.
Connecting the electric, you don't do it live. Final connections are done powered off - that 200A panel should have a master disconnect. you can always put a dark tarp over the panels and that will keep them turned off.

newenergy

Re: Safety

I'm ready and I climb on roofs. I've just recently started my company and am trying to set up general procedures anticipating having employees that I'm responsible/liable for.

Seems like the NFPA 70E standard for working on the 200A service panel is to treat it as live until you have disconnected, measured, and made some provision to insure it's not reconnected. During that period you are supposed to wear PPE, which seems to be like head to toe fire and electrical protective clothing.

From what I've seen shorts and a cold one is a lot closer to reality.

niel

Re: Safety

newenergy,
it would not be difficult to meet those requirements as many disconnects have a provision to allow a padlock to go through the knife of the switch to insure it is not to be switched on. i guess for disconnects lacking that ability one would have to find another means to stop that power from being switched on like maybe somebody standing guard over it. the measured confirmation of it being off would be fairly easy with a meter.
now the shorts and t shirt are ok to have once those requirements were met as long as you've addressed any other safety hazards that are physically there of course. the cold one for anybody doing this stuff should be non-alcoholic until the job is done and you're off of the clock.

newenergy

Re: Safety

Niel,

The actual connection to the main doesn't take long, so regardless of what order things are done locking out isn't really an issue. The thing is, what are you wearing when you do it? Even if you switch off the main you are supposed to assume the bus is live until you measure it. So when you measure it, what are you wearing?

And by "supposed" I just mean OSHA/NFPA w/e and I'm not really sure about the rules at all. I've measured voltage at mains and installed breakers w/o protective equipment, just being careful.

I'm just trying to figure out what I should buy. Is all that equipment (beyond gloves and safety glasses) just for high voltage/current AC systems or should people in residential being wearing it as well?

Also, fall protection: OSHA seems to require it on any roof and you rarely see it.

niel

Re: Safety

i suppose you should check with osha on most of this, but as with all government rules, rules are rules. you have to insure the safety of yourself and your workers and if that means gloves, safety glasses, and a safety harness then so be it. as to the home owner(s) you can't stop them from being there as the home belongs to him/her, but if they insist on going there offer them the benefit of knowing those safety rules. they wouldn't likely have said safety equipment and you could offer those things to them, but you don't want to be liable by providing him/her with any possibly faulty safety equipment or have him/her get hurt while you're doing your job for them so i would not do the work if they insisted on being in harm's way. that fine line of what is being in harm's way you would have to determine.
if i'm not answering you directly on the rules, it is because i am not in the business of doing this. maybe others who are more familiar with specifics on the rules themselves could chime in on this with their knowledge. many of us do not follow some of this as we homeowners are not bound by many of those said requirements (live more dangerously) that you as a businessman would have to follow.

mike95490

Re: Safety

Your contractors insurance company will likely have something to say, may as well hear it now, before a claim.