Arc Flash Suit Hood

Employees shall wear nonconductive head protection wherever there is a danger of head injury from electric shock or burns due to contact with energized electrical conductors or circuit parts or from flying objects resulting from electrical explosion. Employees shall wear nonconductive protective equipment for the face, neck, and chin whenever there is a danger of injury from exposure to electric arcs or flashes or from flying objects resulting from electrical explosion. If employees use hairnets or beard nets, or both, these items must be arc rated.

(1) An arc-rated hood or an arc-rated balaclava with an arc-rated face shield shall be used when the back of the head is within the arc flash boundary.

(2) An arc-rated hood shall be used when the anticipated incident energy exposure exceeds 12 cal/cm2 (50.2 J/cm2).

Arc flash suit design shall permit easy and rapid removal by the wearer. The entire arc flash suit, including the hood’s face shield, shall have an arc rating that is suitable for the arc flash exposure. When exterior air is supplied into the hood, the air hoses and pump housing shall be either covered by arc-rated materials or constructed of non-melting and non-flammable materials.

• Be sure to select clothing/ pieces that meet the incident energy or category requirements for your PPE ensemble.
• Loose-fitting clothing provides extra thermal insulation (because of air spaces), but it should not be so loose as to interfere with the work. Tight-fitting clothing should be avoided.
• Just as with any PPE, it’s important to keep in mind that overly protective PPE can introduce other risks unnecessarily. When choosing arc-rated clothing, be sure to choose PPE in a reasonable way to help increase mobility and decrease risk of fatigue and heat exhaustion.
• Note that all arc-rated (AR) clothing is flame-resistant (FR), but not all FR clothing is arc-rated. Arc-rating measures insulation of fabrics to arc flash and is based on laboratory testing. The arc-rating can be reported as ATPV (Arc Thermal Performance Value) or Ebt (Energy of Breakopen Threshold).