Abstract
Various guidelines for the protection of human beings against possible adverse effects resulting from exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) have been published with a view towards continual improvement; therefore, decreasing exposure is an important research area. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of decreasing electric field exposure with arc flash rated personal protective equipment (PPE), which in this case was a set of coveralls, and to compare the measurement results to calculations using the helmet-mask measuring system. We collected the data under a 400-kV power line. The test person stood on isolated aluminum paper, and the current between the ground and the aluminum paper was measured. When the test subject wore the arc flash PPE, the current to the ground was only 9.5% of the current measured when wearing normal clothes, which represents a clear decrease in exposure.
Highlights
When electricians work under high voltage power lines or in electrical substations, they are exposed to an alternating, very low frequency electric field
The workers are not grounded with a conductor and do not wear equipment that would protect them from exposure to the electric field
We can conclude that the arc flash protective equipment (PPE) is one possible way to effectively decrease workers’ exposure to electric fields
Summary
When electricians work under high voltage power lines or in electrical substations, they are exposed to an alternating, very low frequency electric field. The alternating electric field induces a surface electric charge and a current in the worker’s body, which leads to a current flowing between the worker and the ground through any contact point, e.g., the feet or hands that touch railings. The workers are not grounded with a conductor and do not wear equipment that would protect them from exposure to the electric field. Occupational and public electric field exposures have been studied earlier in Finland [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Cardiac pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators in the electric fields of 400-kV power lines have been tested [1,2]. During the experiments, anomalous behavior was observed in only one implantable cardioverter defibrillator [2]
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