If you manage a manufacturing plant, data center, commercial building, or industrial facility, you have almost certainly heard the term ‘arc flash study.’ But many facility managers and EHS professionals are still uncertain what one actually involves, who legally requires it, and whether their site genuinely needs one. This post answers all three questions clearly.
What Is an Arc Flash Study?
An arc flash study — sometimes called an Incident Energy Analysis — is an engineered assessment of your electrical distribution system. Using real equipment data, a licensed engineer calculates the amount of thermal energy that could be released at each point in your system if an arc flash event occurred. That calculation produces two critical outputs: the Incident Energy value (measured in calories per square centimeter, cal/cm²) and the Arc Flash Boundary — the minimum safe distance a worker must stand from energized equipment.
The study also produces arc flash hazard labels for every piece of electrical equipment, specifying the incident energy used along with the condition of maintenance for adequate selection of PPE to wear before opening a panel or working near exposed energized parts.
What Does OSHA and NFPA 70E Require?
OSHA’s General Industry standard (29 CFR 1910 Subpart S) requires employers to protect workers from electrical hazards — but it does not spell out exactly how. NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, is the consensus standard OSHA relies on to define the ‘how.’ Under NFPA 70E Article 130.5, an Arc Flash Risk Assessment is required whenever a worker may be exposed to electrical hazards. This assessment must be reviewed and updated at intervals not exceeding five years, or whenever a major modification is made to the electrical system.
Failure to comply is not just a financial risk — OSHA can cite your facility under the General Duty Clause, and penalties can reach tens of thousands of dollars per violation.
Which Facilities Need One?
Any facility where workers may perform tasks on or near energized electrical equipment needs an arc flash study. This includes:
- Manufacturing plants and industrial facilities
- Data centers and computer server rooms
- Commercial and institutional buildings
- Hospitals and healthcare buildings
- Utilities and water treatment plants
- Food Processing
- Cold Storage
If your maintenance team, or subcontractor opens electrical panels, tests circuits, resets breakers, or works near energized switchgear — an arc flash study is not optional. It is the data for the foundation of a legally defensible electrical safety program.
What Happens Without One?
Without an arc flash study, your workers have no way to know how to evaluate adequate PPE required for a given task. A worker wearing a 8 cal/cm2 arc suit when a 40 cal/cm2 hazard exists is not protected — they are in danger. Beyond the human cost, facilities without compliant arc flash studies face OSHA citations, insurance liability exposure, and potential shutdown orders following an incident.
How Bowtie Engineering Conducts Arc Flash Studies?
Bowtie Engineering performs comprehensive Incident Energy Studies aligned with NFPA 70E and IEEE 1584. Our licensed engineers collect real system data, model your distribution system, and deliver accurate hazard labels, PPE recommendations, and a complete risk mitigation report.
Ready to protect your team? Learn more about Bowtie’s Arc Flash Study services or contact our team today to schedule your assessment.