Harsh reminder—high-voltage servicing is very dangerous. Your workers are exposed hourly. It is estimated that nearly 200 electrical workers die yearly from direct or indirect exposure. Many workers have, by habit, adopted practices that protect them from direct contact. But in a high-voltage environment, arc flash takes its toll. In milliseconds.
The traditional approach to protecting workers from arc flash has been to create a barrier between the worker and the flash potential and insulate workers from ground. This practice has been underscored by OSHA regulations that—after mandatory training and numerous company policy statements and placards—too often go unheeded. One little shortcut can mean disaster for a worker, a family, a company and a utility.
Protection, when employed, does work. A moon suit, helmet, gloves, insulated boots, glasses, etc., although time consuming and burdensome for workers, is smart business. But 10-cycles of 20,000 amp fault current at 480V can unleash the energy of nearly a pound of TNT, clearly an injury waiting to happen! Without a worker’s direct contact to an energized source.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to reduce or eliminate exposure to dangerous high-voltage altogether? TSTM has pioneered ways to significantly reduce the frequency of tradespeople’s exposure by removing high voltage from enclosures that see the most recurrent activity.
Prevention is the best answer. Lower the voltage and the potential for arc flash or blast is greatly reduced.
TSTM’s mission is to provide for safer, more reliable industrial metering by lowering the voltage below arc-flash sustaining levels in the meter cabinet. And doing so not only creates a safer work environment with lower risk, there are numerous other benefits, as well:
Low-voltage metering …
· Creates a safer work environment.
· Better and more easily meets OSHA protection requirements.
· Greatly cuts install and service time.
· Reduces—nearly eliminates—meter and service failures. Guaranteed.*
· Reduces overhead by curtailing the need for 2-person team service calls.
· Virtually eliminates lost revenues due to meter failure or catastrophic loss.
In past years, low-voltage metering was accomplished on a multi-phase industrial circuit using 2 or 3 separate, heavy transformers hard-wired onsite, a time-consuming, laborious, error-prone process. Often the transformer installation created AMI/AMR errors or discontinuity of information flow.