Residual risk in electrical panels

Is it mandatory to display pictograms on machines and systems? Must they also be displayed on electrical panels? What are the requirements in this instance? OSHA, ANSI, UL, CSA; what are the applicable standards?

In an industrial system, on board a machine or in an electrical panel there are hazards to which operators tasked with equipment maintenance and operation are exposed. In Europe and the US, Government bodies dealing with safety on the workplace impose that operators be suitably protected from those hazards, suitably trained and informed. Even when safety and protection barriers are provided to reduce the hazards to which operators are exposed, there are still some residual risks… It is precisely for those residual risks that Government bodies and relevant regulations impose the use of safety pictograms, the so-called safety labels.

OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration the American Government Body dealing with safety on the workplace, with 1910.145, prescribes requirements to signal residual risks in direct reference to standard ANSI Z535 “Product Safety Signs and Labels” as the reference document for the use and application of safety labels, which therefore becomes a legislative rule. The need for safety labels does not depend on the place on which they are applied, they depend on residual risk and therefore the hazard to which the operator may be exposed regardless of where the hazard may appear; this means that pictograms may be applied on protection fences, on mechanical part guards, on cabinet doors but also within electrical panels.

Since the beginning Tekima has produced safety labels in compliance with standard ANSI Z535 and certified under UL 969, also for special applications or as designed by the customer. The already broad range of safety labels required by applicative rules NFPA 70 (NEC), NFPA 79 and C22.1 (CE Code) include those for electrical panels, specifically produced according to US and Canadian standards UL 508a and C22.2 No. 286.

The advantages of UL 508a and C22.2 No. 286 labels:

• Very easy to read hazard message texts
• Compliance with regulatory requirements under ANSI Z535Double language messages in English/French under Canadian regulatory requirements C22.2 No.286.
• Indication of the regulatory paragraph directly on the safety label in order to facilitate application under UL 508a and C22.2 No.286.
• UL 969 certification (File number MH60136, PGDQ2 per USA and PGDQ8 per Canada)