2022 NFPA Conference & Expo in Boston

When your industry correlates to the fast-paced technology sector, you have to stay up to date on the latest! The NFPA held its annual conference in Boston this week and we were excited to send our own Dave Hernandez– This was their first in-person conference since 2019! Engineers and industry professionals from all over the globe came out to expand their knowledge on the topic of electrical safety in the workplace. This year’s attendance was record-breaking!

In case you missed it, here are our highlights from the time spent at this year’s event–

Day 1

We were excited to get some face time with our customers and service partners on day one. On a side note, NAPCO and Carrier had amazing booths this year!

booths and stands at the 2022 conference & expo

Booths and stands at the 2022 NFPA Conference & Expo in Boston

Customers present:

Siemens, Honeywell

Service Partners present:

Cintas

Changes to NEC 2023–

Service equipment 1000A or more must have an arc flash label on it. (Generic or Calculated)

Walking around, and talking to people we found out that most NFPA leaders have been directly or indirectly impacted by electrical-related incidents. We got to interact with many international attendees and get their take on things– never really thinking about NFPA being global, so that was a very exciting experience.

Keynote speaker: Admiral William H. McRaven (known for the captures of Osama bin Laden and Sadam Hussein under his command of Navy SEALS, a 37-year career)

Big takeaways – Learn to do the little things, then you can take on the bigger things. The speech was layered with Navy Seal training details and the lessons learned in life. Very metaphorical. To be great, you must take risks. Hope is the most powerful force in the universe. Start your day with a task completed. Respect everyone. Never, ever quit.

DAY 2

We were able to hang out with Cintas at their expo. Below are some takeaways from the education sessions today:

Electrical Circuit Data Collection–

Discussed a proposed data collection plan to provide sufficient receptacle demand and load data for a variety of occupancies, as well as a technical basis for considering revisions to the service, feeder, and branch circuit design requirements in the NEC.

NFPA 70E® and Electrical Risk Assessment–

Talked a lot about The Human Factor- How the overall risk assessment process as required by NFPA 70E addresses human error and human performance concepts used to mitigate risk from shock and arc flash.

Equipment Grounding and Bonding–

A great discussion on various types of equipment grounding conductors with special emphasis on the complex requirements for ensuring sufficiently low impedance in the ground-fault path to ensure that overcurrent protective devices can operate as intended per the requirements of NEC Article 250.

Are Your Qualified Electrical Workers Truly Qualified?–

A nice overview of the requirements in NFPA 70E and how they can be used to qualify employees in the workplace and how to satisfy OSHA’s mandates and regulations as they pertain to electrical safety.

DAY 3

Education sessions for today included:

Arc-Flash and Arc-Resistant Rated Equipment Testing and Application–

Differences between an arc-resistant rating and a short circuit current rating in electrical equipment. It also covered the requirements for testing and rating equipment for arc resistance and the procedure for selecting equipment with an appropriate arc-resistant rating.

Developing A Comprehensive Electrical Safety Program Nine Key Components–

Covers training and other controls that can help employees become qualified electrical workers and address relevant standards, safe work performance parameters and procedures, and the importance of PPE.

Overall, this was a fantastic conference– We can not wait to attend next year!

Technical Meetings: As a voting member, Dave has been participating in voting on motions for several code updates.

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