Square D® Services from Schneider Electric announced today that its popular and informative electrical safety video, titled “It’s a Matter of Your Safety,” is now available for viewing and download at www.squared-services.com <http://www.squared-services.com/> . The video allows industrial facility managers and business owners the opportunity to facilitate a safer environment for their employees by educating electrical workers and safety managers on the importance of safe work practices, as well as hazards of electrical accidents.

“Arc flash accidents that cause death or serious injuries to workers occur five to 10 times every day in the United States, but they are entirely preventable,” said Joseph Weigel, product manager, Square D Services. “The goal of the electrical safety video is to significantly reduce these statistics. This new delivery option will allow wider dissemination of important safety information to anyone who is faced with the hazards of electrical shock, electrocution, arc flash and arc blast.”

The video contains actual arc flash incidents that were created in a high-power test lab at the Square D/Schneider Electric Cedar Rapids facility to illustrate to the viewer how dangerous these events can be. Though the video is very useful in providing basic awareness of electrical hazards, it does not replace specific training for workers that is required by electrical safety codes and standards. Users have free access to view the video or download it after completion of a brief registration form at the Square D Services Web site.

Significant changes have occurred over the past few years in the codes and standards that address electrical workplace safety, specifically NFPA 70E: Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, and the National Electric Code (NFPA 70). While most experienced electrical workers are aware of the hazard of shock and electrocution that can result from inadvertent contact with energized electrical conductors, many are not fully aware of the magnitude of danger presented by arcing faults. An arcing fault in electrical equipment, commonly called an arc flash, is a sudden and unexpected release of thermal and blast energy that results when insulation distances within the equipment are unintentionally compromised.