Created by: SSgt Hans

Arcand
2012 NFPA - TESTING INTERVALS
- Electrical safety tests must be performed when equipment is initially
installed, and after any patient-care related repairs or modifications
Electrical Safety Inspections Include:
- Leakage Current (Fixed Equipment)
- Touch Current (Portable Equipment)
- Lead Leakage (All Leads Tested In Parallel)
- Resistance Measurements (All Units)
Reference NFPA 99, 2012, Section 10.5.2.1.2, Testing Intervals
VISUAL INSPECTION
Visually inspect the power cord assy for signs of degradationpay close
attention to the means of grounding.
-Power Cord Assy
- Power Cord
- Attachment Plug
- Cord Strain Relief
- Look for cuts, knicks, abrasions, tears or possible separation of the power
cord assy, and its contents.
- Visual electrical safety inspections do not have to be formally
documented, BUT they will be completed on all scheduled AND
unscheduled maintenance work orders.
BE OBSERVANT!!!
Reference NFPA 99, 2012, Section 10.3.1, Physical Integrity
POWER CORD RESISTANCE
- Power Cord Resistance Tolerances
- NFPA 99
.50 Ohms Maximum Permissible Limit Within a Healthcare Facility
(1)The cord shall be flexed at its connection to the
attachment plug or connector.
(2)The cord shall be flexed at its connection to the strain
relief on the chassis.
- IEC 60601-1
Detachable Power Cord - .10 Ohm
Non-Detachable Power Cord - .20 Ohms

- Polarity tests are recommended on initial equipment assembly and power cord
repairs.
Reference NFPA 99, 2012, Section 10.3.2, Resistance
LEAKAGE CURRENT TESTING FIXED EQUIP
- Leakage current refers to the current that is felt on the grounding
conductor of FIXED/PERMANENTLY-WIRED EQUIPMENT
- Leakage tests shall be performed in the ON and OFF positions to
simulate real-world patient-care situations
- Leakage current shall not exceed 10mA through the grounding conductor
of permanently-wired equipment, while grounds are lifted.
- No annual requirement for performing electrical safety tests on fixed/
permanently-wired equipment.

Reference NFPA 99, 2012, Section 10.3.4, Fixed Equipment
TOUCH CURRENT
- Previously known as chassis leakage, chassis touch, or leakage current
- Refers to the leakage current through the chassis/housing of portable
equipment
- Touch current limits
- Cord-connected equipment/normal polarity/ground intact- 100uA
- Cord-connected equipment/normal polarity/ground disconnected - 500uA
- When multiple devices are connected together and more than one power cord
supplies power, the devices shall be separated into groups according to their
power supply cord, and the leakage current shall be measured independently
for each group as an assembly.
- If the collective leakage current of connected devices exceeds 500uA, efforts
to reduce the leakage current must be made. (e.g. separating
equipment/appliances, additional power supplies)


Reference NFPA 99, 2012, Section 10.3.5.1, Touch Current Limits
LEAD LEAKAGE TESTING
- Leads should be tested in parallel (all connected)
- The testing of individual leads is no longer required, per NFPA 99, 2012
rev.
- Lead Leakage is performed with the plug connected normally and the
device ON
- Limits
-100uA/Ground Connected
-500uA/Ground Open
Reference NFPA 99, 2012, Section 10.5.2.1.2, Testing Intervals
NFPA TESTING DIAGRAMS
2-Wire Resistance Measurement
-Two-Wire Resistance Technique. A known current is fed through the
unknown resistance. A high-input-impedance voltmeter measures the
voltage drop across the resistance, R, and R is calculated as voltage
divided by impedance, V/I. This technique measures the lead resistance
in series with the unknown resistance. When the unknown resistance is
a ground wire (less than 0.15 ohm), the lead resistance is appreciable.
This is accounted for by shorting the lead wires together and zeroing
the voltmeter. The actual resistance, in effect, subtracts out the lead
wire resistance. In order for this technique to be reasonably accurate
for measuring ground wires, an active high-impedance millivoltmeter
has to be used.

Reference NFPA 99, 2012, Section A10.3.2, Resistance
NFPA TESTING DIAGRAMS
4-Wire Resistance Measurement
Four-Wire Resistance Technique. This technique is very similar to the
two-wire resistance technique. The difference is that the known current
is fed to the resistance to be measured through a pair of leads separate
from the pair of leads to the voltmeter. The voltmeter is measuring the
true voltage across the resistance to be measured, regardless of the
resistance of the measuring leads. This method eliminates the need for
zeroing out the measuring lead resistance.


Reference NFPA 99, 2012, Section A10.3.2, Resistance
NFPA TESTING DIAGRAMS
AC Current Method
AC Current Method. This technique utilizes a step-down transformer of
known voltage output to feed current through the ground wire and
measure the current that flows. The impedance of the ground wire is
then calculated by Ohms law.





Reference NFPA 99, 2012, Section A10.3.2, Resistance
LEAKAGE CURRENT TESTS - NFPA TESTING DIAGRAMS
If the required performance is obtained by a meter with integral response-
shaping properties, then that meter should have a constant input resistance
of 1000 ohms. (A high-input-impedance meter can be used by shunting a
1000 ohm resistor across the meters input terminals.)

If, however, the required frequency response is obtained by a network that
precedes an otherwise flat-response meter, then the input impedance of the
network should be 1000 ohms 10 percent, over the frequency range from 0
to 1 MHz, and the frequency response of the networkmeter combination
should be substantially independent of the impedance of the signal source.

For maximum chassis leakage current permitted (i.e., 300 A) below 1 kHz, this
network will yield the limiting current of 10 mA above 30 kHz.




Reference NFPA 99, 2012, Section A10.3.3, Leakage Current Tests
2012 NFPA CHANGES
The 2012 edition of NFPA 99 has eliminated the 2005 edition requirements
for the leakage current tests between each patient lead and ground; the
isolation test; and the tests of leakage current between any one lead
and each other lead, non-isolated input, and isolated input.

This decision was based on an effort to streamline regular testing
requirements and to ensure that the effort expended in required testing
provides a reasonable level of safety value.

The remaining requirement for testing the leakage current between all
patient leads connected together and ground, as well as the touch
current tests, is considered to be sufficient to determine any failures in
leakage current protection for patients connected to portable
equipment.


Reference NFPA 99, 2012, Section 10.3.6.3
PATIENT/NON-PATIENT OWNED ELECTRICAL
DEVICES
- Electrical appliances/equipment in patient-care areas shall be visually
inspected by patient care staff or other personnel
- Non-patient care items must be in a clean, serviceable and working order,
in order to be used in the healthcare facility
- Equipment that is deemed unsafe, dirty or in unserviceable condition,
shall be immediately removed from service
- Non-patient care items, in patient care areas, are not required to meet the
same electrical safety requirements, as defined throughout this training.
- a few examples of these non-patient care items include:
-computers, speakers, dvd playersetc
Reference NFPA 99, 2012, Section 10.4.2.1, Portable Equipment
in Patient Care Room.
EXTENSION CORDS
- Only used in emergencies
- No 3 to 2-prong connectors are allowed in healthcare facilities
- Extension cords will be tested for:
1. Physical Integrity
2. Polarity
3. Continuity of grounding at the time of assembly
WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?
Electrical Safety Measurements (e.g., Touch Curent, Chassis Current,
Grounding Resistance, Lead Leakage) will only be completed during
INITIAL INSPECTION/ACCEPTANCE work orders, and ALL open-case
REPAIRS.

Visual Safety Inspections (e.g., inspection of power cord assy, strain reliefs,
attachment plugs and chassis integrity) will be conducted during
EVERY scheduled AND unscheduled maintenance activity.
--Visual safety inspections are the new electrical safety standard, as
outlined in NFPA 99, 2012 Edition.
SET-UP 232D
For PCR/CL, external lead, the
unit needs to be set to Case
Leakage uA, EXT LEAD, w/
ground closed
For CL through the Ground
Conductor, the unit needs to be
set to Case Leakage uA,
GROUND CONDUCTOR, w/
ground open
FLUKE 232D SAFETY ANALYZER
- Grounding resistance of the equipment power cord;
- Leakage current from the equipment's chassis or ground wire;
- Equipment load current;
- Voltage gradient (mV) and intergrounding resistance (mOhms) using the external
meter function; and
- Power system AC voltages:
neutral to hot,
neutral to ground, and
hot to ground
- Fault Conditions
neutral (open and closed)
ground (open and closed)
polarity (normal and reverse)
An internal ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) protects both the operator
and the equipment under test. If a hot line to ground fault condition
exceeding 10 milliamperes occurs, line voltage is immediately removed
from
the test receptacle.
FLUKE 232D CONTD
- Leakage current tests referenced to power ground
on all patient electrodes;
on individual patient electrodes-RL, 'RA, LA, LL, and
the Vl-6 set; and
between specified patient electrode pairs:
right arm and left arm (RA-LA),
right arm and right leg (RA-RL), and
left arm and right leg (LA-RL).
- Isolation of all patient electrodes from ground with 120 VAC
applied by the analyzer. (The current-limited test voltage is
applied to the patient electrodes only when a front panel
push-button is depressed and held by the operator.)