NFPA (Fire) 79 Historical

In alignment with today's NEC®, the 2018 edition of NFPA 79 presents critical updates to the global benchmark for industrial machinery safety. 

Guard against electrical incidents and unplanned shutdowns that could result in injury, damage, or loss with the latest edition of NFPA 79: Electrical Standard for Industrial Machinery. This must-have companion to both the National Electrical Code® (NEC) and NFPA 70E®: Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace® is continuously updated to address new technologies and their impact on electrical safety. 

NFPA 79 spells out essential protection for operators, equipment, facilities, and work-in-progress. Compliance is vital to reduce risks. 

This edition presents the latest requirements for the full spectrum of equipment -- from single-motored drill presses to complex automated manufacturing systems. Updates address concerns from the industry and key changes to companion Standards.

• To correlate with the NEC, "600 volts" is replaced with "1000 volts".
• Revised and new definitions reflect terminology in use today, and changes throughout the Standard align with these definitions.
• The new title for Chapter 5: Disconnecting Means clarifies that this chapter covers all the supply circuit conductor terminations on the machine.
• A new requirement specifies that the main disconnecting means must be marked "machine supply circuit disconnect" if it supplies multiple disconnecting means on the machine.
• New Exception No. 2 to 5.3.1.3 states that the machine supply circuit disconnecting means is permitted to be externally mounted up to 20 ft. (6 m) away.
• A revision allows adjustable speed drives marked "suitable for output conductor protection" to have the rating of the short-circuit protective device (SCPD) determined by the drive's rated input current.
• To correlate with the NEC, an added requirement in Section 7.8.1 requires a surge protection device (SPD).
• Chapter 8's title is revised to include "Bonding."
• Revisions to Chapter 8 clarify connection of the grounded conductor to the equipment grounding conductor; and that all parts of effective ground-fault current path must be capable of withstanding the highest thermal and mechanical stress that can be caused by fault currents.
• Revisions in Chapter 11 clarify the peculiar working space condition of industrial machines and machine tools.

All stakeholders need NFPA 79 to help mitigate electrical hazards involving industrial machinery.