IEC TR 63491:2025

Live working – Guidance for end users for the selection of personal protective equipment against the hazards of an electric arc

IEC TR 63491:2025 This document has been prepared to provide guidance to end users for the selection, use and maintenance of electrical arc flash personal protective equipment (PPE).

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 10-Jun-2025
• ICS: 13.340.10 - Protective clothing
• Technical Committee: TC 78 - Live working
• Drafting Committee: WG 15 - TC 78/WG 15
• Current Stage: PRVDTR - Preparation of RVDTR
• Start Date: 22-Nov-2024
• Completion Date: 22-Nov-2024

Standards Content (Sample)

IEC TR 63491 ®
Edition 1.0 2025-06
TECHNICAL
REPORT
Live working – Guidance for end users for the selection of personal protective
equipment against the hazards of an electric arc

ICS 13.340.10  ISBN 978-2-8327-0338-0

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– 2 – IEC TR 63491:2025 © IEC 2025
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references. 6
3 Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviated terms . 6
3.1 Terms and definitions . 6
3.2 Abbreviated terms, symbols and units . 9
4 Design, construction, and classification . 9
5 Marking of categories . 10
6 Selection of arc flash PPE . 11
6.1 Risk assessment . 11
6.2 Choosing the right PPE . 11
6.2.1 General . 11
6.2.2 Ergonomic features . 11
6.2.3 Number of cleanings . 12
7 Use of arc flash PPE . 12
8 Maintenance of arc flash PPE . 12
8.1 Cleaning . 12
8.2 Maintenance . 13
8.3 Retesting . 13
Bibliography . 14

Figure 1 – Examples of clothing for arc flash protection . 9
Figure 2 – Examples of arc flash eye, face and head protection . 10
Figure 3 – Examples of arc flash marking on clothing as defined in IEC 61482-2 . 10

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
LIVE WORKING – GUIDANCE FOR END USERS
FOR THE SELECTION OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE
EQUIPMENT AGAINST THE HAZARDS OF AN ELECTRIC ARC

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote international
co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To this end and
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8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
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IEC TR 63491 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 78: Live working. It is a Technical
Report.
The text of this Technical Report is based on the following documents:
Draft Report on voting
78/1479/DTR 78/1514/RVDTR
Full information on the voting for its approval can be found in the report on voting indicated in
the above table.
The language used for the development of this Technical Report is English.

– 4 – IEC TR 63491:2025 © IEC 2025
This document was drafted in accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, and developed in
accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 and ISO/IEC Directives, IEC Supplement, available
at www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs. The main document types developed by IEC are
described in greater detail at www.iec.ch/publications.
Terms defined in Clause 3 are written in italics throughout this document.
The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under webstore.iec.ch in the data related to the
specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn, or
• revised.
INTRODUCTION
This document has been prepared to provide guidance to end users for the selection, use and
maintenance of electrical arc flash personal protective equipment (PPE). There is a need for
this document to highlight the choices that the end user will have in protecting their workers
against the thermal effects of the arc flash hazard using IEC standards. It is deliberately brief
and deals only with those factors that are essential for the end user to be aware of; more
detailed technical explanation will be given in a future IEC Technical Report on guidance for
risk assessment, selection, use, care and maintenance of PPE against the hazards of an electric
arc.
Selected arc protective PPE always meets the requirements of the PPE-specific IEC product
standard, e.g. IEC 61482-2 for arc protective clothing.
There are currently two electrical arc flash test methods that are used to determine the
protective qualities of clothing:
– determination of the arc rating (ELIM, ATPV and/or EBT) of clothing materials and protective
clothing using an open arc in accordance with IEC 61482-1-1.
– determination of arc protection class of material and clothing by using a constrained and
directed arc (box test) in accordance with IEC 61482-1-2.
The above methods are used by IEC standards to determine the protective qualities of other
items of arc flash PPE. This includes face, head and eye protection as specified in
IEC 62819:2022, and also hand protection for which a new series of standards is currently under
development in IEC TC 78.
It is the responsibility of the end user to identify the correct PPE according to their needs. These
needs are based upon a quantitative assessment of the hazard at a specific distance from a
potential arcing source to determine either the arc rating or arc protection class depending upon
which of the above arc flash test methods is used.
This document does not address all the safety concerns. It is the responsibility of the persons
and organizations that use this document and any other standards related to PPE:
a) to conduct a risk assessment;
b) to select the PPE, as well as ensure that it provides a holistic protection, only when the
compatibility has been assessed including understanding the workplace and the work
environment;
c) to determine the properties of arc protective PPE;
d) to establish health and safety practices.
NOTE Within the European Union and the United Kingdom (GB), Regulation (EU) 2016/425 and as amended for
GB states that live working is a Category III risk; therefore all arc flash PPE must fulfil the regulatory requirements
for Category III products.
– 6 – IEC TR 63491:2025 © IEC 2025
LIVE WORKING – GUIDANCE FOR END USERS
FOR THE SELECTION OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE
EQUIPMENT AGAINST THE HAZARDS OF AN ELECTRIC ARC

1 Scope
This document provides guidance for the selection, use and maintenance of electrical arc flash
personal protective equipment. It is intended for use by end users.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies.
For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any
amendments) applies.
IEC 61482-1-1, Live working – Protective clothing against the thermal hazards of an electric
arc – Part 1-1: Test methods – Method 1: Determination of the arc rating (ELIM, ATPV and/or
EBT) of clothing materials and of protective clothing using an open arc
IEC 61482-1-2, Live working – Protective clothing against the thermal hazards of an electric
arc – Part 1-2 Test methods – Method 2: Determination of arc protection class of material and
clothing by using a constrained and directed arc (box test)
IEC 61482-2, Live working – Protective clothing against the thermal hazards of an electric arc –
Part 2: Requirements
3 Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviated terms
3.1 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in IEC 61482-1-1,
IEC 61482-1-2, IEC 61482-2 and the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
3.1.1
arc flash
hazardous condition associated with the release of energy caused by an electric arc
Note 1 to entry: An arc flash can occur when energized conductors touch each other or when one conductor contacts
a grounded surface such as an equipment enclosure. The result will be a potentially dangerous arc that ionizes the
surrounding air producing an explosion.
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-651:2023, 651-27-01, modified – The note to entry has been added.]

3.1.2
arc protection class
APC
class of arc thermal protection of a material or product tested in
accordance with the box test method
Note 1 to entry: The arc protection class is characterized by the test energy level of arc exposure (arc energy and
incident energy).
Note 2 to entry: The box test method defines two arc protection classes, APC 1 and
...