CLC/TC 106X/WG 17 - Emf assessment in the electricity supply industry

This European Standard provides a general procedure to assess workers’ exposure to electric and magnetic fields (EMF) in work places associated with the production, transmission and distribution of electric energy, and to demonstrate compliance with exposure limit values and action levels as stated in the Council and European Parliament "EMF" Directive 2013/35/EU [12]. NOTE 1 The Council and European Parliament Directive 2013/35/EU will be transposed into national legislation in all the EU member countries. It is important that users of this standard consult the national legislation related to this transposition in order to identify the national regulations and requirements. These national regulations and requirements may have additional requirements that are not covered by this standard It has the role of a specific workplace standard. It takes into account the non-binding application guide for implementing the EMF Directive [11] and it defines the assessment procedures and compliance criteria applicable to the electric industry. The frequency range of this standard covers from DC to 20 kHz, which is sufficient to include the power frequency used for electric power supply systems throughout Europe (50 Hz) and the various harmonics and inter-harmonics occurring in the supply system. In this extremely low frequency range, electric and magnetic fields are independent and, therefore, they both have to be addressed in the exposure assessment. NOTE 2 Electrical companies also use radio frequency transmissions to operate and maintain their networks and power plants. Similarly, other exposures to EMF may occur during maintenance operations, for instance, due to the use of hand-held electrical tools. All these EMF sources are outside the scope of this standard. NOTE 3 Regarding EMF in the low frequency range, the scientific basis of the EMF directive is the ICNIRP health guidelines published in 2010 [14]. Reference is made to this scientific basis when necessary for justifying or clarifying some of the technical statements of the present document.