An arc flash label template is only useful if you know where each number on it comes from. The label itself is the easy part — it's a tag on a switchboard door. The hard part is the arc flash study behind it, because every value on the label is an output of that study, not something you type from memory. This guide walks the template field by field, shows how each number is sourced, and gives you a layout you can build in our Advanced Designer.
Up front: in Australia, arc flash labelling is driven by your duty of care, not by a single prescriptive standard. For the broader background, see our companion piece on arc flash warning labels in Australia.
The Australian framework — what actually applies
Australia does not adopt NFPA 70E as law. That US standard is commonly applied here as good practice, but the legal obligation is different:
- WHS duty of care. Model WHS Regulation 147 requires a PCBU to manage electrical risks. Safe Work Australia's hierarchy: eliminate electrical risks so far as reasonably practicable, and where you can't, minimise them.
- AS/NZS 4836:2023 — "Safe working on or near low-voltage and extra-low voltage electrical installations and equipment" — covers arc flash, safety signs and labels, and PPE selection.
- ENA NENS 09-2014 is the Australian industry guideline for selecting PPE for arc-flash hazards.
- AS/NZS 5139 (battery systems) explicitly requires an arc-flash warning sign where the assessed risk is above minor.
So labelling here is risk-assessment driven. No single Australian standard prescribes the exact content of an arc flash label — which is why most labels follow the NFPA 70E / IEEE 1584 convention for the fields, while the obligation to do it at all comes from WHS.
The arc flash label template — field by field
Under the NFPA 70E convention, the bare minimum is three fields: nominal voltage, arc flash boundary, and one PPE descriptor. In practice a useful label carries more. Here is the full template. The values shown are placeholders — every one of them must come from your study.
⚠ WARNING — ARC FLASH AND SHOCK HAZARD
Appropriate PPE requiredEquipment ID: MSB-1
Nominal voltage: 415 V a.c.
Arc flash boundary: 1200 mm
Incident energy: 8 cal/cm² @ 610 mm working distance
Minimum PPE arc rating: 8 cal/cm²
Shock hazard: 415 V a.c.
Limited approach: 700 mm
Restricted approach: 300 mm
Glove class: 00
Study date / by: 06/2026 — J. Engineer, RPEQ
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| Equipment ID / location | Which board the label belongs to. |
| Nominal system voltage | e.g. 415 V a.c. |
| Arc flash boundary | The distance at which incident energy = 1.2 cal/cm² — the onset of a second-degree burn. In mm or m. |
| Incident energy or PPE category | EITHER incident energy in cal/cm² at a stated working distance (e.g. "8 cal/cm² @ 610 mm"), OR a PPE category (1–4). Never both methods on the same label. |
| Working distance | The distance the value was calculated at, in mm. |
| Minimum PPE arc rating | The required arc rating of PPE in cal/cm². |
| Shock hazard info | Nominal voltage, limited approach boundary, restricted approach boundary, glove class. |
| Study date + author | When it was done and who performed it. |
If you go the PPE-category route instead of stating incident energy, the categories map to: Cat 1 = 4 cal/cm², Cat 2 = 8, Cat 3 = 25, Cat 4 = 40 cal/cm². Pick one method and stick to it — mixing incident energy and category on the same label confuses the worker reading it.
WARNING or DANGER — which signal word?
The signal word follows ANSI Z535.4's "will vs could" logic: DANGER means a hazard that will result in death or serious injury; WARNING means one that could. The often-quoted "DANGER above 40 cal/cm²" figure is industry convention, not a code rule — it comes from a now-deleted NFPA note plus the Cat-4 40 cal/cm² PPE ceiling. A common engineering rule of thumb is DANGER when voltage exceeds 600 V or incident energy exceeds 40 cal/cm². The colour formatting also aligns with AS 1319 safety-sign colours: yellow/black for WARNING, red/white for DANGER.
Where the numbers come from — the arc flash study
This is the section that matters most, because you cannot fill in the template without it. Every value on the label is an output of an arc flash study, and the study runs through a chain:
- Utility / DNSP fault-level data
- Short-circuit study
- Protective-device coordination study
- IEEE 1584 arc flash study
- Label values
The inputs that feed it:
- Nominal voltage.
- Available bolted fault current — often supplied by the utility / DNSP.
- Protective-device clearing time — read off the time-current curves. This is the single biggest influence on the result; a slower-clearing device dramatically raises incident energy.
- Electrode configuration — IEEE 1584-2018 defines five: VCB, VCBB, HCB, VOA, HOA.
- Working distance, electrode gap, enclosure size, earthing.
This is engineering work — performed by a qualified electrical engineer or arc-flash consultant (CPEng / NER; RPEQ in Queensland) using software such as ETAP, SKM Power*Tools or EasyPower. A simpler path is the NFPA 70E PPE-category (table) method, valid only if you know the voltage, maximum available fault current, maximum clearing time and working distance, and you stay within the table's caps. Step outside those and a full incident-energy study is required.
What IEEE 1584-2018 actually calculates
IEEE 1584-2018 is the "IEEE Guide for Performing Arc-Flash Hazard Calculations". It produces the incident energy (cal/cm²) at a chosen working distance, and the arc flash boundary — the distance at which incident energy falls to 1.2 cal/cm². It applies from 208 V to 15 kV. Typical working-distance defaults the engineer will use:
| Equipment | Default working distance |
|---|---|
| LV panelboards / MCCs | 455 mm (18 in) |
| LV switchgear | 610 mm (24 in) |
| MV switchgear | 914 mm (36 in) |
Placement and review
Fix the label to the exterior of the switchboard door or cover, where it's visible before the gear is opened — the whole point is to inform the worker before they expose themselves. It has to be durable enough for the environment. Re-assess whenever the system changes (new feeder, different protection settings, altered fault level), and review the underlying data at least every 5 years.
Why you engrave it
An arc flash label has to survive the switchboard environment — heat, vibration, dust, the occasional wipe with a solvent — for years, and stay perfectly legible. A printed adhesive label fades, curls and peels in a hot enclosure. Engraved traffolyte doesn't: the legend is cut into the material, so there's nothing to fade, peel or scratch off. That's exactly the durability a safety-critical label needs.
Build it in our Advanced Designer, which has a warning-symbol library, custom shapes and layout control — so you can lay out every field above and drop the right warning symbol in. Use yellow/black for WARNING and red/white for DANGER, matching the signal word to the hazard. For other board labels on the same job, see our switchboard labels range.
How to get an arc flash label made — start to finish
- Engage a qualified engineer (CPEng / NER; RPEQ in QLD) to perform the arc flash study.
- Run the study — short-circuit, coordination, then IEEE 1584 calculations.
- Take the output values — boundary, incident energy, working distance, PPE rating, approach distances.
- Engrave the label with those exact values in the Advanced Designer.
- Fix it to the gear, on the outside of the door, visible before opening.
- Re-assess when the system changes, and review the data at least every 5 years.
Build your arc flash label in the Advanced Designer →
References
- Model Work Health and Safety Regulations — Regulation 147 (managing electrical risks)
- Safe Work Australia — managing electrical risks in the workplace (hierarchy of control)
- AS/NZS 4836:2023 — Safe working on or near low-voltage and extra-low voltage electrical installations and equipment
- ENA NENS 09-2014 — National guideline for the selection of personal protective equipment for arc flash
- AS/NZS 5139:2019 — Electrical installations: Safety of battery systems
- IEEE 1584-2018 — IEEE Guide for Performing Arc-Flash Hazard Calculations
- NFPA 70E — Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace (US guidance, commonly applied in Australia)
- ANSI Z535.4 — Product Safety Signs and Labels (signal-word convention)
- AS 1319 — Safety signs for the occupational environment (colour convention)
This article summarises publicly available guidance and is not a substitute for advice from a licensed electrician or engineer, or from your inspector. Arc flash values must come from a study performed by a qualified engineer; confirm the specifics against the current edition of each standard before you rely on them.