Protective Earth in a 710 medical location with ELV & PoE circuits

Peter69 said:

Is there a requirement to earth back boxes and/ or metal plates in a medical location when the wiring system is ELV or PoE (normally rated at 24vDC)?

What type of source is used for the DC?

Peter69 said:

Looking at 414.4.4 states exposed parts of SELV circuit shall not be connected to earth. 

Products to BS EN 62368-1 Audio/video, information and communication technology equipment. Safety requirements  are not guaranteed to provide SELV or PELV. You would need to check with the manufacturer of the equipment. 

This might limit what can be provided in Group 1 and/or Group 2 medical locations ... see Regulation 710.414.3.

If the source of power does not meet all the requirements of SELV or PELV then you might have to treat it as FELV, in which case it's not permitted in medical locations period (Regulation 710.411.7).

If the system is PELV, the system has a protective conductor, and it would make sense to bond accessible conductive parts as part of the bonding system in Group 1 and Group 2 locations. 

For SELV, it would be best to understand whether there is a risk of static charging, that can occur with datacomms systems. (For example, Ethernet has a controlled static discharge path to Earth across the isolation barrier ... although this is not widely known.)

There are other provisions for SELV and PELV, such as basic insulation being necessary in Group 1 and Group 2 medical locations (Regulation 710.414.1) ... this may preclude the provision of IT outlets and patch leads (RJ45 jack plugs and socket-outlets) in Group 1 and Group 2 locations, as particularly RJ45 jack plugs might not provide IP2X/IPXXB unless the outlets are in suitable enclosures?

It could be a good idea to contact a consultant who specialises in medical locations and has knowledge of datacomms etc. in such locations.

Peter69 said:

Is there a requirement to earth back boxes and/ or metal plates in a medical location when the wiring system is ELV or PoE (normally rated at 24vDC)?

What type of source is used for the DC?

Peter69 said:

Looking at 414.4.4 states exposed parts of SELV circuit shall not be connected to earth. 

Products to BS EN 62368-1 Audio/video, information and communication technology equipment. Safety requirements  are not guaranteed to provide SELV or PELV. You would need to check with the manufacturer of the equipment. 

This might limit what can be provided in Group 1 and/or Group 2 medical locations ... see Regulation 710.414.3.

If the source of power does not meet all the requirements of SELV or PELV then you might have to treat it as FELV, in which case it's not permitted in medical locations period (Regulation 710.411.7).

If the system is PELV, the system has a protective conductor, and it would make sense to bond accessible conductive parts as part of the bonding system in Group 1 and Group 2 locations. 

For SELV, it would be best to understand whether there is a risk of static charging, that can occur with datacomms systems. (For example, Ethernet has a controlled static discharge path to Earth across the isolation barrier ... although this is not widely known.)

There are other provisions for SELV and PELV, such as basic insulation being necessary in Group 1 and Group 2 medical locations (Regulation 710.414.1) ... this may preclude the provision of IT outlets and patch leads (RJ45 jack plugs and socket-outlets) in Group 1 and Group 2 locations, as particularly RJ45 jack plugs might not provide IP2X/IPXXB unless the outlets are in suitable enclosures?

It could be a good idea to contact a consultant who specialises in medical locations and has knowledge of datacomms etc. in such locations.