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Current Holders of NEMA 260-1996

NEMA Communications Department
December 2, 2004
Reaffirmation of NEMA 260-1996

The NEMA Codes and Standards Committee has reaffirmed NEMA 260-1996, Safety Labels for Padmounted Switchgear and Transformers Sited in Public Areas.
The new designator for this standard is NEMA 260-1996 (R2004), Safety Labels for Pad-mounted
Switchgear and Transformers Sited in Public Areas.
Please insert the attached revised title page into your standard.

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NEMA 260

SAFETY
LABELS
FOR
PAD-MOUNTED
SWITCHGEAR
AND TRANSFORMERS
IN
SITED
PUBLIC
AREAS

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NEMA Standards Publication 260-1996 (R2004)

Safety Labels for Pad-mounted Switchgear and Transformers Sited
in Public Areas

Published by:
National Electrical Manufacturers Association
1300 North 17th Street, Suite 1847
Rosslyn, VA 22209

Copyright by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association. All rights including translation
into other languages, reserved under the Universal Copyright Convention, the Berne Convention
for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, and the International and Pan American
Copyright Conventions.

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NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER

The information in this publication was considered technically sound by the consensus of
persons engaged in the development and approval of the document at the time it was
developed. Consensus does not necessarily mean that there is unanimous agreement
among every person participating in the development of this document.
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) standards and guideline
publications, of which the document contained herein is one, are developed through a
voluntary consensus standards development process. This process brings together
volunteers and/or seeks out the views of persons who have an interest in the topic covered
by this publication. While NEMA administers the process and establishes rules to promote
fairness in the development of consensus, it does not write the document and it does not
independently test, evaluate, or verify the accuracy or completeness of any information or
the soundness of any judgments contained in its standards and guideline publications.
NEMA disclaims liability for any personal injury, property, or other damages of any nature
whatsoever, whether special, indirect, consequential, or compensatory, directly or
indirectly resulting from the publication, use of, application, or reliance on this document.
NEMA disclaims and makes no guaranty or warranty, express or implied, as to the
accuracy or completeness of any information published herein, and disclaims and makes
no warranty that the information in this document will fulfill any of your particular purposes
or needs. NEMA does not undertake to guarantee the performance of any individual
manufacturer or sellers products or services by virtue of this standard or guide.
In publishing and making this document available, NEMA is not undertaking to render
professional or other services for or on behalf of any person or entity, nor is NEMA
undertaking to perform any duty owed by any person or entity to someone else. Anyone
using this document should rely on his or her own independent judgment or, as
appropriate, seek the advice of a competent professional in determining the exercise of
reasonable care in any given circumstances. Information and other standards on the topic
covered by this publication may be available from other sources, which the user may wish
to consult for additional views or information not covered by this publication.
NEMA has no power, nor does it undertake to police or enforce compliance with the
contents of this document. NEMA does not certify, test, or inspect products, designs, or
installations for safety or health purposes. Any certification or other statement of
compliance with any health or safety-related information in this document shall not be
attributable to NEMA and is solely the responsibility of the certifier or maker of the
statement.

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CONTENTS
Page
Foreword.......................................................................................................................... .i
...
Purpose ...........................................................................................................................
III
Section 1

GENERAL........................................................................................................................

Section 2

MATERIAL .......................................................................................................................

Section 3

MAINTENANCE...............................................................................................................

Section 4

FORMAT .........................................................................................................................

Section 5

LOCATION.......................................................................................................................

Figures

Figure 4-1 .........................................................................................................................

Figure 4-2 .........................................................................................................................
Figure 4-3.........................................................................................................................
Figure 4-4 .........................................................................................................................

3
4

5
6

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260-1 996
Page ii

Foreword
In early January 1981, several member companies of the NEMA Transformer Section indicated a strong
desire to reduce the number of accidents involving children coming into contact with the active elements
of pad-mounted transformers located in public areas. These accidents, while statistically low in number
per year, are usually disfiguring and can result in death.
In February 1981, the Power Equipment Division Executive Committee established the Task Force on
Safety Labels for Pad-mounted Switchgear and Transformers Sited in Public Areas. The Executive
Committee charged the Task Force to develop a safety label which would warn small children away from
an open pad-mount and simultaneously elicit an adult's attention to contact the owner of the pad-mount to
remove the hazard. The Task Force was also instructed to develop a standard to accompany the label
which would define its scope, content, appearance, and construction.
Over a period of 14 months, the Task Force pursued a liaison with manufacturers and user groups in
order to obtain acceptance of the safety label concept while label development was underway. The
resulting pictorial, "Mr. Ouch," was developed from several designs and was psychologically tested in two
phases. In the fall of 1981, 16 possible pictorials were tested in Chicago, Illinois and San Antonio, Texas,
among an equal number of English and non-English speaking children aged 2-1/2 to 6. Phase I testing
indicated no significance in geographical considerations regarding the perceptual attitudes of the children.
The best four pictorials of Phase I testing were redesigned and tested again in January 1982 among
English and non-English speaking children aged 2-112 to 6-1/2 in Chicago, Illinois. In Phase II testing, the
"Mr. Ouch" pictorial scored very high in the two major desirable label attributes-the depiction of an
immediate hazard and the elicitation of a safe response from the child to avoid the hazard.
The psychologicaltesting was conducted by the George R. Fraich Associates Testing Organization of
Chicago, Illinois. Graphic design was provided by Agnew Moyer Smith Inc., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
This revision of the standard was undertaken to make editorial changes to the standard's text and figures.
NEMA has exclusive rights for the management of the "Mr. Ouch" pictorial. Rights may be obtained for the
use of the pictorial from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, Suite 1847, 1300 North 17th
Street, Rosslyn, VA 22209.
This Standards Publication was developed by the Switchgear and Transformer sections. Section approval of
the standard does not necessarily imply that all section members voted for its approval or participated in its
development. At the time it was approved, the Group/Section was composed of the following members:
SWITCHGEAR SECTION

A B Chance Company-Centralia, MO
ABB Power T & D Company, Inc.-Raleigh, NC
AEG Electric Power Systems, Inc.-Charlerio, PA
C. G. I. Systems-Paramount, CA
Controlled Power Ltd. Partnership-Canton, OH
Cooper Power Systems-South Milwaukee, WI
Cutler-Hammer Inc.-Pittsburgh, PA
Electrical Power Systems, Inc.-Tulsa, OK
General Electric-Hickory, NC
G & W Electric Company-Blue Island, IL
Gould Shawmut-Newburyport, MA

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Mitsubishi Electric-Warrendale, PA
PDI-Sandston, VA
Pedersen Power Products-Omaha, NE
Powercon Corporation-Severn, MD
S & C Electric Company-Chicago, IL
Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.-Raleigh, NC
SPD Technologies-Philadelphia, PA
Square D Company-Smyrna, TN
The Pringle Electrical Mfg. Company-Fort Washington, PA
Toshiba International Corporation-Houston, TX
Trayer Engineering Corporation-San Francisco, CA
USCO Power Equipment Corporation-Birmingham, AL
Waukesha Electrical Systems Inc.-Goldsboro, NC

TRANSFORMERS SECTION
ABB Power T & D Company, Inc.-Raleigh, NC
Acme Electric Corporation-Lumberton, NC
Cooper Power Systems-Waukesha, WI
Eaton Corporation
Cutler-Hammer - Dry Type Distribution Transformers-Pittsburgh, PA
Ferranti-Packard-Pittsburgh, PA
General Electric-Plainville, CT
Hammond Manufacturing, Inc.-Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Kentucky Association of Electric-Louisville, KY
Magnetran, Inc.-Voorhees, NJ
Niagara Transformer Corporation-Buffalo, NY
North American Transformer, Inc.-Milpitas, CA
Olsun Electrics Corporation-Richmond, IL
Pauwels Transformers-Washington, MO
PDI-Sandston, VA
Power Paragon-Gardena, CA
R E Uptegraff Mfg Company-Scottdale, PA
Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc., Power Transmission & Distribution-Raleigh, NC
Southern Transformer Company-East Point, GA
Square D Company-Monroe, NC
Vantran Electric Corporation-Waco, TX
Virginia Transformer Corporation-Roanoke, VA
Waukesha Electrical Systems, Inc.-Goldsboro, NC

Purpose
These labels are intended to identify pad-mountedequipment as potentially hazardous to anyone who
comes in contact with its contents. The pictorials are designed to be meaningful to children and the
illiterate and to contain supportive wording expected to elicit a safe response from an adult.

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Page 1

Section 1
GENERAL
1.1

SCOPE

These labels are for use on pad-mounted switchgear and transformers sited in public areas, such as utility
easements adjacent to residential properties, shopping centers, schools, etc. They may also be used for
such equipment sited in utility or industrial properties which are not normally accessible to the general
public.

Section 2
MATERIAL
2.1

The labels shall be durable and made of weather resistant material.

2.2
Adhesive mounted labels shall be such that removal is impossible, except by defacing, covering,
or destroying them. These labels shall meet the requirements of UL 969-1982, Marking and Labeling

Systems.
2.3
Labels mounted by mechanical fasteners shall be used only if the removal of the mechanical
fasteners leaves the cabinet with no openings through which foreign objects-such as sticks, rods or
wires-mi ht be inserted to contact live components. These labels shall meet the requirements of UL
9.
969-1982 listed below:
Requirement
Legibility test
Defacement test
Humidity test
Temperature test
Ultraviolet light test

Reference (of UL969)

Table 4.1
Table 4.1
Paragraph 8.3
Paragraph 8.4
Paragraph 8.5

Section 3
MAINTENANCE
The safety label should remain legible for the service life of the pad-mounted equipment to which
3.1
it is attached. Renewal of the safety label may be required during normal maintenance.

This standard is available from Underwriters Laboratory, 333 Pfingsten Road, Northbrook, Illinois 60062
* UL969-1982 is written for adhesively mounted labels. However, some requirements are appropriate for labels
mounted with mechanical fasteners. These latter requirements have been extracted for incorporation in this
standard.

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260-1996
Page 2

Section 4
FORMAT
The color of the warning signal word field shall be orange, and the color of the danger signal word
4.1
field shall be red. All label colors depicted in Figures 4-1 through 4-4 shall conform to the following
Munsell Notations:

Black
Oranae

N - 2.0 or lower

I 5.0 YR 6.0/15

1 White

I N - 9.0 or higher

4.2
The safety labels in Figures 4-1 and 4-2 shall be standard and shall be 4.5 inches, f 0.25 inches
(1 1.43 cm, 0.64 cm) wide and 8.0 inches, 0.50 inches (20.32 cm, 1.25 cm) long.3 The warning label
(Figure 4-1) shall be affixed to the outside of the pad-mounted equipment. The danger label (Figure 4-2)
shall be affixed to the inside of the pad-mounted equipment.

As an option, bilingual labels, such as Figures 4-3 and 4-4, shall be furnished when specified.
4.3
These labels shall be 10.6 inches, -0.0 inches + 1 .O inches (26.92 cm. -0.0 cm, + 2.54 cm) wide, with the
height being variable to accommodate the bilingual message.
4.4
The owners of the pad-mounted equipment should preferably be identified with more information
than "immediately call the electric power and light company." To this end, the owners of the pad-mounted
equipment may place their name, company name, and/or telephone number on, or immediately adjacent
to, the area which reads "electric power and light company." The preceding standard messages shall not
be covered by the substitution, and the material used to convey the ownership of the pad-mounted
equipment shall meet the material requirements of this standard (if not printed on the NEMA label).

A 1/2 inch white border is intended to surround the label (signal word panel and black border) on all four sides.

S T D * N E M A 2 b O - E N G L 1996

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AWARNING

Hazardous voltage
inside.
Can shock, burn,
or cause death.
Keep out.
If open or unlocked,
immediately call
electric power
and light company.
Figure 4-1
WARNING LABEL

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260-1996
Page 4

Hazardous voltage.
Will shock, burn,
or cause death.
Keep out.
If open or unlocked,
immediately call
electric power
and light company.
~

~~

Figure 4-2
DANGER LABEL

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Figure 4-3
BILINGUAL WARNING LABEL

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Figure 4-4
BILINGUAL DANGER LABEL

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Section 5
LOCATION
The outside warning label(s) (Figures 4-1 or 4-3) shall be mounted as close as is practical to the
5.1
equipment door while providing maximum visibility.
The inside danger label (Figures 4-2 or 4-4) shall be mounted as to be readily visible whenever
5.2
the equipment door is open.

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