IEC TR 63167:2018

IEC TR 63167 ®
Edition 1.0 2018-06
TECHNICAL
REPORT
colour
inside
Assessment of contact current related to human exposure to electric, magnetic
and electromagnetic fields
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IEC TR 63167 ®
Edition 1.0 2018-06
TECHNICAL
REPORT
colour
inside
Assessment of contact current related to human exposure to electric, magnetic

and electromagnetic fields
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 17.220.20 ISBN 978-2-8322-5751-7

– 2 – IEC TR 63167:2018 © IEC 2018
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
INTRODUCTION . 6
1 Scope . 7
2 Normative references . 7
3 Terms and definitions . 7
4 Abbreviated terms . 8
5 Contact current in EMF exposure guidelines . 8
6 Consideration in evaluating contact currents . 9
6.1 General . 9
6.2 Assumed situations of human exposure to contact current . 9
6.2.1 General . 9
6.2.2 Capacitive coupling (power line) . 9
6.2.3 Inductive coupling (power line) . 9
6.2.4 Induction heating equipment . 9
6.2.5 Wireless power transfer (WPT) . 10
6.2.6 Broadcasting . 10
6.3 Methods of measurement of touch current used in electrical safety standards . 10
6.3.1 General . 10
6.3.2 IEC standards related to electrical safety . 10
6.3.3 Modelling human body impedance . 12
6.4 Proposed methods of measuring contact current . 15
6.4.1 General . 15
6.4.2 Contact current measurement using a human subject . 15
6.4.3 Contact current measurement using a human equivalent

impedance/circuit. 16
6.4.4 Contact current calculated from measurement of open-circuit voltage . 16
7 Consideration in standardization of evaluation method for contact current . 17
Annex A (informative) Contact current limits in international EMF guidelines. 18
Bibliography . 20

Figure 1 – Time/current zones of effects of alternating currents (15 Hz to 100 Hz) on
persons for a current path corresponding to left hand to feet (for explanation see
Table 2) . 12
Figure 2 – Measuring network for unweighted touch current [16] . 13
Figure 3 – Measuring network for touch current weighted for perception or startle-
reaction [16]. 14
Figure 4 – Simulated body impedance for contact current measurements shown in
IEEE C95.3 [27] . 14
Figure 5 – Impedances of various parts of the body proposed in IEC TS 62996 for 1
kHz to 6 MHz [11] . 15
Figure 6 – Realistic computational 3D human body model and results of calculation of
current density and pathway . 17

Table 1 – Selected IEC technical committees and standards related to electrical safety . 11
Table 2 – Time/current zones for alternating current 15 Hz to 100 Hz for hand to feet
pathway – Summary of zones in Figure 1 . 12

Table A.1 – Reference levels in ICNIRP guidelines for time varying contact current
from conductive object [1], [2] . 18
Table A.2 – Maximum permissible exposure (MPE) levels of contact current in IEEE
safety standards [3], [4] . 18

– 4 – IEC TR 63167:2018 © IEC 2018
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
ASSESSMENT OF CONTACT CURRENT RELATED TO HUMAN EXPOSURE
TO ELECTRIC, MAGNETIC AND ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS

FOREWORD
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IEC TR 63167, which is a Technical Report, has been prepared by IEC technical committee
106: Methods for the assessment of electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields associated
with human exposure.
The text of this Technical Report is based on the following documents:
Enquiry draft Report on voting
106/422/DTR 106/436A/RVDTR
Full information on the voting for the approval of this Technical Report can be found in the
report on voting indicated in the above table.

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– 6 – IEC TR 63167:2018 © IEC 2018
INTRODUCTION
In the guidelines limiting human exposure to electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields
(EMF guidelines), limits for the contact current are given to avoid adverse indirect effects, i.e.
electric shocks and burn hazards caused by contact with a conductive object located in an
electric and/or magnetic field, when the object has an electric potential owing to electric or
magnetic induction to the object.
At the moment, no standardized method for evaluating the contact current, in the context of
human exposures to the above fields has been well established. On the other hand, th
...