Lightning protection systems in stables

Agricultural activities are more often linked to the use of electrical and electronic devices. The evolution of climate with a continuous increase of thunderstorm phenomena, more and more concentrated and intense, need to raise attention by users about the protection of structures and equipment against overvoltage phenomena of atmospheric origin. The combination of thunderstorm phenomena and the high sensitivity to induced and conducted electromagnetic phenomena of equipment could origin failures that could affect productivity and safety. By a safety point of view, in Italy the law obliges the employers to assess the risk raised by lightning effects in order to ensure that the buildings, systems, structures, equipment are protected in agreement with the national and international technical standards. Considering the agricultural-livestock sector, the new Italian guidelines need that farmers should re-examine structures referring also to the compatibility with animal protection requirements. In the event of a fault, considering the high sensitivity to electrical effects on animal health, it is necessary to limit contact voltages to negligible values, by means of additional equipotential connections among all the masses present in the plant (both strictly useful and not for the main proactive activity). Furthermore, considering the dimension of animals compared to that of humans, particular care has to be taken in limiting the step voltage also connecting the electro-welded nets used to reinforce the concrete floor of animal shelters to ground collector. The main goal of this work is to analyse the technical standard concerning the protection from lightning with particular regard to the agricultural-livestock sector and to study the principal equipment and parts useful to set up an effective lightning protection system for a medium-sized stable.