The 2012 NESC states that the cal\cm-sq is 20 for 480 volt self contained meters. Do meter pullers reduce the Arc Flash Hazard and ,if so, how much? The goal is to reduce required PPE to under 8. Thanks for any help.

No, meter pullers do not reduce the arc flash hazard but may reduce the risk of an arc flash hazard. I doubt if a rigorous risk analysis would show that the use of the meter puller eliminates the hazard so that PPE is not required. I think in this case you either have to de-energize the circuit or wear the PPE.

There are two types of meter pullers, those with arc shields and those without. http://www.macronsafety.com/meter-grabber Both types increase distance to some degree, but you would lose the whole advantage of having a table if you went the calculation route. The shield would certainly help in the event of a mishap, but I know of no method of quantifying it. Note 3 does allow engineering controls in order to reduce levels, but who's going to put their stamp on this without some data to base it on?

EPRI did some research on this. There are multiple cases documented by OSHA of injuries from performing this task. The specific design of the meter and socket can greatly increase the hazard. So this is a case where IEEE 1584 doesn't predict the outcome. The EPRI reports for this topic are free. So have a look. I believe at least one "arc shield" meter puller has been tested so they should have data on it.