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SET Solutions providing tomorrows safety, environment, and training answers, today!

"Today's Solutions," published by Set Solutions LLC Summer Issue 2009.









 

NESC –2012 Comment Period Opens

The comment period for the National Electric Safety Code (NESC) 2012 will open September 2009. The proposed standard will address arc flash requirements for secondary voltages. The 2007 edition of NESC allowed clothing rated at 4 cal/cm2 to limit the likelihood of clothing ignition for secondary voltages below 1 kV if engineering controls and work practices were evaluated to reduce energy levels. The 2012 edition will address arc issues for voltages less than 1 kV. All utilities should review the proposed changes and comment as appropriate for your utility. For more information on commenting refer to the NESC website at http://standards.ieee.org/nesc or contact SET Solutions.

IEEE 516-2009 Finalized (MAD Updates)

The IEEE 516 “Guide for Maintenance Methods on Energized Power Lines” has been approved and is scheduled to be published July 2009. The update addresses changes in MAD (Minimum Approach Distances) along with other industry practices. The purpose of IEEE 516 is to outline basic methods and equipment for safe work on energized lines, address standards and other documents for the inspection, care, and use of required tools and equipment and to provide practical guidance for establishing an appropriate work area. IEEE 516 reviews many accepted practices specifically in the form of a guide for establishing methods and procedures for maintenance of energized power lines. Visit http://standards.ieee.org for more information.

OSHA Reopens Comment Period for Electric Utility Standards

OSHA will reopen the comment period for the Electric Power Transmission and Distribution; Electrical Protective Equipment standards June 2009. The comment period will be reopened to solicit comments for MAD (Minimum Approach Distances) which were revised in the new IEEE 516 standard finalized on May 13, 2009. OSHA will reopen the comment period in June 2009 with knowledge that IEEE 516 will be available for review before the comment period closes. OSHA’s reopening will address only revised MAD distances. This should be the last reopening prior to the final promulgation of the Electric Power Transmission and Distribution; Electrical Protective Equipment standards. For more information please contact one of our specialists.

Utility Work Ahead

Typical work zones consist of large crews, last for a long duration and require detailed traffic control plans. Utility work zones are essentially different because they consist of smaller crews and typically are for a much shorter duration of time. Utility work crews will typically operate in several work zones each work day making it impractical to develop a detailed temporary traffic control plan for each site. Therefore it is necessary for utility companies to follow the intent of those guidelines and standards to ensure the safety of not only its employees but the safety of the public. The Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) provides general guidelines and standards for utility work zones but gives no specific rules or requirements to cover the entire range of utility work zone situations. Because there are no set guidelines for utility workers there is no uniformity in how utilities design these work areas, making workers and the public more at risk. The Utility Work Zone Traffic Control Guidelines were published in May of 2008 and focus on typical daily work zone activities conducted by utilities. These guidelines were designed to give utilities more guidance for designing work zones than the MUTCD. These guidelines along with training materials can be found at www.workzonesafety.org/wsu_ttcp/overview. Contact one of our specialists today to receive more information on utility work zones.

SET Solutions providing tomorrows safety, environment, and training answers, today!

"Today's Solutions," published by Set Solutions LLC Spring Issue 2009.









 

Dispatcher or System Operator?

Information Technology has profoundly transformed the electric distribution dispatching center. Historically a dispatching center’s primary responsibility was to receive outage calls, assign daily work and communicate to field crews via the company radio. The days of receiving outage calls and searching for sectionalizing devices on a paper mapping system have been replaced by computer based technology.

Electric utilities operating facilities that could have an impact on the national grid have national training requirements for operators to ensure the reliability of the bulk power system in North America. This leaves small to medium sized distribution utilities with no clear standard on the best training methodology to meet safety and reliability concerns

Identifying employee training needs may be difficult for utilities that have benchmarked dispatchers on the number of phone calls answered or dropped instead of their knowledge and demonstrated ability to operate and “oversee” the power system. The challenge of training utility personnel, who still operate with a “radio room” concept, to operate and maintain a distribution system is complex. This requires a management commitment to transition employees from a “dispatcher” to a System Operator (Controller). The utility may find the job qualifications of a person who has worked well in a dispatcher position may not be exactly the qualifications needed for the System Operator position. Operational field employees must have confidence that they are communicating with System Operators who understand operating systems and employee work procedures to ensure safety and system reliability. To gain system knowledge, a structured process should be developed to ensure academics, hard skills and on-the-job training meet the job requirements. System Operators need to understand operating systems, line design, system coordination, equipment operation, field operations relating to line construction and maintenance, switching operations and many other utility specific requirements.

SET Solutions has worked with utilities to develop a systematic approach to training existing and new distribution system operators. If interested in the process design please contact one of our specialists.

Arc Flash Protection—It’s More Than PPE

Arc flash/blast conditions occur in some utilities where operational personnel maintain the arc phenomenon “just happens as a way of doing business”. Utilities can no longer afford to disregard possible arc hazards or post arc events.  Proactive utilities evaluate electrical systems and equipment and develop processes to minimize and/or eliminate arc hazards before an incident occurs. Processes include, as a minimum, engineering controls, development of safe work practices and PPE (personal protective equipment). Although PPE does provide some level of personal protection it should be the last line of defense for employee safety. Utility engineering staff should ensure existing equipment and new equipment has been evaluated to reduce arc hazard exposures. Operational personnel should develop work procedures/processes to eliminate exposures that cannot be reduced. Reducing and eliminating arc exposures must be completed before developing a PPE compliance program. Utilities without aggressive maintenance and system improvement programs will find themselves in positions with high levels of incident energy and extreme arc rated clothing requirements. Employee resistance to wearing arc rated clothing will be an issue when utilities only focus on PPE compliance without reducing and eliminating exposures.

If you would like more information on Arc Flash Hazard Assessments or an Arc Flash Implementation Plan, please contact one of our specialist, today.