Page 15 - Occupational Health & Safety - eDITION, August 2017

MAINTENANCE
DITION
The e-Hazard Safety CycleTM: Electrical Maintenance
Split maintenance activities, per electrical equipment, into minor, moderate,
and major overhaul categories. Assign timelines to each of these.
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onsensus standards, like the NFPA 70E® standard, rec- ommend using maintenance standards (NFPA 70B® or NETA MTS) or manufacturer’s (Original Equipment Manufacturer, OEM) recommendations as part of the
electrical safety program (ESP). Most companies have established a maintenance strategy (such as Reliability Centered Maintenance, Total Productive Maintenance, etc.).
If this is not the case, it is essential that some method be con- sidered as the starting point. As an introduction to the “Electrical Maintenance” element in the e-Hazard Electrical Safety CycleTM, de- veloping a maintenance strategy is essential.
“Electrical Maintenance” is considered an important element in the e-Hazard Safety CycleTM because it exposes workers to both shock and arc flash hazards. Many electrical incidents occur when doing maintenance since changing the state of the equipment is a common time for equipment to fail. Human factors pose other risks. In the absence of maintaining to OEM and best practice guidelines, the risk of unplanned failure is increased. This places the worker directly in harm’s way. Another important reason to perform maintenance is to ensure the safety of the public against disasters from chemical processes, nuclear plants, power plants, and other “just in time” processes.
Envision:
1. Assign a responsible person for developing a maintenance strategy. Choosing a maintenance manager for this task is often best because they have the background on the cost of parts and labor. An operations manager and process expert should form part of the responsible person’s team.
2. Identify and prioritize equipment. This can be done by as- signing safety risk (numeric) scores1 or operations risk scores. Al- ternative prioritization techniques may be in terms of:
a. Voltage (HV vs. LV)
b. Effect of equipment on arc flash study in case of failure c. Effect on the operation of the plant
d. Effect on the plant safety equipment
e. Effect on public safety
For example, greasing motor bearings does not run on the same frequency as infrared thermography.
f. Other effects based on production or site priorities.
3. Split maintenance activities, per electrical equipment, into minor, moderate, and major overhaul categories. Assign timelines to each of these. For example, greasing motor bearings does not run on the same frequency as infrared thermography.
4. Identify, assign, and price. What needs to be done? Who will do it? How much will it cost? When can it be done? At this
stage, consulting with OEMs and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) comes into play. Part of these activities can be referred to as main- tenance plans.
During the Execution phase, transfer the plans into the Enterprise Resources Management Sys- tem, which will make the maintenance program robust and independent of staff turnover. Execute:
1. Engage the workforce in training and awareness and launch the program. Consider involving both management and the labor
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