Page 16 - Occupational Health & Safety - eDITION, August 2017

ELECTRICAL SAFETY
DITION
Maintenance strategies do not have instant paybacks. It takes a while to balance time, people, cost, and quality.
workforce. This program will require finances, people resources, and possibly planned shutdowns. Training may include training for specialized tasks and generic training on the maintenance strat- egy. At this stage, be prepared to listen to both parties and adjust the maintenance strategy or maintenance plan.
2. Transfer the plans into the Enterprise Resources Manage- ment System (e.g. SAP, Oracle, Infor, Epicor, etc.). These will make the maintenance program robust and independent of staff turnover.
3. Perform the maintenance.
Evaluate:
1. Maintenance strategies do not have instant paybacks. It takes a while to balance time, people, cost, and quality. For the majority of organizations, developing key performance indicators, at equip- ment or process level, provides a good score of the return on invest- ment in the maintenance strategy. As an example, keep track of the outage time, repair cost, and production influence as a result of motor bearing failures due to under-greasing/over-greasing. After a year of inspecting and lubricating, note if any changes materi- alized. Did the organization reduce unplanned interruptions, re- duce repair costs, etc.? Another example would be a critical circuit breaker that has a three-year planned maintenance activity. How did the activity contribute to reducing risk? Assign a cost to this risk mitigation and use it to support ongoing maintenance.
2. Incorporate a link between the “Incident Investigation” element in the e-Hazard Electrical Safety CycleTM and the “Elec- trical Safety Maintenance” element. These will quickly identify problem areas. In order to achieve this, ensure that the mainte- nance manager (or engineer) is involved when investigating equip- ment failure. In this way, management is linked to the root causes of failure. Alternatively, ensure that equipment failure (above a cer- tain cost or risk threshold) is formally investigated to uncover root causes and provide remedial actions.
Evolve:
1. Resolve the problem areas. Sometimes challenges in the elec- trical safety maintenance strategy may be rudimentary and are resolved internally (within a department or section). In other cases, OEMs and SMEs may be brought back into the program
Sometimes challenges in the electrical maintenance strategy may be rudimentary and are resolved internally. In other cases, OEMs and SMEs may be brought back into the program to resolve difficult issues.
to resolve difficult issues. Changes may have to be rolled out in stages instead of rolling out major maintenance changes in unre- alistic time frames. Ensure there is cross-departmental agreement (consider all areas: financial approvals, staff scheduling, produc- tion constraints, etc.).
In future articles on the “Electrical Safety Maintenance” ele- ment in the e-Hazard Safety CycleTM, further information will be provided on the types of maintenance strategies and developing maintenance plans. These will include specific details of equipment that displays high failure rates or provides higher risk of injuries to workers.
For more information on predictive maintenance and the ef- fect on an arc flash study, see Daniel R. Doan’s article, “Prioritizing Circuit Breaker and Protective Relay Maintenance Using an Arc Flash Hazard Assessment,” in IEEE Transactions on Industry Ap- plications, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 799-802, March-April 2013.
Zarheer Jooma joined e-Hazard after several years with both Eskom Generation and the largest steel producer in Africa, ArcelorMittal. He has extensive experience in power system design, low and me- dium voltage reticulation and control systems, and safe operating and maintenance practices.
A registered Professional Electrical Engineer, he brings a unique perspective to the classroom having helped develop SANS 724—the South African National Standard for Protective Equipment against the Thermal Hazards of an Electrical Arc. He is a much sought-after speaker and trainer throughout Africa and the Middle East and an active contributor to the South African Bureau of Standards. Zarheer is a member of the SABS SC67E committee and the IEC TC78 – Live Working Committee.
REFERENCES
1. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6420931& isnumber=6480818
2. See the “Risk Assessment” element in the e-Hazard Electrical Safety CycleTM.
16 Occupational Health & Safety | AUGUST 2017 | www.ohsonline.com
2017 NEC BECAME EFFECTIVE
IN MINNESOTA ON JULY 1
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry alerted its stakeholders and others that the 2017 National Electrical Code (NEC) was adopted by the Minnesota Board of Electricity with an effective date of July 1, 2017. Requests for Electrical Inspection (electrical permits) filed with DLI on or after July 1, 2017, are subject to
the provisions of the 2017 NEC, and electrical license examinations also are based on the requirements of the 2017 NEC.
Chapter 1315 of the state building code adopts a national standard for the installation of electrical wiring, apparatus, and equipment for electric light, heat, power, technology circuits and systems, and alarm and commu- nication systems. Minnesota’s electrical code consists of the NEC as published by the National Fire Protection Association.
A Frequently Asked Questions document, a residential inspection checklist, and additional resources from the department are available at http://www.dli.mn.gov/CCLD/ Electrical.asp
The FAQ document, for example, explains that the new requirement for GFCIs in other-than-dwelling units in NEC 210.8(B) applies to all receptacles connected to branch circuits rated 150-volts to ground or less.
“New code rules have expanded the GFCI require- ments to include other-than 15- and 20-amp 125-volt ap- plications and now apply to all single-phase receptacles ≤150 volts and ≤50 amps and three-phase receptacles ≤150 volts and ≤100 amps. The change encompasses ‘other than dwelling structures’ only. The GFCI protec- tion in NEC 210.8(B) requirement would not include the receptacles addressed specifically in NEC Chapters 5,
6 and 7 which can modify or supplement the Chapter 2 requirement,” the document explains.