Organizational measures in electrical installations

From the moment when humanity became familiar with electricity, not only the benefits of its use, but also accidents with people who periodically fall under the influence of electric current are associated.

Electricity poses a serious danger to our health, it requires proper handling, the implementation of certain actions, which are called "Rules" and give them the status of law. Each of these provisions is strictly justified, taken from people's lives, related to some incident or accident. In other words, labor protection rules were written at the expense of someone's blood and sacrifices.

The basic requirements of the rules for ordinary people and electricians who work directly with electric current do not differ. But specialists must know much more and work very carefully, because they perform those operations to which an ordinary person is not allowed.

For electrical personnel, a division of the rules into two subsections has been specially created:

1. technical activities;

2. organizational issues.

The first subsection determines the use of technical means that guarantee the preservation of human health when it is necessary to carry out work with the equipment of electrical installations. But, as practice shows, this turns out to be insufficient for several reasons:

• our consciousness processes a lot of information at the same time and can concentrate at a moment on a distraction, which leads to wrong actions with electricity;

• an electrician may simply forget what he was warned about;

• the employee's attention, weakened by the irritation of the external environment, may pass to another event, and the hands mechanically by inertia will perform a dangerous action;

• a sick, drunk, smoky, excited person most often falls under the influence of electricity.

Organizational measures are designed to alleviate these factors.

Composition of organizational measures

It should be understood that the definition of "organizational" carries the exact meaning: any work with electricity under no circumstances should be done hastily, without prior preparation. They must always be carefully thought out, timely and safely organized in accordance with established rules.

Organizational measures in time are valid from the moment when the need arises to carry out any work in the electrical installation until its complete completion. The moment of completion is determined not only by the execution of technological operations, but also by the removal of all workers from the equipment and the documentary registration of technical, operational documentation, which excludes the repeated return of each member of the brigade to the same place.

Stages of organizational activity

These include five consecutive actions:

1. determination of the method of carrying out work according to: in parallel, or to order, or the list of execution in accordance with the procedure for the current operation of the electrical installation;

2. issuance of permits to personnel for workplace preparation and admission of teams to them;

3. Implementation of the acceptance of the team included in the work;

4. organization of direct supervision of workers;

5. Proper registration of breaks, transfers to other places and full completion of work.

Only the strict sequence of compliance with these stages, performed effectively and completely, is the key to the safety of personnel and ensuring the operability of the equipment.

Electrical Safety Officers

The rules clearly distinguish the responsibilities of the personnel of the electrical departments, highlighting from him:

1. direct contractors — members of the brigade;

2. persons organizing their safe activities.

The safety of electrical installation and maintenance personnel depends primarily on the actions of team members working with electrical equipment. Their activities are organized and directed by other officials:

• observers;

• the producer of the works;

• recognition;

• responsible work supervisor;

• issuing permits for job preparation and admission;

• outstanding outfit;

• giving orders;

• approving lists of works performed during current operation.

Team members

They are required to:

• know the requirements: current regulations, local regulations;

• clearly follow the instructions given by the reception and supervisory workers during reception and work.

A team member may have different training, qualification and electrical safety group. The composition of the brigades may include specialists even from non-electrical professions with group I.

Such people are poorly trained in security matters. They are required to exercise increased supervision while in the electrical installation. One of the trained workers of the brigade is appointed for this purpose (group III or higher) from among the electrical personnel — an observer.

He is also included in a team consisting of non-electrical workers engaged in digging trenches, cleaning the grounds, painting buildings and other such works.

Responsibilities of the observer

They come down to the exact fulfillment of the following requirements:

• ensuring full compliance of the prepared workplace with all necessary measures and instructions recorded in the order;

• timely, clear and complete briefing of all team members;

• constant maintenance of installed earthing devices, guarding devices, safety signs and placards, lockable actuators in good condition and workplace safety;

• full security of the members of the team entrusted to him in matters of preventing injuries from the action of electric current on the equipment of the electrical installation.

Obligations of the contractor

This employee directly supervises the actions of electrical personnel and must have group III when working together with the equipment of electrical installations up to 1000 V and IV — at a higher voltage.

The structure of the obligations of the manufacturer of the work includes all points of the admission, which are more specific about the application of safety signs and placards and supplemented by the requirements:

• ensuring work with serviceable protective equipment, technological equipment, devices and their correct use;

• safe work;

• compliance with the Rules by all team members and by them personally;

• implementation of continuous control over the activity of all members of the brigade.

The rest of the electrical safety officers are also endowed with specific responsibilities with quite a number of requirements.

Only the exact and complete observance by all employees of their labor protection obligations guarantees safety when performing any work, eliminates the risk of electrical injuries in electrical installations.

Parallel organization of work

The most complex and dangerous work inside electrical installations is done only in parallel. Twenty-one paragraphs of the Rules, spread over three pages, are devoted to the description of the ways of their organization.

The order can be valid for up to 15 working days. The clothing itself is a document of strict accountability, it is constantly carried out by the manufacturer of the work, it is compiled in two copies, registered and stored strictly in a certain place.

After the work is completed and the order is closed, it is transferred to office work for a storage period of 30 days, and if accidents or incidents occurred during work, it is sent to the archive.

Organization of work to order

Here, too, a strict report is kept on the work with the implementation of written tasks and indication of labor protection measures.The list of operations allowed to be performed under orders is strictly limited, and the time of its validity is limited by the length of the contractor's working day.

The methods of organizing work on orders are described in sixteen paragraphs of the Rules, located on one and a half pages of the rules.

Organization of work according to the performance list

For small operations in electrical installations up to 1000 volts only, lists of work are created that can be performed by operational or operational repair workers on the electrical devices assigned to them.

The term for such work is limited to one operator shift. The list provides for labor protection measures to ensure the safety of their implementation.

The six items in this section take up one page of rules.

Labor protection in workplace preparation

The workplace in the electrical installation is prepared in advance, before the start of the engagement of the team for instruction by operational or operational-repair personnel.

In this case, the exclusions provided for in the order and grounding of power equipment, work sites and approaches to them are fenced, the necessary safety placards are placed not only on the main equipment, but also on switchboards and control panels from which voltage may be accidentally supplied.

A visible interruption of the supply circuits must be provided on all sides of the workplace, separating it from the voltage of the electrical installation.

Labor protection with the adoption of the brigade

A large list of organizational measures provides for the step-by-step implementation of a number of consecutive operations to acquaint the participating workers with the place of work in the existing electrical installation.

Among the duties of the receiving person there is a point requiring direct inspection of the members of the brigade indicated in the clothing, only at a prepared workplace according to personal certificates giving the right to special work.

During the reception, a targeted safety briefing, familiarization with the specific conditions of the workplace is carried out.

Particular attention is paid to indicating the boundaries of the working area, defining areas with limited access, showing the nearest equipment that remains under voltage, to which it is forbidden to approach.

The results of the completion of the briefing are legally confirmed by the signatures of the workers who conducted and received it.

Supervision of the actions of the brigade

Six items in this section take up an entire rules page. They determine the list and responsibilities of the officials who constantly control the actions of those working directly in electrical installations.

Labor protection during breaks, change of workplace, completion of work

Since the team remains inside the electrical installation at these times, the rules clearly define the officials and their responsibilities for each of these stages.

The completion of the work in the electrical installation is documented by the manufacturer of the work in the order, reported to the service personnel and recorded in his documentation.

Operators ensure that the crew is completely removed from the equipment and that guards, placards and safety signs are removed.

According to the switching forms, the duty personnel with supervisors finally put the repaired equipment into operation by applying the voltage of the electrical installation to its circuit.

Thus, pre-prepared, well-planned organizational measures fully guarantee the safe performance of work in existing electrical installations, prevent the occurrence of accidents and malfunctions in case of accidental mistakes by a single employee.