Work on Electrical Installations and in premises presenting a fire or explosion hazard
Definitions and concepts:
20. Technical instructions
20.2. Work in the vicinity of live parts
The aim of this Procedure is to establish the guidelines that are to be followed in all work carried out in the vicinity of live parts, compliance with which is mandatory for all ISASTUR Group personnel involved in the carrying out of work in the vicinity of live parts, especially those qualified to carry out work with an electrical hazard in accordance with Spanish Royal Decree 614/2001.
General procedure for the carrying out of proximity work
Preparing the job
Before commencing work in the vicinity of live parts, an Authorised Worker, in the case of LV work, or a Qualified Worker, in the case of HV work, is to determine the feasibility of the job (see worker training/qualifications summary chart).
The “Preparation of work in the vicinity of High Voltage installations (in accordance with Appendix V, Spanish Royal Decree 614/2001)” must always be carried out by the Client’s Foreman and/or Head of the installation.
To start preparing the job, the area is to be visited, if possible in the company of the Client. The corresponding discharge is always to be requested, seeing as one of the principle of Spanish Royal Decree 614/2001 is that work must always be carried out in the absence of voltage, unless the installations require a continuous power supply.
If the Client informs us that it is not possible to carry out the discharge, then the feasibility of working in the vicinity of voltage will have to be studied.
- 1. Once it has been concluded that work in the vicinity of voltage is feasible, preparation for the job is to commence. To do so, the necessary safety measures are to be adopted to reduce as far as possible:
- a. The number of live parts.
- b. The danger zones containing the parts that remain live, by means of screens, barriers, insulating enclosures or protections whose characteristics (mechanical and electrical) and method of installation guarantee their protective efficacy.
- 2. If, despite the measures adopted, there continue to be live parts whose danger zones remain accessible, then the following must be done:
- a. Demarcate the work area with respect to the danger zones; the demarcation is to be effective with respect to each danger zone and is to be effected using suitable material.
- b. Inform workers who are directly or indirectly involved of the existing risks, the location of live parts, the limits to the work area and all the precautions and safety measures they must adopt so as not to penetrate into the danger zone, letting them know also of the need for them to likewise communicate any circumstance that demonstrates any deficiency in the adopted measures. A written record is to be left of the information given to workers.
Carrying out the work
When the measures adopted in accordance with Section 1 above do not suffice to protect workers against the electrical hazard, work is to be carried out after having adopted the measures of demarcation and information listed in Section 2 by Authorised Workers or under the supervision of one of these and always in the presence of a Preventive Resource figure (this could be the same person as the Authorised Worker).
When supervising, Authorised Workers must oversee the fulfilment of the safety measures and control, in particular the movements of workers and objects inside the work area, bearing in mind their characteristics, their possible accidental displacements and any other circumstance that might alter the conditions under which the work was planned.
If the Authorised Worker detects a situation of risk that requires additional preventive or protective measures (movement of loads near to the danger zone limits, adverse weather conditions, etc.), he is to put an immediate stop to the work and is not to allow it to commence again until the necessary measures have been taken (postponement of work until weather conditions improve, grounding of machinery or elements, verification of the absence of voltage, etc.).
Supervision will not be mandatory when the work is performed outside the proximity zone or in low voltage installations.
In all jobs in the vicinity of live parts, workers must remain outside the danger zone and as far away as possible from this zone as work permits.
