Electrical Safety - But what about the Managers? The Supervisors?
Peter Waugh brings 44 years of experience in fields of maintenance and human resources management. Peter graduated in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick. He started his career with Westinghouse Industrial Field Service servicing power distribution equipment. He then moved to the Pulp & Paper industry where he worked ...
Electrical Safety - But what about the Managers? The Supervisors?
I have been an electrical safety trainer and designer of electrical safety programs for Canada Training Group for the last 6 years. I often wonder how we can better support safety leaders who are tasked with supervising electrical staff and operating personnel. Managers and front-line supervisors have the responsibility to ensure high reliability of operations while keeping their workers safe. Very often this involves complex electrical power systems with high levels of shock and arc flash risk.
Reflecting back, significant change has happened, for the better. CSA Z462 – the Standard for Workplace Electrical Safety was first introduced in Canada in 2008. The standard addresses safe work practices for persons working on or near energized systems. It has been continuously improved on a 3-year frequency with the latest version introduced this year. CSA benefited by working together with NFPA in the US to continuously improve this standard. OH&S authorities have stepped up their game to both educate and enforce provincial and federal OHS regulations. Training providers have built electrical safety courses using the Z462 best practices and procedures. Clearly Z462 has set the bar.
Fortunately, with help from the CSA Z462 Standard, many companies and workers understand the dangerous consequences of an accident with electricity. Companies have adopted a Safety-First approach and have worked hard on their due diligence.
All the standards, education, and enforcement have made a difference. There are less fatalities, injuries, and near-miss incidents than 20 years ago. Statistics show a steady decline over 10-year intervals. Unfortunately, there are way too many electrical safety incidents still happening. The challenge for CSA, NFPA, training providers, OHS authorities, and companies continues. Canada Training Group will continue to provide expert training and consulting solutions to companies, managers, supervisors, and workers to ensure everyone goes home from work to their families each day safe and sound.
While training and doing safety projects with Canada Training Group, I have worked with approximately 150 companies. I see that many companies have done arc flash studies, bought PPE and have sent their employees to electrical safety training. Some have gone further, writing Electrical Safety Codes of Practice, Hazardous Energy and LOTO programs and assessed their workers on knowledge and skills to ensure awareness and competency.
Going back to my original thought “But what about the Managers? The Supervisors?”. Is it enough for them to attend safety training every 3 years and adopt best practices from Z462 and company electrical safety programs on the fly? The experienced electrical safety professionals at Canada Training Group believe training is just a starting point.
Managing electrical safety is challenging. The tasks for operators and maintenance personnel often have serious high levels of risk. Maintenance & Engineering Managers, Operational Managers, Electrical & Production Supervisors, who are responsible for the safety of their teams, must be actively engaged to ensure they have a robust electrical safety program. They must follow up to make sure that their workers have personal discipline to always follow company rules and procedures. A single error in judgement can have serious consequences.
To support this objective, Canada Training Group is developing a Safety Leaders Workshop. The workshop is an advanced 3-day program covering a range of arc flash and high voltage safety aimed at those who manage safety in complex power systems. The workshop will be limited to 8 participants to ensure a dedicated learning experience where everyone participates.
Canada Training Group will provide a subject matter expert in electrical safety along with a variety of PPE, test equipment and electrical equipment to allow hands on practical exercises. A range of workplace scenarios will allow small group problem solving and creative exercises.
Each safety leader attending the workshop will bring their issues and problem areas they wish to address. A Teams call prior to the workshop between participants and Canada Training Group will discuss the topics they wish to address during the workshop. This way, Canada Training Group’s workshop facilitator can prepare for the in-depth discussions and class exercises. Additionally, participants can bring their plant single lines, SOPs, arc flash studies and even PPE to enrich the workshop experience.
Potential topics:
- Explanations and examples of Z462 and clauses
- Understanding the expectations of OH&S regulations specific to participants facility
- Understanding of arc flash calculations, keeping AF studies up to date
- Methods to mitigate arc flash and shock risk
- Demonstrations of PPE and testing equipment
- Full utilization of the Hierarchy of Risk Controls
- Creation of SOPs and Operating Procedures that are understandable for workers
- Addressing human behavior and potential errors
- Methods to assess worker competency for knowledge and skills
- Creation of comprehensive switching procedures and safety permits
- LOTO – methods of verification
Our plan is to have each day of the workshop filled with small group work on real workplace scenarios and practical exercises that matter. Participants learn by doing. Like minded professionals collaborate and exchange ideas. At the end of the workshop, participants will take home solutions to the issues they arrived with and are able to enhance electrical safety performance at their facilities.
If This Safety Leaders Workshop interests you, please contact us and a workshop facilitator would be glad to call and discuss how we can support your workplace safety.
---
Peter Waugh
Instructor, Canada Training Group
