Measuring performance ofimplemented protective andpreventative control meas-ures is an important aspect of electri-cal safety. Possibly not well under-stood by the electrical community thatmust implement the Electrical SafetyProgram, or a neglected process in theElectrical Safety Program, internal andexternal audits are a recognized tool in

Occupational Health & Safety man-agement systems in demonstrating duediligence to OH&S Regulations. It isimperative that you are able to meas-ure the performance of your imple-mented control measures to electricalhazards management to ensure theyare performing as intended and thatyou can demonstrate due diligencewith written documentation.

If you have not implemented a for-mal Electrical Safety Program, anelectrical safety audit is an effectivetool to establish what your status quo,baseline electrical safety policies andpractices are and identify where gapsmay exist to industry accepted Stan-dards, such as CSA Z462 WorkplaceElectrical Safety.

An electrical safety audit can consist

By Terry Becker, P.Eng.

An Electrical Safety AuditThe Key To Electrical Safety Program Performance

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Electrical Safety Measures - Summer 2009 15

of a simple documentation audit, or amore detailed electrical safety auditwhere you utilize several different meth-ods to ensure that your preventative andprotective control measures are workingeffectively and as intended. The threemethods used to validate are: Observa-tion/Inspection (observation of yourworkers, and inspection of your electri-cal distribution systems); Interview(with management, supervisors, electri-cal workers and non-electrical workers);and Documentation Review (hazardtask analysis process, lockout procedure,electrical safe work procedures, incidentinvestigation, emergency response, etc.).

Effective due diligence againstOccupational Health & Safety Codes,Acts and Regulations in Canada is thedevelopment and implementation of amanagement system that allows foridentification, quantification of hazardrisk and implementation of appropriatepreventive and protective controlmeasures to mitigate or reduce risk toworkers. For electrical hazards, the ArcFlash Triangle graphic illustrates keyvariables in an arc flash and shockfrom the electrical energy source toground (see Figure 1). This manage-ment system is called an ElectricalSafety Program. The Electrical SafetyProgram should outline what preven-tive and protective control measuresare implemented and they should beprioritized in the following order asoutlined in CSA Z1000 Occupationalhealth and safety management:

1. Eliminate the hazard, de-energize isthe first choice;

2. Substitute with other materials,processes or equipment;

3. Reduce the risk by design (e.g.engineering solutions, equipmentsolutions, “Safety by Design”);

4. Use safer work systems thatincrease awareness of potential haz-ards e.g. apply safeguards like sig-nage, barriers, etc..;

5. Implement administrative controls(e.g. training and procedures); and

6. Use Electrical Specific PersonalProtective Equipment (PPE), as alast line of defense, and ensure it isappropriately used and maintained.

One element of an Electrical SafetyProgram is the need for internal and

external auditing to validate andmeasure performance of the imple-mentation of the Electrical Safety Pro-gram, identify gaps, make recommen-dations on how to improve the Electri-cal Safety Program’s performance andprioritize actions to implement therequired changes identified in theaudit. An example framework of atypical Electrical Safety Program islisted below where the category ofaudit is identified:

Example Electrical Safety ProgramFramework Categories:a. Company Safety Policyb. Management Leadership & Com-

mitmentc. Electrical Safety Program Adminis-

trationd. Regulatory Requirements & Stan-

dardse. Electrical Hazard Identification,

Assessment & Risk Controlf. Safe Installationsg. Electrical Safety PPE Programh. Electrical Safety Training & Com-

petencei. Electrical Safe Work Practicesj. Electrical Engineering “Safety by

Design”k. Electrical Equipment “Safety by

Design”l. Electrical Equipment Maintenancem. Electrical Incident Investigation &

Managementn. Emergency Responseo. Audit & Corrective Action Plansp. Contractor Managementq. Management of Changer. Management of Documentations. Appendix

In implementing an Electrical SafetyProgram the electrical hazards of shockand arc flash must be identified and

Figure 1. Arc Flash Triangle

Circle 75 on Reader Service Card

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prioritized processes and systems asidentified above put into place to miti-gate or reduce the risk level of electri-cal hazards for workers. Understandingif the processes and systems deployedare working properly and effectivelyand ensuring workers have compe-tency in them are critical to the successof the Electrical Safety Program andexhibiting appropriate due diligence.

The audit component of the Electri-cal Safety Program is identifieduniquely in the CSA Z1000 Occupa-tional health and safety managementStandard, Plan, Do, Check, Act man-agement system approach, asdepicted in the graphic below in thecontext of the available six preventiveand protective control measures forelectrical hazards.

By completing an electrical safetyaudit before you develop an ElectricalSafety Program you will establish abaseline of your existing policies andpractices, and you will ensure that youprioritize appropriately where youreffort should be concentrated to demon-strate due diligence.

Example: Case StudyIn the case of a large oil and gas com-

pany an Electrical Safety Standard wascreated and deployed in 2000, but hadnot been internally or externally auditeduntil 2007 when a formal external elec-trical safety audit project was initiated.The company realized that the lack ofauditing was a gap in the implementa-tion of their Electrical Safety Standard,and hired an external Electrical SafetyServices consultant to assist them incompleting this task for all eight of theirmajor oil and gas complexes.

A plan and schedule was put intoplace to complete the detailed Electri-cal Safety Audits throughout the calen-dar year 2008. The consultant had anestablished electrical safety auditprocess that was structured and uti-lized the validation tools of Observa-tion/Inspection, Interviews and Docu-mentation review consistent withOccupational Health & Safety man-agement system auditing processes.An Electrical Safety Audit software

tool was used to compile the validationdata collected, and score the results ofthe audit by management system(Electrical Safety Program) frame-work category. The resulting auditreport provided a % score by manage-ment system framework category, andconsistent application of the auditprocess across all eight complexeswould provide the ability to bench-mark performance of the ElectricalSafety Standard across all eight of thecomplexes.

For each complex a pre-onsite auditdocumentation review was completedof overall Occupational Health &Safety management system documen-tation for electrical hazard specificcontent, including any site specificElectrical Safe Work Procedures orPractices.

The complexes were scheduled forthe onsite portion of the audit, andwhile onsite interview sheets were usedto validate understanding of the Electri-cal Safety Standard by worker role:Manager/Supervisor, Electrical Work-ers, Operator, and General (Instrumen-tation Technician, Health, Safety &Environmental Coordinator, Planners,and Schedulers). Table 1 identifies whatfacilities were inspected for each Com-plex and Table 2 highlights the totalnumber of interviews completed byrole across all eight complexes.

Additional validation of perform-ance was completed utilizing an Elec-trical Safety Checklist, reviewing andretrieving any onsite documentation,and completing electrical distribution

16 Electrical Safety Measures - Summer 2009

Figure 2. Plan, Do, Check, Act

Complex Total Facilities Inspected

1 Main Plant, Compressor Station, Wellsite

2 Main Plant, Compressor Station, Wellsite

3 Main Plant, Compressor Station, 2 Wellsites

4 Main Plant, 2 Compressor Stations

5 Main Plant, Special Processing Facility, 2 Compressor Stations, 2 Wellsites

6 3 Main Plants, Pilot Facility, 3 Well Pads, Transfer Station

7 Main Plant, Pilot Plant, 2 Well Pads

8 Large Compressor Station

Role Description Interviewed Cumulative # Of Interviews

Supervisor 18

Electrical Worker 29

Operator 9

General (Instrumentation Technician, HSE Coordinator, Planner, Scheduler...) 24

Total Interviews Completed 80

Table 2. Total number of interviews by role description.

Table 1. Total number of facilities inspected by complex.

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system inspections with digital photo-graphs taken for evidence of a good orbad practice. All Electrical SpecificPPE, Tools and Equipment were alsoinspected at each complex for valida-tion of inventory management, properstorage, check in and check out system,performance management, condition,care, maintenance, and use practices aswell as valid testing (hot sticks, tempo-rary protective grounds, and rubberinsulating gloves).

After completion of the onsite por-tion of each audit all data was reviewedto validate performance using questionsets by management system categoryin a customized electrical safety audittool software application. A % scorewas awarded to each question in each

category and resulted in a % score foreach management system category.Table 3 illustrates the overall resultsfor each complex and using the colorcoding of red (0-50% score), yellow(51-80% score) and green (81-100%score) clearly depicts the overall per-formance by each complex of the Elec-trical Safety Standard.

Using the electrical safety audit toolsoftware a Field Level Audit Reportwas generated automatically by com-plex and a separate Executive LevelElectrical Safety Audit report createdbased on this, and issued for each indi-vidual complex. Photograph files werealso created and issued as evidence offindings for each report.

The Executive Level Electrical

Safety Audit reports that were issuedfor each complex identified the auditprocess used, reported findings and adetailed list of recommendations ofcorrective actions. Using an externalElectrical Safety Audit process, thelarge oil and gas company clearly iden-tified significant gaps existing in theirimplementation of their ElectricalSafety Standard, allowing them toeffectively prioritize financial andhuman resources to ensure that electri-cal hazards are managed effectively intheir organization.

Terry Becker is CEO of ESPS ElectricalSafety Program Solutions INC.

Circle 77 on Reader Service Card

18 Electrical Safety Measures - Summer 2009

Total

IElectrical Safety General and

65 56 60 49 55 62 59

1)

2) Color codiing of boxes is based on the following percentage scores, 0 50%, red, 51 80%, yellow, and 81 100% green.

Major Upstream Oil & Gas Company

Electrical Safety Operations and Maintenance Standard and Rev ARegulatory Management Plan Policy Implementation Procedure April 25, 2009Overall Audit Scoring Summary by Complex

Management System CategoryAudit Location

Complex 1 Complex 2 Complex 3 Complex 4 Complex 5 Complex 6 Complex 7 Complex 8 Element

A Management Leadership 94 79 90 88 66 75 92 95 84.9

B Hazard and Risk Assessment 65 50 61 62 59 64 56 55 59.0

CStandards, Procedures and Work

Instructions75 63 69 64 72 67 71 65 68.3

D Training, Education and Certification 82 75 78 71 56 67 62 53 68.0

EHealth and Safety Communications

Systems77 84 77 77 56 77 72 87 75.9

FIncident Reporting and Investigations

Systems83 79 83 84 67 69 69 69 75.4

G Contractor Management

These catagories are not considered applicable to this audit and therefore are not scored.

0.0

HPrime Contractor Selection and

0.0

I

Management

Electrical Safety General and65 56 6565 60 49 55 62 59 58 958.9

J

Administration

Electrical Safety Acts, Regulations and 89 76 90 78 75 72 85 85 81.3

K

Standards Compliance

Electrical Safe Installations 85 76 86 75 79 75 82 84 80.3

L Electrical Engineering Safety By Design 81 75 77 71 72 68 66 75 73.1

M Electrical Equipment Safety By Design 93 83 80 73 66 74 64 79 76.5

N Electrical Equipment Maintenance 92 73 88 86 72 66 66 77 77.5

O Electrical Specific PPE 74 63 59 60 72 65 80 60 66.6

P Electrical Safety and Technical Training 52 80 52 53 67 54 53 45 57.0

Q Electrical Safe Work Procedures 56 50 57 56 50 56 55 49 53.6

Total Location Scores (%) 76 67 72 68 67 66 69 67

OVERALL SCORE (%) 69.0

Notes

All individual catagory/location scores have been rounded up or down to the closest whole number; therefore the total scores may not exactly equate to the average of allindividual element or location scores. The overall score is based on the average of all indicated location scores.

Table 3. Electrical Safety Audit Performance Results by Complex

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