The purpose of this project is to determine whether we can or can not safely carry out live line work on 33kV overhead lines. If it is found that 33kV hot glove working can be carried out in a safe manner, we will then provide the justification required to the HSE to get dispensation to be able to perform this task and produce the relevant technical, safety and procedural documents associated.
There is a project plan in place to cover the following steps;
A business case has been created to determine the benefits associated with this and to prove that all funding through NIA is justified and will lead to a significant reduction in customer interruptions, customer minutes lost and also a reduction in customer costs.
The next step is to create a risk assessment tailored to the task and the issues associated. The risk assessment will be created using the information and reports provided by external consultants. ERA Technology will review the current risk assessment for 11kV hot glove working as a guide and use this to identify issues at 33kV. The next step will be to resolve the issues by discussion with operational and policy staff. Once these issues have been resolved a full risk assessment report will be produced.
The risk assessment will provide the basis of the safety case to be reviewed by the HSE. The safety case will also include electro magnetic frequency (EMF) surveys which we will use to show that the potential exposure to EMF in these circumstances will or will not cause any detrimental effect to the operatives.The safety case will be produced by our engineering policy department with the input of experienced operational staff.
Once the safety case for 33kV hot glove has been submitted after completion to the HSE they will review and we will engage with them as per their questions or issues. Further investigations or surveys may be required to ensure that all potential safety issues have been raised and resolved.
If there is an agreement with the HSE that it is possible to carry out 33kV hot glove working in a safe manner we will then undertake the exercise of defining all training required for SSEPD staff. This will require an external training source to provide the required training to our current operational training staff.Part of the training process will also require SSEPD to purchase the required equipment rated for safe work at 33kV.
Work instructions, procedures and policy documents will be drafted and approved by the engineering policy team within SSEPD as required.
The business case will be continually examined to prove that the justification is still valid.
Benefits
The success of this project will be defined by being able to demonstrate that 33kV hot glove work can be completed safely and with appropriate justification.
