ELECTRICAL SAFETY AUDIT

Why electrical safety audit is required? Increasing use of electrical energy in industries due to scale of economies, change in climatic conditions coupled with socio economic advancements, necessitate tougher rules and stricter enforcements. The electrical engineer is Plant/service sector is more pro occupied with the day to day running of the affairs rather than safety concerns. Shrinking manpower and the quality of technical manpower available are not helping either. Other constraints are Need of regular revision of standards Poor quality of products Quality & commitment level of outsourced maintenance In this scenario, electrical safety audit comes to the aid of the plant engineer not only in identifying the weak spots in his power distribution network and also helps in improving the reliability of the power distribution. Structure of a well-developed electrical safety audit A well-developed electrical safety audit comprises of A. Physical installation verification audit team visits all the key installations to identify potential hazards involving shock, arc blast and electrical fire and non-conformity of installation with local regulations B. Electrical safety measures installed verification of an effective Work permit system LOTO procedures employed Safety committee meetings Internal audit system Electrical fire emergency plans Change control procedures Safety policy Statutory audits compliance Calibrations of electrical meters Electrical protection systems maintenance like earth pits testing, relays coordination, interlocks testing An effective maintenance programme The effectiveness of the audit can be further enhanced by the use of instruments like

Thermography Earthing testers Multifunction meters Static charge meter Illumination level meter Earth meter

Format of an audit report Salient observations in a detailed observation & recommendation with standards reference as backup. Risk ranking of the findings Sample measurements Any technical information required as annexure