are pivotal. Most people in the electrical world think of lock-out/tag-out, test
before touch, and applying safety grounds
in terms of employee safety. While these
are key safety aspects for placing equipment into an electrically-safe condition,
there are other safety items that need to
be addressed such as air quality, structural
issues, chemical spill exposure, etc. It is
the responsibility of each company to keep
their own people safe, and special personal
protective equipment may be required
including ANSI-approved rubber boots,
respirators, dust masks, portable gas monitors, and rubber gloves rated for the task to
be performed.
It is critical to develop a site safety plan.
Work with the plant safety personnel to
develop special safety procedures to deal
with the ever-changing site conditions.
Having a facility filled with mud, debris,
and unknown chemicals from other plants
upriver presents challenges. You will need
to develop special cleaning, air quality,
and lock-out/tag-out procedures. As situations change, revise the procedures and
communicate often to the employees.
Safety meetings should be held twice
a day, first thing in the morning and then
some time after lunch. Discuss known hazards as well as how to deal with these hazards. For example, temporary emergency
generators can create issues. Besides the
obvious electrical hazards (see below), the
generators need to be placed in well-ventilated areas, as carbon monoxide should
always be a concern and can be problematic. Gas monitors should be worn by at
least one person on every crew and on
each safety representative. If carbon monoxide levels are found above acceptable
limits, the area should be evacuated until
the issue is corrected and the area was
again safe for personnel to work in.
and burn can be drastically reduced. From
day one, develop written standards and
procedures for connection, communication, and energization that are to be strictly
followed.
Electrical one-lines and site maps
should be utilized and modified showing
all generators, and generator schedules
should be created to compile all temporary power information into one location.
Keep all of this information public and
up to date. When site conditions change,
the changes should be discussed with
all affected personnel. Similar activities
should take place with regards to lock-out/
tag-out procedures and the application of
temporary safety grounds.
Communication is always a top priority
throughout a disaster recovery project and
should be a topic of many safety meetings.
When people understand the whole picture and have enough information to make
informed decisions, they are much less
likely to be hurt. It should be noted that on
the Iowa flood recovery project we did not
have so much as a cut finger! This is due
in large part to safety communication and
project planning.
Post Event: Initial Damage
Assessment
The first order of business in any indus-
trial plant when assessing water damage
to electrical equipment is to gather all
pertinent drawings and documentation
available and perform a walk-through of
the entire electrical infrastructure. Often,
the drawings and documentation are not
available due to the physical destruction
and lack of access to electronic files, so a
walk-through must be performed and utili-
zation of the available knowledge of plant
personnel must be relied upon. Keep in
mind the initial assessment is preliminary
in nature and a total understanding of the
overall damage will not be gained until the
equipment is completely disassembled.
Temporary and Emergency
Power Generation
Another hazard created by generators
is accidental shock, electrocution, and
arc-flash burns. When a disaster of a large
magnitude occurs, typically among the
first things the facility will need is lighting, communication equipment, and pump
power. This will likely require temporary
generation, and if the temporary power
portion of the project is managed properly,
the risk of accidental shock, electrocution,
