1. INTRODUCTION
Electrical safety audit is an activity to examine the Electrical installation suitability for continued use. As per National Crime Records Bureau more than a dozen of deaths are recorded per day due to Electrical related fire accidents. Today we cannot think of our life without Electricity usage, at the same time we cannot ignore the dangers involved in it because, Electricity cannot be smelt, heard or seen.
Electrical Safety Audit brings out the non compliances of an Electrical installation to the management, detects the incipient faults in the system, so that corrective actions can be initiated to avoid a major mishap.
2. CODES AND STANDARDS
The Electrical safety audit is based on all or any of the following as per client specific requirements.
- 1956 IE Rules / Electricity Act – 2003 / National Electricity Code – 2011.
- National Building Code – 2005(Indian).
- Bureau of Indian Standards.
- National Electricity Code - 2011 / NFPA - 70(American).
- BS 7671 : 2008 (2011) – IEE Wiring Regulations.
- Clients Requirement.
NOTE : ALL THE ABOVE STANDARDS / CODES HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANCE OF ELECTRICAL SAFETY AUDIT (PERIODIC INSPECTION AND TESTING) FOR SAFE ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS.
3. DANGERS OF ELECTRICITY
There are mainly 4 types (2 direct and 2 indirect) of Electrical injuries:
- Electrocution or death due to direct Electric shock.
- Burns due to direct arc flashover and sparks.
- Falls and jerks(indirect).
- Sudden unbalanced reactions due to the feel of mild / significant Electric shocks (cuts and bruise, leg/hand bone fracture, head injury mainly due to falls from ladder or from heights) - indirect injury due to Electric shock.
ELECTRIC SHOCK
- Electrical shock is received when current passes through the body.
- Person gets an Electric shock if part of the body completes the Electric circuit by :
- touching a live wire and an electrical ground
- touching a live wire and another wire at different voltage
EFFECTS OF ELECTRIC SHOCK
- 0.5mA – 6mA tingling sensation ‘Threshold of perception’.
- Currents above 10mA can paralyze or “freeze” muscles.
- 10mA – 16mA muscular contraction can happen, this is ‘Threshold of danger’.
- 30mA – 60mA and above prolonged exposure can be FATAL , Death can occur in a fraction of a second.
- Currents more than 75mA can cause a rapid, ineffective heartbeat -- death will occur in a few minutes unless a defibrillator is used.
4. SCOPE OF ELECTRICAL SAFETY AUDIT
Electrical Safety Audit is broadly divided into 5 major parts namely:
- Pre-Audit.
- Circuit identification and labelling (Single line diagram).
- Visual Inspection.
- Testing.
- Management Briefing.
a) Pre-Audit
The scope of Electrical Safety Audit is to be well defined, so that the objectives are well achieved. Highlighting the scope of work is the first step in audit. This part of work mainly consists of visual inspection and review of electrical safety systems and verification of documents related to electrical safety. Typical scope of work could include:
- Physical visual inspection of the plant with reference to the applicable Indian standards, Indian Electricity rules and other international codes of practice.
- Reviewing the role of electrical safety in the entire system.
- Reviewing the protection devices of the electrical installation.
- Examination of the adequacy of building lightning protection system.
- Review of hazardous area classification.
- Review of Electrical preventive maintenance programme and to examine the documentation, check lists, work permit, energy consumption recordings etc.
- To identify training needs for the maintenance personnel.
- To evaluate the earthing system.
- To review the test results of Transformer oil, Insulation resistance and Earth resistance tests.
The details that would help the audit team in inspection and certification to be acquired during this stage from the client could be the following:
- Process details.
- Electrical single line diagram (as built).
- Name plate details of major electrical equipment.
- Details of classified zones.
- Details of flammable chemicals handled.
- Details of addition / expansion in the premises including electrical installation.
- Overview of electrical maintenance system.
b) Visual Inspection
During this phase, Inspector does thorough visual inspection (based on the Annexure) at the client premises. Visual Inspection check list is made with reference to statutory regulations, international standards and the best engineering practices. The factors listed below are considered while suggesting a recommendation.
- Compliance to statutory requirement.
- Safety of the people and the plant.
The Visual Inspection contains following sections :
- Distributor’s / suppliers intake equipment.
- Earthing / Bonding arrangements.
- Consumer unit(s) / Distribution board(s).
- Final circuits.
- Locations containing bath or shower.
- 11 KV / 433 V sub station.
- Electrical room.
- Backup Generator (Diesel Generator – DGset).
- Uninterrupted power supply unit (UPS).
- Emergency Lighting.
- Power supplies to Fire alarm systems and Public address systems.
- Passive fire protection.
- Lightening protection.
During this stage, the main electrical room housing PCCs or MCCs and the cable shaft is inspected. UPS rooms and other electrical equipments are inspected. The aspects such as MCB DBs, circuitry, earthing and lightening protection, maintenance condition, loose cabling if any,
temporary wiring, electrical fire hazards, shock potential etc, are critically looked into. The check list provided here is rather a comprehensive attempt, covering almost all electrical safety aspects. The verification of the actual installation against available drawing (such as electrical single line diagram, earthing layout, etc.) is also carried out during the field visit
c) Testing
Testing is carried out using various instruments to determine insulation resistance for power circuits, polarity, phase sequence, earth resistance and residual current etc, as required to assess the condition of the installation. Parts of Testing are given below :
- Continuity test.
- Voltage test.
- Polarity test.
- ELCB test.
- Load unbalancing test.
- Earth fault loop impedance test.
- Earth electrode resistance test.
- Insulation resistance test.
- Illumination Test.
- N-E voltage test.
Test results are tabulated in Annexures (like Annexure-1 : Schedule of Inspection Result for Distribution Board / Panels, Annexture-2 : Schedule of ELCB/ELR Test Results and others) Insulation resistance will be checked as per site conditions and Power Isolation timings for Panel/DBs.
d) Post Inspection and Testing
Post field study, Inspection and Testing results are compiled, either during testing and inspection period itself or within the agreed period of time. These schedule of reports provide information about the values of specific electrical parameters which helps in expressing the healthiness of the installation. This also lists out the immediate actions to be taken for certain improper or non standard electrical installations as well as for the dangerous value of electrical parameters such as fault current, low insulation resistance etc. In addition to the Schedule of Inspection and Test results (Annexure) the detailed ‘ELECTRICAL SAFETY AUDIT REPORT’ is also submitted to the client within the agreed time scale. This report is done after detailed analysis (based on the visual inspection and test reports) and provides detailed report of the electrical installation comprising photographic illustrations of the actual conditions of the installations. Crisp details about the Electrical parameters of the installation, issues requiring immediate attention and recommendations to overcome defects and to improve the level of safety in electrical installations for safe continued use of the premises Electrical Installation report contains the following :
- Abstract.
- Overview.
- Objectives.
- Scope and Limitations.
- Major details of Electrical installation.
- Specific Observations and Recommendations.
- Review of Electrical documents, drawings and records/registers.
- Annexure (Schedule of Inspection and Test results).
e) Management Briefing
Testing is carried out using various instruments to determine insulation resistance for power circuits, polarity, phase sequence, earth resistance and residual current etc, as required to assess the condition of the installation. Parts of Testing are given below :
5. AUDIT OUTCOME
Electrical Safety Audit provides the information about the following :
- Bypassing of fuses/ELCBs.
- Storage of combustible materials near the Electrical panels/UPS/Battery if any.
- Damages in the cables/wires.
- Non compliance to codes/standards.
- Earthing defects.
- Sealing of ducts/voids to prevent fire propagation.
- Damaged switch socket outlets.
- Satisfactory presence of MCBs/MCCBs.
- Relay settings.
- Electrical Panel installations / locations / clearances.
- Mismatch in the As built drawings and actual installations.
- Photos of the defective installations.