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ELECTRICAL SAFETY AUDITS

Petrotrack over the years has been undertaking Electrical Safety Audits. Electrical hazards are predominantly inherent in most industrial and domestic work places. These hazards pose great danger to both staff and equipment and have to be identified frequently so that they are reduced or eliminated altogether. A variety of possible solutions may be implemented to reduce or eliminate the risk of injury associated with electricity at the work place.

These solutions include use of insulation, guarding, grounding (earth application) electrical protective devices and safe work practices. A major source of electrical hazards is deterioration of electrical equipment and cabling in an installation. There is thus need to continuously audit an installation so that areas that need attention are identified and remedial measures taken. Petrotrack recently completed safety audits at Kenya Shells’ 95 retail sites. This resulted in production of bills of quantities for remediation works countrywide for the entire network..

Petrotrack to this end has severally offered Technical support to Bureau Veritas Kenya Ltd in installations the organization has to audit in order to meet its clients request. Among the installations done for them are Nestle Head office at Laiboni Centre, Nestle MD’s Residential building, The Metrological Department offices at Dagorreti Corner and SDV Transami. Other installations Petrotrack has audited include Haco Industries-Kasarani, Oilibya Depots- Nairobi and Eldoret, 87 Nos. Kenya Shell Petrol stations throughout Kenya, Shell Terminal in Mombasa, Gulf Energy depot in Nairobi,and 6 nos. Service stations for Oilibya.

What is Electrical safety audit?

Electrical safety audit is intended to confirm that the electrical structure of the plant or installation meets all requisite standards and that the structure is safe for people working there and in sound condition to guarantee uptime of .the entire plant. The standards to meet include BS 7671- 17^th Edition wiring regulations, IEC 60079-17 for electrical equipment in explosive areas, as well as relevant NFPA 70 E requirements for electrical safety in the work place. Therefore the auditor has to carry out detailed inspection of the electrical structure on both the wiring and the protection switchgear in place.

Wiring installation -Inspection and Testing –

These shall comprise undertaking the following

Inspection of entire wiring installation for integrity, safety and standard.
Carry out Electrical installation measurements on Earth resistance, Insulation resistance and earth loop impedance.
Checking of protection grading and general protection system in use.
Report on overall wiring and fittings.( including pictures of defective works)
Recommend remedial measures as applicable.

In order to undertake these scope, the Auditor shall initially spend time in studying the system in order to confirm that the “as built” drawings conform with existing installation. In the absence of “as built” drawings, the auditor has to prepare and produce the drawings.

Due to the nature of testing procedures for earth resistance and insulation resistance, the tests can only be undertaken when the system is shut down. The Audit will have to arrange this with the production management to obtain such a window.

Equipment and Tools used

The equipments to be used for the above scope are (see photos below)

Earth Resistance Tester
Insulation Resistance tester
Digital Camera.

Protection Switchgear and Controls –

These refers to testing and inspecting the electrical structure at normal plant operating condition to determine tear and wear as well as provide information for predictive maintenance. The switchgear refers to the Circuit breakers, Residual current devices, earth leakage circuit breakers, Isolators, disconnectors, surge diverters, earth systems, Bus-bars, Automatic Change over panels, Motor starters, controllers and power cables.

The scope includes:

Measuring feeder loads on cables to determine adequacy of the cables
Thermal Imaging of Bus bars, MCCBs and all other current carrying devices as may be determined by the Auditor on site.
Testing of circuit breakers, RCDs, and ELCB’s for trip time and tripping current

These inspections will be carried out when plant is in full operation and shall not interfere with supply at any time.

Equipment and Tools

The equipment to be used for the above scope are (see photos below)