NETA World Journal | Winter 2011

The DELTA4000 12-kV Insulation Diagnostic System

Megger, the first to bring you Dc insulation testing in 1890 now brings you the latest in Ac insulation with the DeLTA4000 Series, a fully automatic 12-kV insulation power/ dissipation factor test set.

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Cover Story

20 PPE R E qui RE m E nts fo R i nstallation of tE m P o R a Ry P Rot E ctiv E G Rounds

By Scott Blizard and Paul Chamberlain – American

Electrical Testing Co., Inc.

SAFETY ISSUES WHEN PLACING EQUIPMENT IN AN ELECTRICALLY SAFE CONDITION

The goal is to work safely, and the best way to do that is to have the equipment deenergized. However, checking to see that the equipment is, in fact, deenergized requires PPE and special test equipment designed to mitigate the hazards that exist when the equipment is energized and determine that the hazards no longer exist.

Feature S

7 PRE sid E nt ’s d E s K

Mose Ramieh, Power & Generation Testing, Inc. NETA President

10 n E ta tu R ns 40!

31 si G nificant c H an GE s to 2012 nf Pa 70E

Ron Widup and Jim White, Shermco Industries

57 WHE n is an E n ERG i ZE d E l E ct R ical Wo RK PER mit RE qui RE d

Lynn Hamrick, Shermco Industries

Placing

3050 Old Centre Avenue, Suite 102

Portage, MI 49024

Toll free: 888.300.NETA (6382)

Phone: 269.488.NETA (6382)

Fax : 269.488.6383

neta@netaworld.org

www.netaworld.org

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Jayne Tanz, CMP

NETA Officers

PRESIDENT: Mose Ramieh, Power & Generation Testing, Inc.

FIRST VICE PRESIDENT: David Huffman, Power Systems Testing Co.

SECOND VICE PRESIDENT: Ron Widup, Shermco Industries

SECRETARY: Walt Cleary, Burlington Electrical Testing Co., Inc.

TREASURER: John White, Sigma Six Solutions

NETA Board of Directors

Ken Bassett (Potomac Testing, Inc.)

Scott Blizard (American Electrical Testing Co., Inc.)

Jim Cialdea (Three-C Electrical Co., Inc.)

Walt Cleary (Burlington Electrical Testing Co., Inc.)

Roderic Hageman (PRIT Service, Inc.)

Kerry Heid (Magna Electric Corporation)

David Huffman (Power Systems Testing)

Alan Peterson (Utility Service Corporation)

Mose Ramieh (Power & Generation Testing, Inc.)

John White (Sigma Six Solutions)

Ron Widup (Shermco Industries)

NETA World Staff

TECHNICAL EDITOR: Roderic L. Hageman

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Diane W. Hageman

MANAGING EDITOR: Jayne Tanz, CMP

ADVERTISING MANAGER: Jill Howell

DESIGN AND PRODUCTION: Newhall Klein, Inc.

NETA Committee Chairs

CONFERENCE: Ron Widup; MEMBERSHIP: Ken Bassett; PROMOTIONS/MARKETING: Kerry Heid; SAFETY: Lynn Hamrick; TECHNICAL: Alan Peterson; TECHNICAL EXAM: Ron Widup; WORLD ADVISORY: Diane Hageman;

CONTINUING TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT: David Huffman; TRAINING: Kerry Heid; FINANCE: John White;

NOMINATIONS: Alan Peterson; STRATEGY: Mose Ramieh; AFFILIATE PROGRAM: Jim Cialdea

© Copyright 2011, NETA

NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER

NETA World is published quarterly by the InterNational Electrical Testing Association. Opinions, views and conclusions expressed in articles herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of NETA. Publication herein does not constitute or imply endorsement of any opinion, product, or service by NETA, its directors, officers, members, employees or agents (herein “NETA”).

All technical data in this publication reflects the experience of individuals using specific tools, products, equipment and components under specific conditions and circumstances which may or may not be fully reported and over which NETA has neither exercised nor reserved control. Such data has not been independently tested or otherwise verified by NETA.

NETA MAKES NO ENDORSEMENT, REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY AS TO ANY OPINION, PRODUCT OR SERVICE REFERENCED OR ADVERTISED IN THIS PUBLICATION. NETA EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY TO ANY CONSUMER, PURCHASER OR ANY OTHER PERSON USING ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE REFERENCED OR ADVERTISED HEREIN FOR ANY INJURIES OR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, DIRECT OR INDIRECT DAMAGES. NETA FURTHER DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OF IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

ELECTRICAL TESTING SHALL BE PERFORMED ONLY BY TRAINED ELECTRICAL PERSONNEL AND SHALL BE SUPERVISED BY NETA CERTIFIED TECHNICIANS/ LEVEL III OR IV OR BY NICET CERTIFIED TECHNICIANS IN ELECTRICAL TESTING TECHNOLOGY/LEVEL III OR IV. FAILURE TO ADHERE TO ADEQUATE TRAINING, SAFETY REQUIREMENTS, AND APPLICABLE PROCEDURES MAY RESULT IN LOSS OF PRODUCTION, CATASTROPHIC EQUIPMENT FAILURE, SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH.

As you read this the sound of jingle bells is in the air and the holiday spirit has started to distract us from the task at hand, WORKING SAFELY. This issue focuses on the goal of safety.

Safety allows us to get home and enjoy our families and friends during the holidays. The wearing of PPE, thinking through the work plan, and executing the plan as written requires focus and discipline. During this time of year that can be a difficult but necessary task. Please read this issue cover to cover and put what you read into every day practice. If you see an area that has been missed or not covered in as much depth as you would like, contact the NETA office and volunteer to help out.

It is hard to believe that PowerTest 2012 is just two months away! Are you planning to attend? The Ft. Worth venue is a great one for our conference. Here is your opportunity to see what is left of the Wild West and at the same time learn a few things, or at least sharpen your skills in testing and diagnostics. I encourage all of the NAC’s to send as many technicians as possible to this once a year event.

The last Member Meeting of the year was held in Boston in September. We had a good turnout, but we would like to see more participation and input from the membership. These meetings allow the membership to provide input and direction for the association. The association needs to hear from you so that it can create a strategic plan that will guide the association in the coming years.

Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year to all!

Mose Ramieh NETA President

/ Continuity

Electrical Insulation Safety

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Single and Three Phase Power Quality Analysis

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FEATURE OVER THE HUMP but NOT OVER THE HILL!

NETA wasn’t always so well-known. Originally, NETA was founded as the National Electrical Testing Association in 1972 on April 14 at the first recorded meeting, with the first association logo developed by the nine charter members. Wasting no time at getting down to business, NETA published its first Acceptance Testing Specifications document in 1973, followed by the first Maintenance Testing Specifications in 1975. NETA’s founding fathers worked hard at forging a path on which today’s members continue to travel. They recognized that being small in numbers meant that they would have to work even harder to get the word out about the importance of electrical testing. While holding an original copy of the Acceptance Testing Specifications, it is hard not to feel pride and more than a little awe that this modest collection of typed pages is now an American National Standard referenced around the globe. NETA became international in scope in 1983 and is proud to have representatives based in the United States and Canada, who travel worldwide as duty calls.

TURNS

NETA World, this beautiful, four-color technical journal that now spans over 124 pages once was a humble newsletter, affectionately titled NETA News. It was fostered over the years by ambitious technical editors, Rod and Diane Hageman, and championed by Executive Director, Mary Jordan, whose torch is carried today by Jayne Tanz, soon to be celebrating twenty years with NETA. NETA’s first, four-page, newspaperstyle publication came out in 1979, the same year as the first technical conference. Some of these excellent articles will be published again over the year to come, hearkening back to years past. The meat of this publication would not exist without the tireless efforts of the many authors that have put pen to paper and fingers to keys over the past forty years. These individuals have provided readers with over 1,200 technically-relevant, educational articles in the course of four decades. Quite an accomplishment.

While the hot-button issues of the day have changed over the years, one thing is constant. NETA’s desire to be positioned on the leading edge of the latest in technology has always placed the association at the forefront of the industry. One way that the association kept up with technology was to begin offering electrical testing and maintenance schools. These programs, started in 1983, have evolved into what is now known as PowerTest, a NETA hosted event. In the 1980’s, PCB was a focal point, and as years have passed everything from cables to relays to the new buzz of smart grids have been covered by the talented individuals who volunteer their time and expertise at PowerTest. PowerTest has always served to unite individuals seeking to expand their knowledge of that for which they are passionate. NETA has always provided an environment that encourages reaching out to bring in those that have a desire to learn and grow, while those more experienced and seasoned veterans are able to benefit from an infusion of new ideas and youthful enthusiasm to get the job done. At one time, the conference was limited to members only, but over the years this week of learning and networking has grown to encompass anyone and everyone involved with electrical testing. NETA Accredited Companies always make a good showing, but the attendees now include architects, engineers, manufacturers, and field technicians not necessarily associated with a NETA Accredited Company.

NETA certification and accreditation are two things that really set this organization apart from many other professional associations in existence today. An emphasis on quality, whether that be the quality of a testing technician, the quality of the company backing that individual, or the quality of the test results and services provided, is a philosophy shared across generations and geography alike. These items, coupled with safety and breadth of service, are what have made the services of NETA Accredited Companies and NETA Certified Technicians highly sought after. In the early days of NETA, the charter members saw a void that needed filling. Early pioneers in electrical testing performed invaluable services. Before NETA, there simply was nowhere else to obtain a consensus

After NETA was recognized as an American National Standards Developer (ANSI SDO) in 1996, NETA worked to get its first ANSI standard published. The long-standing NETA certification program that had taken shape over the years was embodied fully in the ANSI/NETA Standard for Certification of Electrical Testing Technicians, the first edition of which was published in 2000, followed by the current 2010 revision. NETA then worked within the parameters of the ANSI process to successfully publish two additional ANSI standards. NETA’s firm foundation in technical knowledge has lent itself to the development of other NETA publications and training materials. The NETA Handbooks and Self-Paced Technical Seminars are products that reflect the materials

standard for comprehensive testing and maintenance services. Coming together for a common cause and establishing consensus standards was something in which many of NETA’s members were well versed. Participation on committees of other industry codes and standards such as NFPA and IEEE committees helped NETA gain a voice at the table where it counts and paved the way for NETA to develop its own set of standards that address electrical testing requirements specific to field installations. This was a goal early on, and one that came to fruition in the 1990’s and 2000’s.

produced in NETA World and at PowerTest. NETA’s On-Line Training Courses, now available to the general public, as well as NETA Affiliates and NETA Accredited Companies, are based on the ANSI/NETA standards and are geared toward testing technicians.

At this time of reflection on the past and looking to the future, it is interesting to read sentiments of a past NETA President, John Moore, from the early days of the organization. From NETA News, Spring 1983, his Letter From the President reads, “NETA has grown… primarily through the unselfish volunteer efforts of several fine testing companies. NETA’s presence has clearly been felt by our industry through our testing specifications, technical certification programs, and annual conferences. There is a strong continuing need for NETA’s support of our industry in the areas of technical development, safety, governmental support, codes and standards, and market development. These activities can only be accomplished effectively through dedicated committee action…. As our membership grows, we will be able to afford more outside services; however, like the IEEE, NFPA, and other industry associations, the backbone of our organization will remain your voluntary committee support.” Words that got to the core of it nearly thirty years ago still ring true today. NETA, safety, standards, quality of life--all of these threads woven together create and support the infrastructure that supports our global community. These threads are not things, but people – people who have devoted themselves to a life of high achievement through serving others. NETA’s birthday belongs to them and to those who follow in their footsteps today. Come help us celebrate these outstanding individuals and count yourself among those helping to make the vision that is NETA possible.

If you have ever been to a NETA event, you know that the old adage “work hard, play hard” is this group’s unofficial motto. Burning the candle at both ends remains a tradition today, with members of the NETA family traveling to help each other on the job site when occasion calls for it, jumping from field work to code panel meetings, and from time to time, celebrating another NETA member’s life milestone with those who have become family over the years. There could not be a group of individuals that better embodies growing older with grace, celebrating wisdom and life experience with a healthy dose of laughter. The best part is that there is always room for everyone, and everyone is always welcome.

NETA’s Birthday Celebration will officially take place at PowerTest 2012 at the Dallas Cowboy’s Stadium on Monday, February 27, 2012. The towering glass and steel stadium will host the party of the year (and the conference will be pretty great as well)! Live music, great food, and lots of fun birthday traditions will ring in the next decade for NETA, and it wouldn’t be the same without you being there.

PPE REQUIREMENTS FOR INSTALLATION OF TEMPORARY PROTECTIVE GROUNDS

BY SCOTT BLIZARD AND PAUL CHAMBERLAIN, American Electrical Testing Co., Inc.

e purpose of temporary protective grounds is to protect the personnel servicing the equipment and to create a safe work environment.

The purpose of temporary protective grounds is to protect the personnel servicing the equipment and to create a safe work environment. Prior to servicing a piece of electrical equipment, it is important to ensure that it is in a safe state and to verify zero voltage before applying temporary protective grounds. In many situations, more than one set of grounds or grounding apparatus must be applied. When identifying the placement of temporary protective grounds, ensure all work will be performed within the zone of protection. For correct placement and sizing of temporary protective grounds and grounding apparatus, refer to OSHA 29 CFR 1910.269 Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Standard. It states under paragraph (n) Grounding for the protection of employees that grounding must be utilized as a means of protecting employees on de-energized lines, and that “For the employee to work lines or equipment as de-energized, the lines or equipment shall be de-energized under the provisions of paragraph (m) of this section and shall be grounded as specified in paragraphs (n)(3) through (n)(9) of this section. However, if the employer can demonstrate that installation of a ground is impracticable or that the conditions resulting from the installation of a ground would present greater hazards than working without grounds, the lines and equipment may be treated as de-energized provided all of the following conditions are met:”

1. The lines and equipment have been deenergized.

2. There is no possibility of contact with another energized source.

3. The hazard of induced voltage is not present.

1910.269 then states under (n)(4) that “Protective grounding equipment shall be capable of conducting the maximum fault current that could flow at the point of grounding for the time necessary to clear the fault. This equipment shall have an ampacity greater than or equal to that of No. 2 AWG copper.”

WHAT LEVEL OF PPE IS REQUIRED WHEN INSTALLING TEMPORARY PROTECTIVE GROUNDS?

Any work on or near exposed energized equipment that encroaches within the Restricted Approach Boundary or the Arc-Flash Protection Boundary requires some form of additional personal protection. The level of protection required depends on the incident energy level and proximity to the circuit. A copy of the 2012 NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace© should be referenced prior to beginning the grounding operation. A lot of the tasks can be found within Table 130.7(C) (15)(a), formerly known as Table 130.7(C)(9) in the 2009 version. When using the table, take notice of the notes at the end of the table because they may change the requirements of PPE required to perform the task.

Applying protective grounds to a circuit comprised of the same equipment, within the same voltage range, reference Table 130.7(C)(15)(a) and back to (C)(16) to determine what is needed for personal protective equipment when applying the grounds.

Tasks Performed on Energized Equipment

Metal Clad Switchgear, 1 kV Through 38 kV

Parameters:

Maximum of 35 kA short-circuit current available; maximum of up to 0.2 second (12 cycle) fault clearing time; minimum 36 inches working distance

Potential arc-flash boundary with exposed energized conductors or circuit parts using above parameters: 422 inches

Application of temporary protective grounding equipment, after voltage test 4 Y N

TABLE 1

The table terminology now coincides with OSHA. It states that they are temporary protective grounds, and that it is being done after voltage test. This means that even with the presence of zero voltage, the application of grounds must be done when wearing personal protective equipment at a Hazard / Risk Category Level 4, with rubber insulating gloves as a means of protecting the personnel. The following table shows the PPE required for Hazard Risk Category Level 4.

HAZARD / RISK CATEGORY 4

FR Clothing - Minimum Arc Rating of 40 (Note 1)

FR Protective Equipment

TABLE 2

 Arc Rated Long Sleeve Shirt (Note 9)

 Arc Rated Pants (Note 9)

 Arc Rated Coveralls (Note 9)

 Arc Rated Arc Flash Suit Jacket (AR (Note 9)

 Arc Rated Arc Flash Suit Pants (AR) (Note 9)

 Arc Rated Arc Flash Suit hood (Note 9)

 Arc rated Jacket, Parka, or Rainwear (AN)

 Hard Hat

 FR Hard Hat Liner (AR)

 Safety Glasses or Safety Goggles (SR)

 Hearing Protection (Ear Canal Inserts)

 Arc Rated Gloves (Note 2)

 Leather Work Shoes (AN)

Application of the clamp to the grounded side can be achieved without the use of the full level of PPE unless encroaching within the approach distance of some piece of equipment. Clamping the ground to equipment that has been removed from service and de-energized should be accomplished using a shotgun stick while wearing full gear. Table 130.7(C)(15)(a) requires gloves to perform the task and the notes state that they need to be rated for the “maximum line-to-line voltage upon which work will be done.”

RECOMMENDED PRACTICES

Here are some valuable steps that should be taken prior to commencing work:

1. Be familiar with the equipment being serviced.

2. Check drawings and one-lines.

3. Walk the site to identify any physical hazards.

4. Check the equipment for a recent Arc Flash Hazard Analysis

5. Write a switching and tagging order, or utilize the lockout/tagout procedure specific to the equipment.

6. Write a Job Hazard Analysis, and / or the prejob briefing, identifying all site and task specific hazards.

7. Discuss the prejob briefing with coworkers, and see if they have any insight into past successes or failures in dealing with similar tasks.

8. Put on the required level of PPE after verifying that the task has a known or calculated Hazard / Risk Category. Ensure that no additional PPE will be necessary when applying protective grounds.

9. De-energize equipment.

10. Verify that the voltage testing device is functional against a known source.

11. Verify zero voltage, and have someone double check it.

12. Reverify that the test device is functional against a known source.

13. Apply the grounding side of the clamp and ensure that it is No. 2 AWG or larger ground cable.

14. Apply grounds to the equipment utilizing a reach or remote method such as a shotgun.

15. Remove the PPE when the task is complete.

CONCLUSION

Refer to industry standards such as the NFPA or OSHA as necessary and wear the required PPE when installing temporary protective grounds. Be safe; when in doubt, always err on the side of caution.

While reviewing the 2012 NFPA 70E in research for this article, the author noted that 130.8(C)(7) does not exist anywhere within the body of the Standard, except in the reference indicated. The author has submitted a proposal to the NFPA to amend this typographical error.

REFERENCES

1) OSHA Standards for General Industry, 29 CFR Part 1910.269, Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution Standard

2) NFPA 70E – Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, 2012 and 2009 Editions.

Paul Chamberlain has been the Safety Manager for American Electrical Testing Co., Inc. since 2009. He has been in the safety field for the past 12 years, working for various companies and in various industries. He received a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Scott Blizard is the current Vice President-Chief Operations Officer and the former head of Safety for American Electrical Testing Co., Inc. Scott is a master electrician and a NETA Level 4 Test Technician with over 30 years of experience in the electrical industry.

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SWITCHING MAINTENANCE

BY KERRY HEID, Magna Electric Corp.

One thing is for sure - if personnel are to establish an electrically safe work condition, electrical power systems apparatus must be switched. (I’m talking operating, opening, racking, removing, resetting, etc.)

Any time there is interaction with the power distribution equipment, the risk of some type of failure increases. Switching an electrical device can be a dangerous act when regular maintenance on the equipment is not performed.

So where does maintenance rank when doing a hazard analysis and a risk assessment during planned switching operations? Here are a few items to consider especially if your system is not properly maintained:

1. INSULATION FAILURE

Switching the distribution equipment can initiate surges in the power system. Insulation systems that are not maintained can become weak over time. Partial discharge activity may cause the insulation to slowly decrease its resistance value phase-to-phase and phase-to-ground. Transient voltage spikes during switching can sometimes exceed the insulation dielectric values. This is of particular concern during the switching processes as workers are interacting with the equipment during the switching procedures. Regular maintenance involving cleaning, inspecting, insulation resistance testing, and partial discharge testing will help eliminate these issues.

2. SWITCHING DEVICES DO NOT OPERATE PROPERLY

One of the key facets of performing regular maintenance is to ensure that the switching devices will operate when called upon either during routine switching activities or during a fault condition. During regular maintenance, equipment is operated numerous times to ensure that it operates

as originally designed. From a 2011 NETA survey, we know that most of the issues with these devices are related to mechanical problems. The fact that the device has not operated in years is not a good thing. Often these dormant devices will not open when called upon in a critical fault condition or when trying to perform normal switching operations. Routine testing requires the devices to be operated numerous times to perform the various tests and assures that the equipment will operate when called upon. Some of the serious issues that have been experienced are:

CIRCUIT BREAKER CLOSED WHEN RACKING

This is a legitimate concern as it can cause a serious arc flash if the device is racked in or out in this state. If the mechanism operated and the mechanical indicator says open, are you sure that all three power contacts actually opened? NETA maintenance testing is designed to ensure that these devices operate correctly between service intervals.

ONLY TWO OF THREE VACUUM BOTTLE CONTACTS OPEN

Not only does this pose the same arcflash issues as above, it can cause the misconception that the circuit is deenergized fully, particularly in contactors that do not rack out. In one instance an electrical worker at a mine opened the boltin contactor on a 4160 volt mine circuit. The electrical worker received an electrical shock at phase-to-ground voltage in the motor connection box as one of the motor leads was still energized.

DISCONNECT SWITCH ARC

BLADE STAYS IN (See figure 1)

This is a serious concern when switching. It is very important to check the arc blade through the viewing window on medium-voltage switches or visually on outdoor switches. The main blades of the disconnect switches may open, but the arcing blades may not as the arcing blades release after the main blades. This can cause a misconception that the circuit is fully isolated.

3. PROTECTION FAILS

It is not difficult to notice electrical systems that are poorly maintained, dirty, or appear to be in terrible condition. Precautions can be taken when switching to avoid putting workers in dangerous switching scenarios. This is not always the case with the relaying protection scheme. Older solid-state relaying

protection can fail without notice and what is worse – if the protection does not operate at all or even operates milliseconds slower than designed, there will be a large impact on incident energy during an arc-flash event. This causes higher risk to workers and will result in major equipment damage as the fault clearing time extends. Here are some things to ensure when maintaining the relaying protection systems:

SETPOINTS

Always ensure the settings are current with a recent arc-flash hazard analysis and coordination study. With newer vintage relays, review the entire set point file and compare it to the original engineered design.

1: Main Contacts Open with Arcing Contacts Closed on a Medium Voltage Disconnect Switch

Figure

RELAY FUNCTION AND TRIP TESTING

Make sure the relay itself works according to the manufacturer’s functional design. Ensure the inputs are being received from the power system and the associated switching devices operate when called upon. Utilize the up-to-date and accurate drawings to prove this vital interaction of the protection scheme.

CLEAN AND CALIBRATE

Particularly on vintage electromechanical relays, additional steps are required to clean and calibrate the devices.

NETA 2011 SURVEY

At the recent PCIC in Toronto, Ontario, the results of our latest NETA survey were released. After asking a number of questions regarding the reliability of electrical power systems, the following results were obtained. To learn more about this survey you can attend PowerTest 2012 and listen to the entire presentation.

Highest reliability by equipment type: Fuses

reliability equipment type: Fuses Molded-Case

Lowest Reliability: Molded-Case Circuit Breakers

Highest failure rate by Industry: Mining

Lowest failure rate: Commercial facilities

Highest Failure Rate during acceptance testing: Molded Case Circuit Breakers

Lowest Failure Rate during acceptance testing: Fuses

Other survey results indicated that equipment reliability is the worst once the equipment is over 25 years old.

There were some significant performance issues found during the acceptance testing phase of the equipment life cycle.

The most common reasons facilities do not perform maintenance are challenges surrounding scheduling, financial or technical constraints, or having a run-to-failure philosophy.

The highest failure mode was mechanical problems edging out protection relaying (including settings) and well ahead of electrical diagnostic issues such as insulation resistance and contact resistance.

CONCLUSION:

Maintenance testing assures that the equipment is ready and capable of being operated safely when establishing an electrically safe work condition. Partnering with a NETA Accredited Company using NETA Certified Technicians who follow the ANSI/NETA Standard for Maintenance Testing Specifications for electrical Power Equipment and Systems, 2011 edition, will give you everything you need to keep your electrical system safe and reliable.

If you do not have a regular maintenance plan for your electrical power distribution equipment, it might be time for a switch.

Kerry Heid is the President of Magna Electric Corporation, a Canadian based electrical projects group providing NETA certified testing and related products and solutions for electrical power distribution systems. Kerry is a past President of NETA and has been serving on its board of directors since 2002. Kerry is chair of NETA’s training committee and its marketing committee. Kerry was awarded NETA’s 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award for his contributions to the association and is a NETA senior certified test technician level IV.

Kerry is the chair of CSA Z463 Technical committee on Maintenance of Electrical Systems. He is also a member of the executive on the CSA Z462 technical committee for Workplace Electrical Safety in Canada and is chair of working group 6 on safety related maintenance requirements as well as a member of the NFPA 70E – CSA Z462harmonization working group.

NETA AND FRIENDS AT IEEE PCIC 2011

Magna Electric, Shermco, and NETA co-hosted a suite at IEEE PCIC 2011 on Tuesday, September 20, 2011, in Toronto, Ontario. The theme for the suite was the NETA All Star Sports Bar, and featured air hockey, open bars, bar food, and a big screen TV with hockey footage. Each sponsor had a booth space and was able to interact with the attendees. NETA gave away USB drives that held copies of the ANSI/NETA Standards along with some additional materials. Attendees asked about the ANSI/ NETA Standards and handbooks, PowerTest 2012, and training opportunities available through NETA. Many attendees were interested in the services offered by NETA Accredited Companies. Giveaways included an iPad, iPod Touch, Nook, and digital camera. These giveaways were done every half-hour in conjunction with some other items purchased by Shermco. Comments from attendees were positive about NETA’s new presence at PCIC, noting that there was no NETA presence until recently. The impression was NETA is relevant to this audience and a welcome addition to the line-up of hospitality suites.

Kerry Heid and Ron Widup were awarded the opportunity to make a technical presentation at PCIC 2011 on Wednesday, September 21, 2011, at 8:00 AM. Their 45-minute presentation discussed the importance of electrical testing, both acceptance and maintenance, and was supported by case studies and survey data collected from NETA accredited companies. The paper was well-attended, with between 60-70 attendees. During the Q&A session at the end of the paper, two individuals had questions, one individual asked what data was collected about the number of failures caused by maintenance, and one gentleman had no question, but spoke about his company’s LOTO procedures for grounds that significantly reduced the number of failures caused by grounds left attached to a system following maintenance. The presenters responded to the gentleman with the maintenancecaused failures by stating that this is something that does occur from time to time, but the benefit of performing routine maintenance by a qualified company and technicians far outweighs the cost of the incidents of maintenance-related failures. In general, the attendees approved of the topic and found the presentation to be well-presented, useful, and relevant information.

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SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO 2012 NFPA 70E

BY RON WIDUP AND JIM WHITE, Shermco Industries

The 2012 edition of NFPA 70E is finalized at last! In addition to the Report on Proposals (504 public and eight committee proposals) and the Report on Comments (433 public and 11 committee), there were 11 NITMAMs (Notice of Intent to Make a Motion) and six appeals (the last gasp to change something). It is actually unusual to see appeals made as they really get no traction, but obviously someone did not like parts of the 2012 edition. And while this article does not contain all of the changes, it does contain some of the more interesting ones to look for, and often times we refer to the differences between the 2009 edition and the 2012 edition. At 103 pages, the 2012 edition is packed full of guidance and direction on how to deal with electrical hazards while on the job, and it should be in the toolbox and back pocket of every electrical worker out there.

WHY DO YOU CARE?

You probably have several articles on NFPA 70E, and you might ask yourself “Why do I care? I’m not involved in all that regulation and rules stuff; I’m just a [worker, engineer, manager, circus performer, etc.]” Here is the first answer to the question of “Why do I care?”: You just made it through the first 225 words of the article and you are still reading! Here is the second reason why you care: Because whether you are working in, around, on, or near electricity you have the ultimate challenge of doing so without getting hurt or killed. Knowledge of safe work practices and the hazards of electricity are key if you are to lead an injuryfree existence.

Do do you cut the blue wire or the red wire? Let’s try to better understand the 2012 edition 70E and see if we can figure it out together.

is Now Arc-Rated PPE. Look for the ATPV or EBT Rating.

FIGURE 1: Flame Resistant (FR) PPE

GLOBAL CHANGES

Here are a couple of important terms to understand and use as you go through the day:

Fine print notes (FPN) have been changed to informational notes (IN) in order to harmonize with the NEC style manual.

When referring to PPE, the term flame-resistant (FR) will be replaced by arc-rated in the standard. It is important to note that all arc-rated clothing is FR, but not all FR is arc-rated. This is important to those of us who want protection from effects of electrical arcs and not just protection from fire and flames. It is a good idea to start saying “Do you have your arcrated PPE?” instead of “Do you have your FR?” Look for the ATPV or EBT rating in clothing as that’s how electrical PPE is designated. (See Figure 1 for an example of arc-rated PPE.)

ARTICLE 100 DEFINITIONS

A new definition of incident energy analysis was added. It reads “A component of an arc-flash hazard analysis used to predict the incident energy of an arc flash for a specified set of conditions.”

Working On (energized conductor or circuit parts) – the words Intentionally coming in contact with… were added. The intent was to clarify that accidental contact was not working on, it was accidental contact. See the full definition in the call-out box.

2012 Edition of NFPA 70E:

Working On (energized electrical conductors or circuit parts).

Intentionally coming in contact with energized electrical conductors or circuit parts with the hands, feet, or other body parts, with tools, probes, or with test equipment, regardless of the personal protective equipment a person is wearing. There are two categories of “working on”: Diagnostic (testing) is taking readings or measurements of electrical equipment with approved test equipment that does not require making any ph ysical change to the equipment; repair is any physical alteration of electrical equipment (such as making or tightening connections, removing or replacing components, etc.).

ARTICLE 110 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTRICAL SAFETY-RELATED WORK PRACTICES

The previous Sections 110.1 through 110.4 in the 2009 edition were separated into a new Article 105 for 2012 entitled Application of Safety-Related Work Practices. These items had more to do with the general document than just Article 110 and now serve as an introduction. Article 110 went through many changes. All of 110.8 was moved to Article 130 so that all information relating to electrical hazards or PPE could be in one place. 110.1(C) Relationships with Contractors (Outside Service Personnel, etc), Documentation was added requiring that the meeting between the host and contract employers be documented. This was required in the 2004 edition, but dropped in the 2009. Now it is back – so make sure you document those meetings!

FIGURE

110.1(C) Requires a Documented Meeting Between the Host Employer and the Contract Employer

110.2(C) Training Requirements now require that all employees responsible for taking action during an emergency be trained in CPR, methods of release, and a new requirement for annual AED training, if one is at the site. While the source is only known as an old safety manual, see Figure 3 for an old school method of release. This is probably not the way you would do it today.

2:

FIGURE 3: Method of Release, Early Electrical Pioneers

110.2(D)(1)(f) Employee Training takes wording very closely from OSHA 29 CFR 1910.269(a)(2)(iii) which states: The employer shall determine, through regular supervision and through inspections conducted on at least an annual basis, that each employee is complying with the safety-related work practices required by this section.

110.2(D)(1)(f) of the 70E has essentially the same language, except for one small difference in that: The employer shall determine, through regular supervision or through inspections conducted on at least an annual basis, that each employee is complying with the safety-related work practices required by this standard.

110.2(D)(3)(d) Employee Training. Retraining for qualified persons must now be conducted at least every three years. This requirement was included because NFPA 70E has a threeyear cycle, and employers that are following its requirements should train their personnel using the current edition.

110.2(E) Employee Training, Qualified Person. The required documentation now includes the content of the training as well as the employee’s name and dates of training. There was a lot of discussion as to the wording (content vs. description). Content means something more than an outline, but not necessarily the handouts and text.

FIGURE 4: Training of Qualified Persons Must also Include the Content of Training.

110.4(C)(1) Test Instruments and Equipment requires that GFCI protection be provided to employees where required by code, standard or laws. It permits the use of listed cord sets and GFCI protection for portable electric tools.

110.4(C)(2) Test Instruments and Equipment requires the use of GFCI protection for portable electric tools and cord sets supplied by 125 V 15 A, 20 A or 30 A circuits. If the tools are rated for other voltages or currents, an assured grounding program must be implemented.

FIGURE 5: GFCI Protection is Required When Outdoors and Operating Portable Tools.

FEATURE

ARTICLE 130 WORK INVOLVING ELECTRICAL HAZARDS

Arguably, Article 130 is one of the most valuable and widelyused sections of the 70E. Providing guidance to management, safety professionals, and electrical workers actually performing the work, Article 130 supplies many answers to the difficult aspect of working on, near, and around electrical equipment.

Article 130.1 specifies that all the requirements of Article 130 must be met whether the table method is used or an incident energy analysis (arc-flash study) is performed. So no matter how you get there, you need to follow the requirements of Article 130.

One of the more controversial changes was to Article 130. Per Article 130.2 Electrically Safe Working Conditions, electrical equipment that you are going to work on or might be exposed to must be placed into an electrically safe work condition (turned off ) if:

1. The employee is within the limited approach boundary.

2. The employee interacts with equipment where conductors or circuit parts are not exposed, but an increased risk of injury from an exposure to an arc-flash hazard exists.

There is an exception to this which essentially states that equipment that has been properly installed and maintained and is opened or racked out to achieve an electrically safe work condition does not have to be turned off in order to operate it as long as the risk assessment agrees with that thought process.

Additionally, there were changes (see underlined text) to Article 130.2(B)(1) Energized Electrical Work Permit: An Energized Electrical Work Permit is required when working within the limited approach boundary or the arc flash boundary of exposed energized electrical conductors or circuit parts that are not placed in an electrically safe work condition. The words arc flash boundary were highlighted because this is a new, and somewhat controversial, change to the 70E. But remember, you are working on an energized piece of equipment with exposed parts – don’t you think you should have plan as to why?

7: An Energized Electrical Work Permit is Required When Working Within the Arc-Flash Boundary of Exposed Parts.

FIGURE

FIGURE 6: Be Familiar With Article 130 When Working on Electrical Equipment.

130.3(1) Energized Electrical Conductors and Circuit Parts. “Before an employee works within the Limited Approach Boundary energized electrical conductors and circuit parts to which an employee might be exposed shall be placed in to an electrically safe work condition, unless work on energized components can be justified according to 130.2(A).”

FIGURE 8: You Must Place Turn Off Exposed Equipment When Working Within the Limited Approach Boundary Unless Allowed by 130.2(A).

130.5 Arc Flash Hazard Analysis, IN No. 5 – This IN replaces Exception No. 1 that was in 130.3. It points out that an Arc Flash Hazard Analysis may not be necessary for some threephase systems rated less than 240 volts and refers the reader to IEEE 1584, Guide for Performing Arc Flash Hazard Analysis

There is good information in 130.5 that you should read and become familiar with. We could probably write an entire piece on just this article of the standard.

130.5(A) Arc Flash Hazard Analysis, Arc Flash Boundary (AFB) eliminates the previously allowed precalculated 4-foot AFB and requires that the AFB be calculated as the distance where a worker would receive 1.2 cal/cm2 incident energy exposure. No more default to a four foot boundary –you need to figure out what it really is.

EQUIPMENT LABELING

One of the best ways to communicate to the electrical worker in the field is to put a comprehensive label with pertinent hazard information directly on the equipment he is about to work on. Article 130.5(C) Arc Flash Hazard Analysis, Equipment Labeling uses the wording from NEC Article 110.16 to specify that the labeling requirement does not apply to all electrical equipment, only equipment that requires inspection, maintenance, adjustment, or servicing while energized. The label requirements have also changed. Each label must have at least one of the following:

1. Available incident energy and the corresponding working distance

2. Minimum arc rating of clothing

3. Required level of PPE

4. Hazard/Risk Category (HRC) for the equipment

Second, the label must also include the nominal system voltage, and third, the label must contain the arc-flash boundary information.

Also, an additional new requirement states that the method used to calculate the values and the supported data must be documented. It does not necessarily have to be on the label, but it must be available for inspection, if needed.

An exception was included that allows the use of labels placed onto equipment prior to September 30, 2011, if it has the available incident energy or the required level of PPE.

ARTICLE 130.7 PERSONAL AND OTHER PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

Within Article 130.7(A), Personal and Other Protective Equipment, an IN was added that states the normal operation of an enclosed switch, disconnect, or circuit breaker that has been properly maintained probably does not expose the worker to an electrical hazard. The exact wording of IN No. 2 is:

It is the collective experience of the Technical Committee on Electrical Safety in the Workplace that normal operation of enclosed electrical equipment, operating at 600 volts or less, that has been properly installed and maintained by qualified persons is not likely to expose the employee to an electrical hazard.

FEATURE

Article 130.7(C)(5) requires that whenever you are working within the arc-flash boundary you shall wear hearing protection. An arc-flash event can be a very large and loud acoustic event. It is a good idea to protect your hearing from damage.

There has been a long-standing argument about whether or not electrical equipment doors provide a quantifiable degree of protection form an arc-flash event. Article 130.7(C)(15) IN No. 2 and No.3 help to clarify the issue that cabinet doors do not provide enough protection to eliminate the use of PPE. The exact wording is:

Informational Note No. 2:The collective experience of the task group is that, in most cases, closed doors do not provide enough protection to eliminate the need for PPE for instances where the state of the equipment is known to readily change (for example, doors open or closed, rack in or rack out).

Informational Note No. 3: The premise used by the task group in developing the criteria discussed in Informational Note No. 1 and Informational Note No. 2 is considered to be reasonable, based on the consensus judgment of the full NFPA 70E Technical Committee.

THE TABLES HAVE TURNED

The tables in Article 130 are one of the most-used sections of the 70E, and extensive work was done on and with the tables for the 2012 edition, all of which was to help make the tables easier to understand and use.

The table that outlined tasks and corresponding hazard risk categories and selection of PPE is now Table 130.7(C)(15)(a) which was formerly Table 130.7(C)(9). Notes 1, 2, 3, and 4 that provided the limits for this table were moved from the notes section and put in the headers for each type of equipment. Not only are the short-circuit current and operating time of the overcurrent protective device (OCPD) in the headers, but also the arc-flash boundary at the maximum short-circuit current and operating time and the working distance. Voltage protection limits, the arcflash boundary and working distances for medium-voltage equipment were also provided, something that has not been provided previously. Also in Table 130.7(C)(15) (a), the device Switchboards in the category Panelboards or Switchboards Rated >240 V and up to 600 V was moved to category 600 V Class Switchgear (with power circuit breakers or fused switches). In Table 130.7(C)(15)(a), the equipment

category 600 V Class Motor Control Centers (MCC), was split into two parts to reflect the difference in hazard level from working inside the bucket and working on the main bus. The first nine tasks are in one section that has limits of 65 kA short-circuit available current and 0.03 second operating time.

FIGURE 9: The Tables in 130.7 Provide Guidance on PPE Use and Hazard Risk Categories.

The second section has three tasks and has limits of 42 kA short circuit available current and 0.33 second operating time.

Table 130.7(C)(15)(b) is new for the 2012 edition of NFPA 70E. This has the same general format as the table for ac electrical power systems but is used for dc electrical systems.

In Table 130.7(C)(16), formerly Table 130.7(C)(10), Hazard/Risk Category (HRC) 2* has been eliminated. All HRC 2 tasks now require the use of either an arc-rated balaclava and arc-rated face shield or an arc-rated hood. The format is unchanged from the 2009 NFPA 70E.

AND FINALLY – LET’S TALK A LITTLE MAINTENANCE!

IF you have a single-line diagram, take note. Article 205.2 Single Line Diagram states that single-line diagrams must be kept in a legible condition and must be kept current. Since not all facilities have single-line diagrams, this would not require one to be produced. A single line diagram, where provided for the electrical system, shall be maintained in a legible condition and kept current.

If you read Article 205.3 General Maintenance Requirements, electrical equipment is required to be maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations or, if they are not available, with industry consensus standards. There are only two industry consensus standards; NFPA 70B, Recommended Practice for Electrical Equipment Maintenance and ANSI/NETA MTS-2011, Standard for Maintenance Testing Specifications for Electrical Power Equipment and Systems.

As was stated earlier, there are many other changes to the 2012 edition of the 70E. For you to be the very best you can be, and more importantly, for you to work safely while on or near electrical equipment, you really need to understand this very important safety standard.

Ron Widup and Jim White are NETA’S representatives to NFPA Technical Committee 70E (Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee Workplaces).Both gentlemen are employees of Shermco Industries in Dallas, Texas a NETA Accredited Company. Ron Widup is President of Shermco and has been with the company since 1983. He is a Principal member of the Technical Committee on “Electrical Safety in the Workplace” (NFPA 70E) and a Principal member of the National Electrical Code (NFPA 70) Code Panel 11. He is also a member of the technical committee “Recommended Practice for Electrical Equipment Maintenance” (NFPA 70B), and a member of the NETA Board of Directors and Standards Review Council. Jim White is nationally recognized for technical skills and safety training in the electrical power systems industry. He is the Training Director for Shermco Industries, and has spent the last twenty years directly involved in technical skills and safety training for electrical power system technicians. Jim is a Principal member of NFPA 70B representing Shermco Industries, NETA’s alternate member of NFPA 70E, and a member of ASTM F18 Committee “Electrical Protective Equipment for Workers”

PLACING EQUIPMENT IN AN ELECTRICALLY-SAFE WORK CONDITION

BY JIM WHITE, Shermco Industries

Jim White is the Training Director for Shermco Industries and the principal Shermco representative on the NFPA 70B committee.

Jim is the alternate NETA representative on the NFPA 70E committee and serves as the NETA representative on the IEEE/ NFPA Arc-Flash Hazard Work Group (RTPC) Ad Hoc Committee. He served as the Chairman of the 2008 IEEE Electrical Safety Workshop. Jim is a NETA Certified Level IV Electrical Testing Technician and a member of the NETA Safety Committee.

1. List the seven steps involved with placing equipment in an electrically-safe work condition:

a. ________________

b. ________________

c. ________________

d. ________________

e. ________________

f. ________________

g. ________________

2. Which OSHA regulation contains the requirements for electrical lockout/tagout?

a. 1910.147

b. 1910.335

c. 1910.333

d. 1910.137

3. How does electrical lockout/tagout differ from mechanical lockout/tagout?

a. Equipment is not considered deenergized until it has been tested.

b. Electrical equipment has to be disconnected from energy sources.

c. Electrical lockout/tagout requires the use of nylon cable ties or their equivalent.

d. They are the same.

4. Which NFPA 70E article covers placing equipment in an electrically-safe work condition?

a. Article 100

b. Article 110

c. Article 120

d. Article 130

5. Name the hazard involved with placing an electrical system in an electrically-safe work condition.

a. Backfeeds

b. Induced voltages

c. Misreading single-lines or inaccurate single-lines

d. Inaccurate or incomplete procedures

e. Assumptions made by workers and employers

f. All the above

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CE POWER SOLUTIONS, LLC OF OHIO NAMED AS NETA ACCREDITED COMPANY

CE Power Solutions, LLC of Ohio is pleased to announce that it became a NETA Accredited Company in September 2011. “This is something we have been working toward and we are looking forward to working with NETA to continue to raise the bar in the electrical testing industry,” commented CEO and President Bill McCloy.

CE Power Solutions, LLC of Ohio provides field testing and maintenance of electrical apparatus for utilities and industrial and institutional facilities as well as acceptance testing and energization services for new installations at electrical generation, transmission, and distribution facilities. The company provides substation maintenance and testing for systems through 500 kV including relay testing and commissioning and NERC and FERC compliance strategies. In recent years, an increasing number of plant and facility managers have grown to call upon CE Power to provide assistance with annual outage maintenance and testing needs in addition to providing additional upgrade and repair services when needed as identified through the testing and maintenance efforts.

CE Power Solutions was once again named to Cincinnati’s Fast 55 for 2011, an honor recognizing CE Power as one of the fastest-growing private firms in greater Cincinnati. Two Thousand Eleven marks the 10-year Anniversary for CE Power, but the technicians, engineers, management, and staff average more than 20 years in the electrical power industry. Many of the team members worked together in the 1980’s and 1990’s providing testing, maintenance, repair, and upgrade services for electrical power apparatus. In 2001, CE Power Ohio employed approximately five people. Since that time, CE Power Solutions Ohio has grown to 35 employees, while fostering relationships with other CE Power companies in Florida, Kentucky, and Wisconsin (CE Power Solutions of Wisconsin, LLC also a NETA Accredited Company).

LOCKOUT/TAGOUT TAKING IT FOR GRANTED

All of us in the field have had repeated training on lockout/tagout. NETA technicians can have annual training, then training at each customer’s site, and often several other times throughout the year and their career. It is often the topic of tailgate meetings and safety briefings. It is probably human nature to hear something so often and from so many sources that we go on auto-pilot at times. Instead of going through the procedures deliberately, even the best of us may not hit it as hard as we should. The following true case study illustrates this point:

The project involved maintenance work that was being performed by several contractors at a company’s location in the Midwest (the host). The work involved medium-voltage switchgear in a building and an outside substation. The switchgear was of a standard metalclad, drawout, vacuum interrupter design and was in excellent condition. As can be seen in Figure 1, the switchgear also was marked with the single-line on the front of the gear.

BY JIM WHITE AND RON WIDUP, Shermco Industries

Figure 1: Switchgear Involved in the Incident

THE NFPA 70E AND NETA

The worker involved in the incident was assigned to clean the switchgear and vacuum bottles in a section of equipment that had been properly locked out, tagged out, tested and grounded. The work on this section of switchgear had been ongoing for a couple of days. One of the other contractors asked the worker to clean and test a circuit breaker cell that was not on the original list of equipment to be maintained. The host company that owned the equipment approved the addition of this circuit breaker cell to the list. The circuit breaker cell was to a bus tie breaker that had been deenergized the evening before, but had been returned to service. (See Figure 2).

It was believed that it was communicated to all the companies that were considered to be either authorized or affected that the bus tie breaker had been returned to service. Locks, tags and signage were in place from all parties except the worker who was asked to do the maintenance. Since the company that the worker was employed by was not scheduled to perform any maintenance on that particular circuit, the company was not perceived to be affected or authorized when the LOTO was performed. The involved worker had completed a Job Safety Analysis (JSA) prior to the start of work that day, but did not include the newly-added circuit breaker cell, so the backfeed hazard caused by the tie breaker was not addressed. The affected worker did not place his own locks or tags on the switchgear as it was already secured (see Figure 3). The locks and tags were on the back side of the circuit breaker cubicle.

The worker involved in the incident opened the door on the front of the circuit breaker cell in order to perform the assigned maintenance. He did not test the circuit. The worker knelt down on one knee and manually opened the shutters over the bus stabs. Figure 4 shows the exposed energized bus stabs with the shutters open.

As the worker extended his hand to begin cleaning the tie breaker cell, an arc flash and shock to the worker occurred. Other maintenance personnel in the area immediately came to his aid and extinguished the fire on his clothing and called 911. The injured worker was transported to a burn center where he received the appropriate medical attention. The worker survived this incident and received burn injuries to his right hand and a blow-out injury to his knee (Figures 5 and 6). After a fairly long recovery period, this worker should be able to continue on with his life, an option that many people in his situation would not have had under similar circumstances.

Figure 3: Location of the Incident

Figure 4: Exposed Bus Location

Figure 2: Location of the Incident

Under similar circumstances, companies have been known to fire employees for violating safety rules. That is one approach. He did not test the circuit prior to working on it. He did not complete a JSA. He did not consider how dangerous working bus tie circuits can be. No arc-flash protective clothing or PPE was worn. We could point to several mistakes that were made, but the root cause does not belong entirely to the worker. There were mistakes made by almost all parties involved. The host company approved the additional cell maintenance without considering all the consequences. Neither the host nor the contractor requesting the circuit breaker cell be added to the list advised the affected worker that the circuit had been reenergized.

When I was in boot camp our Drill Instructor told us that assume makes an ass out of you and me. It was true then, and it is true today. In this instance, assumptions came into play several times, both by the worker and by the companies involved. The good news is that it did not result in a fatality, but that does not relieve the pain and suffering that the employee had to endure. This same type of scenario is likely repeated at many job sites throughout the U.S. Multiple contractors, dozens, maybe hundreds of workers, power system equipment and devices, all have to be taken into consideration when performing maintenance activities. It can become a blur.

People are people, and people make mistakes. That is why we have OSHA, NFPA 70E, procedures, policies, etc. Most, if not all of us have either been involved in accidents or know people who have been. It’s not like it’s a secret that people make mistakes, but to talk to some, they seem to think only others have that failing.

SUMMARY

Safety is not about just any one procedure or rule. It’s about slowing down, planning, and executing that plan. There are plenty of tools available to help us: policies, procedures, codes, standards, federal regulations, and state and local laws. I am not about to say that the worker involved in this incident was not taking safety seriously, but he failed to follow some fundamental safety rules like test-before-touch. If he had taken just that one step, there would be nothing to write about.

Ron Widup and Jim White are NETA’S representatives to NFPA Technical Committee 70E (Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee Workplaces). Both gentlemen are employees of Shermco Industries in Dallas, Texas a NETA Accredited Company. Ron Widup is President of Shermco and has been with the company since 1983. He is a Principal member of the Technical Committee on “Electrical Safety in the Workplace” (NFPA 70E) and a Principal member of the National Electrical Code (NFPA 70) Code Panel 11. He is also a member of the technical committee “Recommended Practice for Electrical Equipment Maintenance” (NFPA 70B), and a member of the NETA Board of Directors and Standards Review Council. Jim White is nationally recognized for technical skills and safety training in the electrical power systems industry. He is the Training Director for Shermco Industries, and has spent the last twenty years directly involved in technical skills and safety training for electrical power system technicians. Jim is a Principal member of NFPA 70B representing Shermco Industries, NETA’s alternate member of NFPA 70E, and a member of ASTM F18 Committee “Electrical Protective Equipment for Workers”.

Figure 6. Blowout Injury to Knee

Figure 5. Burn Injuries to Hand

USING PERSONAL PROTECTIVE GROUNDS IN INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES

BY LYNN HAMRICK, Shermco Industries

You are sitting around waiting for the outage to begin. Your task is to perform preventive maintenance on the 15 kV class switchgear lineup feeding a large industrial facility. As seems typical of the situation, an argument is in full force over the need and adequacy of the personal protective grounds being applied. The local contractor intends to use what looks like a modified set of automobile jumper cables. Your supervisor is requiring use of a much more substantial configuration of cables with fancy connectors on each end. He is also requiring that two ground sets be attached so that his workers are working between the ground sets. The customer is trying to resolve the situation. He just wants to start the outage. This is when one of the contractor’s men offers a statement like, “We used to just throw a logging chain across the bus. If it came back out at you, it wasn’t dead.” During times such as those described above, it is nice to know the requirements associated with use and selection of personal protective grounds.

The primary purpose of personal protective grounding is to provide adequate protection against electrical shock causing death or injury to personnel while working on de-energized lines or equipment. For medium- and high-voltage applications, protective grounds are required as part of the lockout/tagout program. This is accomplished by grounding and bonding lines and equipment to limit contact or exposure to voltages at the work site to a safe level if the lines or equipment are accidentally energized from any source of hazardous energy. The greatest source of hazardous energy in most cases is direct energization of lines or equipment from the power system. Other sources of hazardous energy may include:

The primary purpose of personal protective grounding is to provide adequate protection against electrical shock causing death or injury to personnel while working on de-energized lines or equipment.

• Stored energy (capacitors and cables)

• Static build-up

• Electromagnetic coupling

• High-voltage testing

• Back-feed from atypical power sources

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Personal protective grounding is intended for temporary grounding during installation, maintenance, and repair or modification of lines and equipment. It is not intended to substitute for a prolonged or permanent plant or station equipment grounding connection which should be provided by permanent grounding and wiring methods. Any employee working on de-energized medium- and high-voltage equipment is responsible for understanding protective grounding requirements and procedures. Further, facility managers and supervisors are responsible for ensuring that workers are knowledgeable of and comply with grounding procedures. Only trained and qualified workers shall apply and remove temporary personal protective grounds.

OSHA requirements for personal protective grounding at an industrial facility is actually found in 29 CFR 1910.269, the standard typically associated with utility systems. As it states in the note from 1910.269(a)(1)(i)(A), “(t)he types of installations covered … include the generation, transmission, and distribution installations of electric utilities, as well as equivalent installations of industrial establishments.” Medium-voltage electrical infrastructure within an industrial facility is an equivalent installation. In accordance with 1910.269(n)(2), “For the employee to work lines or equipment as de-energized, the lines or equipment shall be de-energized … and shall be grounded as specified in paragraphs (n)(3) through (n)(9) of this section.”

PROTECTIVE GROUNDS – SIZING AND SELECTION

Protective ground cables and associated grounding equipment shall meet the following requirements:

• Personal protective grounds shall be capable of conducting the maximum fault current that could flow at the point of grounding for the time necessary to clear the fault. This equipment shall have an ampacity greater than or equal to that of No. 2 AWG copper.

• Personal protective grounds shall have an impedance low enough to cause immediate operation of protective devices in case of accidental energizing of the lines or equipment. This translates into being capable of carrying the maximum av ailable fault current, including dc offset current due to waveform asymmetry, for high values of fault circuit impedance X/R ratio.

The guidelines for determining the adequacy of personal protective grounds are contained in ASTM F855-2004, Standard Specifications for Temporary Grounding Systems to Be Used on De-Energized Electric Power Lines and Equipment. Based on information in ASTM F855, the following table is what we are using in the field for evaluating the adequacy of protective grounds:

NICHE MARKET TESTING

Select protective ground sets which are easy to apply. This includes considerations associated with the field application conditions and minimizing preparation and installation time. Standardized ground set configuration, to the extent practical, is desirable at each location to keep the number of sizes and types to a minimum. The ground sets should be fabricated as an assembly of suitably rated components (conductor, ferrules, and clamps) to withstand thermal and electromechanical stresses imposed while conducting fault current.

It is also recommended that the ground sets be stored and transported properly to avoid damage and ensure that the ground sets are maintained in good working order.

PROTECTIVE GROUNDS - LOCATION

The guiding principle for protective grounding in facilities is that the grounds should be installed as close to the workers as practical in order to provide an effective current shunt around the body and to limit exposure voltage. Keep in mind that the conductor-end and ground-end clamps of protective grounds should be connected near the locations where workers will likely contact parts of equipment that may inadvertently become energized. The protective grounds should be connected directly to the equipment, bus, or conductors to be grounded. No impedance or device (circuit breaker, disconnect switch, transformer, line trap, etc.) shall be permitted between the point of connection of the protective grounds and the location of contact by the workers. Additionally, avoid connecting the ground-end clamps to a grounding point (plant grounding conductor) that is not bonded directly to permanently grounded parts of the equipment to be worked on. Otherwise, ground loops may be formed with embedded ground mat conductors in plant concrete which can significantly increase the exposure voltage.

PROTECTIVE GROUNDS – APPLICATION AND REMOVAL

Before any personal protective grounds are installed, the applicable lines and equipment shall be tested and found absent of nominal voltage. This typically involves measuring the voltage with a voltage sensor on the end of a hot stick. Appropriate personnel protective equipment and safety precautions consistent with the circuits being energized should be utilized when testing for voltage and while applying the grounds. When attaching the grounds, the ground-end connection shall be attached first, and then the other ends shall be attached by means of a live-line tool. When removing protective grounds, the connections shall be removed from the line or equipment using a live-line tool before the groundend connection is removed.

FIGURE 1

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Protective grounds may be removed temporarily to accommodate tests. During those tests, it is the responsibility of the tester and owner to ensure that workers use insulating equipment and are isolated from any hazards. Also, the tester and owner should institute any additional measures as may be necessary to protect each exposed worker from the previously grounded lines and equipment becoming energized.

The general rule for on the job personal electrical safety around de-energized lines and equipment is the lines and equipment shall be considered energized until protective grounds are installed. Until grounded, minimum approach distances apply with regard to the use and application of personnel protective equipment and procedures.

Further, personal protective grounds must be designed, fabricated, and applied in a manner that satisfies the following basic criteria:

• Maximize personal safety while working on de-energized high voltage equipment through the use of appropriate protective grounding equipment, procedures, and training.

• Limit work site exposure voltages to a safe level during accidental energization.

• Ensure that protective grounds will not fail under the most severe fault conditions.

• Provide the fi nal energy barrier in the facility lockout/tagout (LOTO) program under direct control of personnel at the worksite.

Reprinted from NETA World Summer 2008

Lynn Hamrick brings over 25 years of working knowledge in design, permitting, construction, and startup of mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation and controls projects as well as experience in the operation and maintenance of facilities.

Lynn is a Professional Engineer, Certified Energy Manager and has a BS in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Tennessee.

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ADDITIONAL SAFETY FEATURES

BY JIM BOWEN, Powell Electrical Manufacturing Co.

Our clients specify several optional features to enhance the overall safety of the switchgear for the individual electrical technician. This technical brief will highlight some of these features so that others might benefit from the collective experience.

Three of these topics that were discussed at a PCIC Safety Workshop are:

SHUTTER LABELS:

The simplest enhancements to add to a switchgear line-up are shutter labels. The shutter label indicates the destination of the top and bottom stabs to the technician performing testing or grounding on a vertical section. The shutter is the moveable guard that drops in front of the breaker stabs as the breaker is racked to the disconnected position. The labels are decals mounted on the shutters in front of the circuit breaker stabs. The labels identify whether the stabs are Load Side, Line Side, Bus Side A, or Bus Side B.

Tasks often require an electrical technician to open the shutters on an energized cell. Whether the shutters need to be opened to perform insulation testing of a motor feeder or to insert a ground and test device, it is important that the technician be given visual confirmation of which set of stabs is energized. Yes, the safe-work practice requires that the stabs be checked for voltage prior to hooking up the test equipment, but this simple label offers a valuable confirmation to the technician in the field that has proven to be effective.

SHUTTER LOCKS

The shutter mechanism is the last level of protection between the stabs and a person doing work in the cell. By padlocking the shutter closed, you protect technicians from mistakenly opening a shutter on an energized set of stabs. Our existing shutter mechanisms have a set of holes to allow the shutters to be padlocked in the closed position. We also have an optional design that brings a bar from the shutter mechanism to the very front of the cell. This extension design allows the shutter to be the primary point of lockout/tagout.

Once again this is something that is covered by the plant’s safe-work practices. Every safe-work practice assumes everything is energized before you touch a conductor, but we had a case recently of a individual getting electrocuted on an energized stab while doing preventative maintenance. The lead technician was performing preventative maintenance

on a secondary selective system. He had performed the proper isolation and lockout procedure. As planned, he had left a load side CPT energized via a downstream emergency generator to provide station service power for the shut down. The technician was going down the line-up cleaning all the breaker stabs when he mistakenly went into the cubicle with the load side stabs energized and was killed when he came in contact with the stabs.

Because of other work going on, the group required access to the cubicle so they had to be able to leave the cubicle door unlocked. A simple lock and tag on that particular set of shutters would have prevented the technician’s mistake. There is a pair of 3/8" holes through the moving and fixed portion of the shutter mechanism that permit the locking of the shutter. This locking mechanism also proves to be useful with any main-tie-main system. The shutter lock is the best system available for protecting people when the switchgear has a tie cubicle and half of the system is out of service for maintenance. The shutter lock is also a very effective point for locking out the breaker and cell.

CELL LOCKS

The most discussed topic when drafting a site lockou/tagout procedure is where to place the locks on metal-clad switchgear. Locking out the cell is replacing locking out the circuit breaker due to the increased safety. Locking out the cell assures that a spare breaker cannot be racked in and mistakenly energize downstream loads. A cell lock allows full access to the breaker out of the cell on the floor for maintenance purposes while people continue to work under their lockout/ tag/out on downstream loads. The cell lock absolutely prevents any breaker from being racked onto the stabs.

In all cases the shutter labels, shutter locks, and cell locks can play an important part in how the switchgear is operated. Every site has different skill levels and site procedures that determine when and if these features should be incorporated into the site safety program.

Jim Bowen graduated from Texas A&M University in 1976 with a BSEE. He has worked for SIP Engineering as a power engineer and for Exxon in all facets of electrical engineering in the petrochemical process. He held the position of regional engineer for Exxon Chemicals Europe for three years. In January of 1997, Jim joined Powell Electrical Manufacturing Company as Technical Director, providing leadership, training, and mentoring to both internal and external electrical communities.

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WHEN IS AN ENERGIZED ELECTRICAL WORK PERMIT REQUIRED?

BY LYNN HAMRICK, Shermco Industries

Most questions associated with the need for an energized electrical work permit (EEWP) have to do with the performance of the following speci c work tasks:

• Perform visual inspections ofinfrared (IR)surveys of energized circuits

• Removal or installation of bolted covers that exposes energized circuits

• Opening or closing hinged covers that exposes energized circuits

• Work on energized electrical conductors or circuit parts

• Application of safety grounds

• Insertion or removal of equipment from energized circuits

• Switch operation of energized equipment

In this article, each of these work tasks will be discussed with regard to the need for processing an EEWP prior to performing the work.

As a basis for the discussion, the requirements from NFPA 70E, Electrical Safety in the Workplace, 2012 Edition, will be used. From NFPA 70E, Article 130.1:

“(B) ENERGIZED ELECTRICAL WORK PERMIT

(1) When Required. When working within the limited approach boundary or the arc flash boundary of exposed energized electrical conductors or circuit parts that are not placed in an electrically safe work condition,… work to be performed shall be considered energized electrical work and shall be performed by written permit only.

(2) Elements of Work Permit. The energized electrical work permit shall include, but not be limited to, the following items:

(1) Description of the circuit and equipment to be worked on and their location

(2) Justification for why work must be performed in the energized condition

(3) Description of the safe work practices to be employed

(4) Results of the shock hazard analysis

a. Limited approach boundary

b. Restricted approach boundary

c. Prohibited approach boundary

d. Necessary shock personal and other protective equipment to safely perform the assigned task

(5) Results of the arc flash analysis

a. Available incident energy or hazard/risk category

b. Necessary personal protective equipment to safely perform the assigned task.

c. Arc flash boundary

(6) Means employed to restrict the access of unqualified persons from the work area

(7) Evidence of completion of a job briefing, including a discussion of any job-specific hazards

(8) Energized work approval (authorizing or responsible management, safety officer, or owner, etc.) signatures

(3) Exemptions to Work Permit. Work performed within the limited approach boundary of energized electrical conductors or circuit parts by qualified persons related to tasks such as testing, troubleshooting, and voltage measuring shall be permitted to be performed without an energized work permit, if appropriate safe work practices and personal protective equipment…. are provided and used. If the purpose of crossing the limited approach boundary is only for visual inspection and the restricted approach boundary will not be crossed, then an energized electrical work permit shall not be required.”

With NFPA 70E – 2009, the language of this article led one to focus on using the EEWP when shock hazards were present with an implied applicability for arcflash hazards through the information required for personal protective equipment (PPE) selection and application. With the newly issued NFPA 70E – 2012, the language has been revised to require an EEWP when either a shock hazard or an arc-flash hazard is present. This was a needed clarification to the standard that eliminates some of the questions associated with implementing the EEWP process. Prior to discussing the most-asked questions on EEWP application, it should be noted that appropriate PPE and planning for the hazards encountered is required whether an EEWP is required or not. This is the case with EEWP-exempt work, as well as EEWP-related work.

The following discussions will deal with whether or not an EEWP should be required for the work tasks previously identified as most used. The recommendations presented are those of the author. Final determination and implementation of site-specific requirements are the responsibility of facility owners. They should consider their specific work tasks and select the appropriate work rules and processes for their facility which best fit their interpretation of the standard.

In general, when performing work tasks which historically have increased the probability of a hazard and/or will require physically interacting with the energized circuit, an EEWP should be required.

Perform visual inspection or IR surveys of energized circuits. Visual inspections and IR surveys should be considered testing or troubleshooting activities. The standard specifically states that, from a shock hazard standpoint, this work task does not require an EEWP if the restricted boundary is not breached. However, further clarification should be provided with regard to requiring an EEWP when the arc-flash boundary is breached, which is the case when performing many visual inspections or IR surveys. In general, when performing work tasks which historically increase the probability of a hazard and/or will physically interact with or cause a change in the energized circuit, an EEWP should be required. Given this statement, the decision to require that an EEWP be provided to perform visual inspection or IR surveys is dependent on what work tasks are required to accommodate the inspection or survey. If a worker must simply open a hinged door to perform the inspection/survey, no EEWP should be required since there is no increase in the probability of a hazard and there is no physical interaction with the energized circuit. However, if the worker must remove bolted covers to perform the inspection or survey, an EEWP should be required due to an increase in the probability of the hazard associated with removing bolts and the cover. As stated above, the appropriate PPE for the hazard is required whether an EEWP is required or not.

the performing many visual inspections or IR surveys. In general, when probability or cause a change in the energized circuit, an EEWP should be that IR surveys is dependent on what work tasks are required to simply open a hinged door to perform the inspection/survey, no EEWP should be required since there is no increase in the probability is the energized circuit. However, if the worker must remove bolted covers to perform the inspection or survey, an EEWP should the the hazard associated with removing bolts and the cover. As stated above, the appropriate PPE for the hazard is required whether

Removal or installation of bolted covers that exposes energized circuits

removal or installation of bolted covers associated with exposed energized circuits should require that an EEWP be performed. Historically, this task has been shown to increase the probability of the hazard.

Removal or energized circuits. Any work task that includes the removal or installation of bolted covers associated with exposed be performed. Historically, this task has been shown to increase the probability of the hazard.

Opening or closing hinged covers that exposes energized circuits. Work tasks that include the opening or closing of hinged covers associated with exposed energized circuits should require an EEWP unless this task is being performed as part of a testing, troubleshooting, and voltage measuring effort.

Opening or closing hinged covers that exposes energized of hinged covers associated with exposed energized circuits should require an EEWP unless this task is being performed measuring effort.

Work on energized electrical conductors or circuit parts. Work tasks that include working on energized electrical conductors or circuit parts should require an EEWP unless these tasks are being performed as part of a testing, troubleshooting, and voltage measuring effort.

• Resetting thermal overloads should be considered part of a testing and troubleshooting effort as long as this

activity is performed such that there is no increase in the probability of a hazard and there will be no automatic change in the energized circuit while exposed.

• Replacing blown fuses should also be considered part of a testing and troubleshooting effort. However, replacing blown fuses presents a unique challenge. Fuses within power circuits that are greater than 50V should not be replaced while the portion of the circuit that contains the fuse and fuseholder is energized. Therefore, the portion of the circuit that includes the fuse and fuseholder should be placed in a deenergized state by going throughan appropriate lockout/tagout (LOTO) process to accommodate the fuse replacement. Unfortunately, there may still be exposed energized circuit parts present while the fuse is being replaced in the now deenergized portion of the circuit (i.e., the line side of the associated disconnect for the circuit). Appropriate PPE requirements and safety precautions should be implemented during the fuse replacement process to mitigate any increased probability of the hazard and physical interaction with the energized portion of the circuit.

• Implementing design changes to a circuit (i.e., the thermal overload is modified or a different fuse type or size is installed) should require an EEWP to ensure that the safety-related aspects of the change are adequately considered. These aspects should include operability review of the circuit as well as any impacts on the arc-flash analysis for the circuit. Additionally, any change to the protective system should include written authorization prior to implementation.

• Application of safety grounds. The application of safety grounds is typically part of an established LOTO or clearance process. In most cases, an EEWP may not be required. However, in some cases, the LOTO process may result in a power circuit configuration modification (i.e., using an alternate power source) such that the available short-circuit current to the circuit is not the same as the analyzed hazard. This change could affect the required sizing of the safety grounds. In these cases, a specific EEWP associated with the application of safety grounds should be considered so that appropriate analysis and written authorization for the change is provided. It is the responsibility of the qualified worker to recognize this configuration change during the job planning and job briefing process and require the appropriate process

the required sizing of the safety grounds. In these cases, and written authorization for the change is provided. It job briefing process and require the appropriate process prior to application of the safety grounds.

Insertion or removal of equipment from energized circuits. Any work task that includes the insertion or removal of electrical equipment from energized circuits should require that an EEWP be performed. These tasks include the following:

• Remove/install circuit breakers or fused switches in lighting panels

• Insertion or removal of motor control center buckets

• Insertion or removal (racking) of circuit breakers or starters in switchgear cubicles

• Insertion or removal of fused switches from bus ducts

Historically, these tasks have been shown to increase the probability of the hazard.

Switch operation of energized equipment. As clarification, this discussion applies to switch operations of energized electrical distribution equipment where there is a known hazard. When switch operations are performed with no equipment guards in place (i.e., the door open), an EEWP should be required since known hazards are present unless this task is being performed as part of a testing, troubleshooting, and voltage measuring effort.

Technically, for switch operations with the door closed, there is no exposed circuitry due to guarding. Most mediumvoltage (1 kV to 38 kV) equipment includes safety interlocks such that switching operations can only be performed with guards in place (i.e., the door closed). With guards in place, the shock hazard is eliminated. Some interpretations of the standard suggest that there is no arc-flash hazard when the guards are in place. Typically, arc-flash hazard analyses are performed with the assumption that the circuit is exposed and energized, not guarded. Realistically, there may be an arc-flash hazard even with all guards in place. With high current, low voltage (<1 kV) applications, there may be a significant arc-flash hazard as is implied in NFPA 70E, Table 130.7(C)(15)(a), where Hazard Risk Category 2 PPE and clothing is required when operating a device with a possible arcflash hazard.

The decision on whether an EEWP is required should be made considering the extent of the arc- flash hazard, the condition of the equipment, and the operating conditions under which the operation is to be performed. A switch operation physically interacts with the energized circuit. Additionally, performing a switch operation with a nonload-breaking device (i.e., most disconnect switches), when under a load condition, has been shown to increase the probability of an arc-flash event. Given the above, it is recommended that an EEWP be implemented for a switch operation with the door closed whenever the operation involves a circuit under load conditions and there exists an exposed arc-flash hazard of greater than Hazard Risk Category 2, or 8 cal/cm2 based on an arc-flash hazard analysis. For circuits that are guarded and which have an exposed arcflash hazard of less than Hazard Risk Category 2, no EEWP should be required. If the extent of the arc-flash hazard is not known due to unavailability of an arc-flash hazard analysis, use of an EEWP is highly recommended.

This article has provided discussion and recommendations associated with the use of and need for an EEWP for several work tasks. With the newly issued NFPA 70E – 2012, the language has been revised to require an EEWP when either a shock hazard or an arc-flash hazard is present. Additionally, it is recommended that an EEWP should be required when performing work tasks which historically increase the probability of a hazard and/or will physically interact with the energized circuit. Work tasks that are associated with testing, troubleshooting, and voltage measuring efforts are typically exempt from the EEWP process. The recommendations presented are those of the author. Final determination and implementation of site-specific requirements are the responsibility of facility owners. They should consider their specific work tasks and select the appropriate work rules and processes for their facility which best fit their interpretation of the standard.

Lynn Hamrick brings over 25 years of working knowledge in design, permitting, construction, and startup of mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation and controls projects as well as experience in the operation and maintenance of facilities.

Lynn is a Professional Engineer, Certified Energy Manager and has a BS in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Tennessee.

POWER SOLUTIONS GROUP

IS PROUD TO JOIN THE RANKS OF NETA ACCREDITED COMPANIES

Power Solutions Group was founded January 1, 2006, for the purpose of performing power testing and engineering studies. The clientele is primarily industrial with some utility and commercial.

Power Solutions Group offers a wide range of services related to the electrical power industry. Power Solutions performs maintenance and acceptance testing on a variety of power system equipment, including low-voltage and mediumvoltage cables, switchboards, switchgear, and breakers. Additionally, it provides in-house lowvoltage and medium-voltage equipment repair and rebuild.

Power Solutions Group has offices in Sidney, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; and Easley, South Carolina. We desire to be highly trained and skilled electrical professionals in our market in order to better serve our customer base and differentiate ourselves from our local contractors. In our opinion, this could only be achieved by continuing to work hard and to become a NETA Accredited Member.

THE FORGOTTEN WORKPLACE – HOME

THE FORGOTTEN WORKPLACE HOME

Have you ever received an electric shock while doing something at home?

Most of us have at one time or another. This could have happened for any number of reasons. It could have been a faulty extension cord, or a bad connection to a power tool, or maybe even it was unintentionally touching a bare wire. In any case, it did not feel good.

Many people think about their safety while at work but seem to leave it there. They do not take it home with them. If only they could leave the hazards there as well. Unfortunately, it does not happen that way. Most of the time, there are actually more hazards in the home than in the workplace.

WHAT HAZARDS?

Everyone is aware of the necessity to maintain the equipment at their workplace, but what about at your home? What happens if you do not take care of your vehicle? Your yard? Your home? Something as simple as checking the receptacles in the walls of your house can let you know that there could be impending problems. Have you ever had to squeeze or spread the prongs of a plug to get it to stay in the receptacle in the wall? Generally, that is caused by the internal contacts becoming worn out. Overheating can cause that as well as the age of the receptacle. If it is used often, the normal wear and tear on the contacts inside the receptacle can just stretch out of place and cause a loose plug. That is one item that can very easily be addressed by the homeowner. Do you unplug the vacuum cleaner by pulling on the cord instead of going “all the way over” to the plug? It is just this kind of action that can start the deterioration of your home electrical system. When replacing the receptacles, do not just take out the old one and put in the new one. Look at the condition of the receptacle itself. If there is some discoloration or obviously burned or scorched surfaces do a little investigating to find out what caused it. Many times it will be no more than a loose connection on the old receptacle. It could, however, be the result of overloading the receptacle.

And what about those pesky two-prong receptacles that do not have a ground on them? Believe it or not, there are still a lot of homes that have an inadequate, ungrounded electrical system. Many homeowners have relied on the three prong adapters to help remedy this problem. This is not a good idea at all. If there is no grounding conductor in your electrical outlet, you will only be increasing the potential problems. The photos below show a very good example of what will happen if you use these types of adapters. If you do not have a good, functional ground system in your home, you are putting yourself at risk of a dangerous, and sometimes fatal, electric shock, or even fire. This is not the type of repair that can be done by the typical homeowner. This kind of work needs to be done by a qualified professional.

BY DON BROWN, Shermco Industries

THE FORGOTTEN WORKPLACE – HOME

WHAT TO LOOK FOR.

Look for the abnormal. Use your senses at all times while in your home. Look for something that does not work the way that you think it should. Is the plug loose in the receptacle or does the plug continually fall out while you are working? Do you smell burning insulation? Do you hear a humming coming from the electrical panel? Does an appliance plug feel hot when you unplug it?

If you are going to take on the task of replacing a light switch or a receptacle in your house, good for you. But before you do, ask yourself this question – “Do I feel comfortable doing this kind of work?” If not, then you need to contact that qualified electrical contractor to make the repairs. If you do feel comfortable doing this kind of work, you need to take certain precautions prior to starting the work.

Rule number one is to turn off the power! You must turn off the power before attempting any type of electrical work, no matter what your skill level. Are you sure that the power is turned off ? Many times, home builders will run the circuitry to include the maximum number of receptacles to each circuit breaker. And some times this means tying receptacles from different rooms onto the same circuit, especially on a common wall between two rooms.

Invest in a good quality voltage detector that you can use around the house. It does not have to be the most expensive tester, but make sure that it will hold up to repeated use, and the occasional drop test. A good reliable category II or III digital multimeter would be a great investment in your safety around the home. These can be purchased for a reasonable price at most home improvement stores or electrical distributors. Another item that you should invest in is a pair of rubber insulating gloves. Not the same kind of rubber gloves used for dishwashing, but the correct type used in electrical work. Before you start to roll your eyes and think, no way am I going to wear those just to replace a light switch, remember that the most common voltage involved in electrical fatalities is 120 Vac. Once you determine that the power is indeed turned off, you can take off the gloves and do the work.

Example 1. 3-Prong Wall Oulet

Example 2. Back of 3-Prong Wall Oulet

Example 3. 3-Prong Adapter, Side View

Example 4. 3-Prong Adapter, Front View

THE FORGOTTEN WORKPLACE – HOME

HOW DO I REDUCE THE HAZARDS AT HOME?

The first thing to do is understand what the hazards are. Then you can look for ways to reduce, or in many cases, eliminate them. Probably the most common hazard to the electrical system in the home is overloading. Plugging in too many devices into a circuit will cause the wiring and the devices (plugs and receptacles) to heat up and fail. In a best case scenario, this overload will be cleared by the circuit breaker in your electrical panel. If a breaker trips, it does it for a reason. In the majority of the cases, a tripped breaker is caused by an overload to the circuit. If the circuit is drawing too many amperes, the breaker will sense it and open. This is a warning to the homeowner. Unfortunately, most homeowners just think this is a bad breaker that has started to trip for no reason other than it is old. Breakers do not normally go bad on a correctly designed system, and if they do trip, it is to protect the wiring of the electrical system. If a breaker trips, look for an overloaded receptacle, one that has more than two devices plugged into it.

Although this a bit of an extreme situation, think about the holiday season when all of the decorations are plugged into a wall outlet. Everyone wants to have the best display and the most lights, but if you do not understand the limitations of your electrical system, you can, and more than likely will, have a situation like the one just shown. If this happens in your home, do not try to fix it yourself. This is the time to spend the extra money on a qualified electrical contractor, one that will be able to evaluate the extent of the damage to your home’s wiring.

Many people are getting into the do-it-yourself mode of remodeling their homes as the economy gets tougher. This is a great idea for making your home a little more comfortable in trying times, but be careful about how you go about it. Putting a new coat of paint on the walls may seem easy, but pay attention to the details, especially when it comes to painting around receptacles, light switches, and other electrical fixtures. Some folks want these devices to blend into the room so they won’t stand out. That is fine, as long as you take the time to replace them with devices that coordinate with the room décor. Do not just paint over the receptacles and switches.

Example 5. This Kind of Overload Can Result in This:

Example

THE FORGOTTEN WORKPLACE – HOME

As the holiday season approaches, the decorations get pulled out of storage. What condition are they in? How were they stored for the last ten months or so? Were they damaged before being put away last year? These are all questions that need to be asked. Look at the decorations, extension cords, and the strings of lights as you start to pull them out of the storage boxes. Do not just grab and start to pull them out. That is one sure way to break the lights themselves. Do not just grab the plug and put it into the extension cord lying in the same storage box with them. Look each one over before plugging it in. If there is one broken light bulb and it is resting on your skin, plugging it in is one sure way to get shocked. And there is the possibility of cuts and broken glass getting stuck in your legs or hands. Pay close attention to how many strings of lights are plugged together. Typically the light manufacturers will place a warning on the boxes giving a maximum number of strings that should be connected together. Read and heed that warning. If you do not, it will cause problems.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

Keep an eye on your home. You may be remodeling a room, setting up Christmas decorations, or just putting in a new ceiling fan. If you find anything out of the ordinary, make note of it and get it corrected before it leads to other, more serious issues. If you decide to tackle a project like replacing a light switch or outlet in the wall, make certain that the power is turned off before you start the work. Test the circuit that you will be working on with a reliable test meter. Be sure that all of the connections you make are tight and secure and the wires are not being pinched by cover plates or screws. Use your senses around the house. Look for problems; listen to your electrical panel; smell for burning insulation; and feel for heated plugs, switches, and outlets. But most importantly, do it safely or call a qualified electrical contractor to do the work for you.

Don Brown has been involved in the electrical industry for over 35 years –15 of those specific to electrical testing. He was a master electrician, safety consultant, and business owner. He has consulted for companies such as Intel, Air Liquide, Bell Helicopter, and Chesapeake Energy. Don now serves Shermco Industries as a Senior Training Specialist.

Example 7. Painted Wall Oulet

Example 8. Holiday Lights

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• New LED backlighting for easier reading in dark areas and lower power consumption

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MEDIUM-VOLTAGE STARTER CONTROL CIRCUIT SAFETY ISSUE

Most medium-voltage starters have a recessed plug to accept an extension cord connection to power up the starter’s control circuit when the contactor carriage of the starter is in the test position. The function of the test position is to use external control power and test the operation of the control circuit without energizing the connected motor. The control circuit may have a bond from the neutral on the test connection on the controller carriage to the frame of the carriage. This sets up a not so obvious problem for maintenance personnel.

Having the control circuit’s neutral bonding to the carriage’s frame allows electrical current to flow between the 120 Vac power distribution panel (PDP) through two paths. The first is the normal path, which is through the neutral, or grounded conductor, of the extension cord. The second path is through the neutral bond in the PDP, through the facility’s grounding system, conduits and equipment grounding, to the carriage frame itself, then to the neutral bonding jumper on the test connection on the carriage. These two paths of current flow are illustrated in Figure 1.

MEDIUM-VOLTAGE STARTER CONTROL

This current path is objectionable ground current and does not comply with Article 250.6 in the National Electrical Code®. This ground current is potentially dangerous if the neutral in the extension cord is not continuous.

The remedial action for existing equipment is the following:

1. Remove the bond on the carriage frame of the contactor. This is not as dangerous as it sounds. The neutral bond to ground at the PDP will function as the appropriate grounded connection using an extension cord while the controller carriage is in the test position.

2. Apply a bond to the frame of the starter enclosure at the control power transformer’s (CPT) secondary neutral connection. The contactor carriage frame will be inherently connected to the starter enclosure frame through metal connection of the carriage wheels. Measure the dc resistance between the carriage frame and enclosure after establishing the bond at the CPT’s neutral connection. Use 0.5 ohm as a guideline. Investigate any value greater than that. Use an electronic ohmmeter that can measure 0.001 ohm.

With new equipment, insist the manufacturer bond the CPT’s neutral connection to ground on the enclosure itself, not the contactor carriage frame. Verify that the carriage frame receptacle/plug for the control circuit has a pin dedicated and connected to the frame of the enclosure, on the enclosure side of the starter and to the frame of the carriage on the contactor carriage side of the starter. That guarantees the two frames are electrically bonded. The bond will not depend on the carriage wheels making good contact with the enclosure frame. Thoroughly examine the proposed starter’s control circuit to make certain there is no neutral bond to the contactor carriage frame shown on the equipment’s drawings.

Al Havens brings more than 40 years of electrical safety experience to the classroom, 26 of which as Senior Electrical Engineer for U.S. Gypsum. He has extensive experience in industrial plant and underground mine power distribution upgrades and is expert in the design and commission of high resistance ground, switchgear battery and automatic power factor systems.

Al served as head of the USG Energy Monitoring Task Force and established their NFPA 70E compliance and training programs. He has presented to both the IEEE Electrical Safety Conference and the International Electrical Testing Association (NETA) Conferences on electrical equipment and high resistance grounding, and worked extensively on compliance issues with the Mine Safety and Health Agency (MSHA).

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USING HANDHELD PD DETECTORS

• A PICTORIAL •

BY DON A. GENUTIS, No-Outage Electrical Testing, Inc.

Handheld partial discharge detectors designed to discover insulation problems within switchgear have been instrumental in preventing failures. This issue’s column provides photos highlighting some the top problems discovered with this technology which is applied non-intrusively to energized assets.

Figure 1. Tracking Found under Switchgear Bus Support Insulator- Note Bolt Plating Corrosion Due to Nitric Acid, Produced by PD Activity and Moisture.

Figure 2. MCC Unshielded Jumper Cable PD Damage. Unshielded Cables do not Evenly Distribute Electrical Stresses and Fail at Locations where the Insulation Touches Opposite Phases or Ground.

Figure 3. Phase Barrier Tracking in a Pad-Mount Switch Caused by Energized Components Placed too Close to the Insulation.

Figure 4. Advanced Tracking on Switchgear Phase Support Barrier. Note Erosion of Copper Bus.

Figure 5. Potential Transformer Tracking - Environmental Contamination Appears to be a Contributing Factor.

Figure 6. Insulator Tracking from Poor Field Modification - Electrical Field Distribution has been Ignored.

NO-OUTAGE INSPECTION CORNER

Figure 7.

Severe Tracking from Poor Field Insulation Modifications.

Figure 9.

Heavy Erosion of Bus Duct Insulation. Were the Low Voltage Heater Wires the Cause of this Problem?

Figure 8.

Poorly Designed Dry-Type Transformer Jumper Cable Support Insulation. Cables Shown in Background were Removed for Photo. When the Cables are Placed Along the Horizontal Support, Three Different Types of Insulation are Concentrated in One Area Along with a Metallic Fastener thus Creating an Electrical Field Fiasco.

Figure 10.

Final Stages of Tracking before Complete Failure Occurred on Switch Jumper Cable Supports.

Don A. Genutis received his BSEE from Carnegie Mellon University. He was a NETA Certified Technician for 15 years and is a Certified Corona Technician. Don’s technical training and education are complemented by twenty-five years of practical field and laboratory electrical testing experience. Don serves as President on No-Outage Electrical Testing, Inc., a Group CBS affiliate that focuses on new inspection technologies performed while the equipment remains in service.

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January 30-Feb 3, 2012

ALL FACTORIES ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL

BY PAUL HARTMAN, DLB Associates

When we purchase a product, we like to think the factory has built the best product they can and that they insure it is 100 percent operational prior to delivery. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, for even companies like Rolls-Royce occasionally have factory recalls that require the owner to take the vehicle to a service shop.

Let’s compare our car example to electrical switchgear. If our Rolls has a defect or recall, we drop it off at the shop and drive the Bentley; no real harm done here. If our electrical switchgear has a defect or recall, we have to bring someone from the shop to the site to correct it, and we do not have spare switchgear in the meantime.

Thus the need for testing the electrical equipment prior to energizing and letting it run for years without shutting it down. To better achieve the desired reliability goals, we need take the electrical equipment on a shakedown tour, which is more commonly known as a factory acceptance test (FAT).

Over the last ten years, I have attended dozens of FAT’s. In fact FAT’s vary in such extremes that it is quite possible someone may think I am using my creative writing license just to make this story more interesting.

For example, one Hungarian FAT visit was scheduled to last four days. On my first morning at the factory, I was presented with several books of documents, each with an acceptance cover sheet for me to sign. The factory representatives told me that as soon as I signed the documents a driver would whisk me away to their villa on the lake for the rest of the week.

They assured me there were plenty of pretty girls up at the lake. Imagine their devastation when I informed them that I would be staying at a nearby hotel and that we would be performing FAT for the next four days.

By the end of the week, we had found numerous flaws in the equipment, some quite serious, all of which were documented and corrected prior to the equipment being shipped.

Another factory I visited, where they manufacture circuit breakers, boasted about the fact that they had a one in 10,000 failure rate. When they heard that we had experienced a one in two failure rate with their circuit breakers, they did not believe us. They asked for clarification.

We informed them that we had had trip units, communication modules, and finger clusters fail. Their response was that because these three components were manufactured by other divisions of the company, they did not count as circuit breaker failures. Obviously, a weak excuse like that would not be accepted by the end user.

One overseas factory was proudly showing off its test lab by demonstrating its product test procedures using typical electrical test equipment. The only problem was that they were not performing the test correctly. This certainly does not boost ones confidence in the factory’s quality control process.

To their credit, after I explained the difference between the test procedure they were using and standard NETA test procedures, they agreed to test our equipment using NETA procedures.

And so on the stories go. The underlying dynamic here is that almost all factories assemble a product from multiple components commonly known as subassemblies, many of which originate in other factories. A subassembly could be as small as a rotary control switch or as large as a 4000 ampere circuit breaker or even several switchboard sections.

Thus, the quality control at any one factory primarily focuses on the actual assembly process performed at that particular facility. This means that upon final assembly of a large electrical device using subassemblies, the typical factory quality control testing is minimal and tends to focus on only the work performed at that factory.

There are two clear internal contributors to the quality of a factory product. First is the ability of the factory testing technicians to test the product and to select the appropriate type of test equipment to use. Second is the percentage of components in a piece of equipment that the factory manufactures from raw materials. The more parts that are made in house, the better the product; or inversely, the more subassemblies delivered to a factory, the more likely there will be problems.

One huge external contributor to the quality of the factory product is FAT. Many factories lack the experience, resources, or both to adequately test their equipment to the standards that clients expect. Sending a NETA certified technician to the FAT prior to the equipment shipping can reap huge benefits with respect to the quality of the product delivered to the site.

Paul Hartman is an Electrical Commissioning Manager for DLB Associates in Atlanta, Georgia, Paul has over 25 years of experience in the start-up, commissioning, design review, and maintenance of large facilities in the petrochemical, generation and data center environments, including projects in Pakistan, ailand, Brazil, Korea, Finland, Belgium, and England. Paul is currently involved with the oversight of the electrical commissioning of large data facilities both domestic and overseas. He has been a contributor to NETA World for over een years and has been a equent speaker at past NETA Conferences.

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INSULATION-RESISTANCE TEST

The insulation-resistance test (IEEE Std. 43-2000), is a useful indicator of contamination and moisture on the exposed insulation surfaces of a stator winding, salient pole or cylindrical rotor windings, especially when there are cracks or fissures in the insulation. The test is easily done and is one of the most common tests performed on any motor or generator winding. Since squirrel cage induction motor rotor windings are not insulated, this test is not appropriate for such motors.

BY VICKI WARREN, Iris Power LP.

The insulation-resistance and/or the polarization-index test should be done prior to application of any high-voltage tests to assure that the winding is not wet or dirty enough to pose a risk of failure that might be averted by a cleaning and drying-out procedure. However, resistance testing is principally a pass/fail criterion and cannot be relied upon to predict the condition of the main insulation except when the insulation has already faulted. That is, since the insulation-resistance test is insensitive to internal insulation problems, a high insulation-resistance reading does not imply that the winding is in good condition.

THEORY

The insulation resistance is the ratio of the dc voltage applied between the winding copper and ground to the resultant current. When a dc voltage is applied, four current components flow: capacitance charging component (IC) into the capacitance of the winding; a polarization or absorption current (IA) involving various molecular mechanisms in the insulation; a conductance linear current (IG) that is a property of the insulation material; and a leakage component (IL) over the surface between exposed conductors and ground (the creepage path). Since solid insulation in good condition does not conduct current, the insulation resistance is normally very high. The capacitive and absorption current components are properties of the insulation (they are neither good nor bad), and are time varying, since they are essentially capacitances. The capacitive current component typically decays in a few seconds. The absorption component decays in a few minutes. For epoxy, the conductance current is almost zero; for asphalt and polyester, it is slightly higher. The leakage current is constant with time, since it is essentially a resistance and is highly dependent on the state of dryness of the winding. When doing an insulation-resistance test, the test leads should be clean and dry

FIGURE 1. LOW LEAKAGE–EPOXY-MICA

TESTING ROTATING MACHINERY

TEST SETUP

Techniques have been developed to permit the insulation resistance to be determined with good accuracy (IEEE Std. 43-2000, IEEE Std. 62-1995, IEEE Std. 95-2002, ANSI/NETA ATS-2009, and ANSI/NETA MTS-2011).

STATOR WINDINGS

Connections - If practical, it is recommended to isolate the phases and test each phase individually. This allows for phase comparisons. In practice, the insulation resistance of one phase winding is approximately twice the value obtained when all three phase windings are tested together. In water-cooled windings the water must normally be drained, and any hoses thoroughly dried by pulling a vacuum. (This is often impossible, thus it is best to remove the hoses).

Instrument - Use a true IR (megohm meter) with a voltage selector and well-regulated voltage output.

GUIDELINES FOR DC VOLTAGES FOR INSULATION RESISTANCE TEST (IEEE 43-2000)

Winding Rated * Voltage

<1,000 V

1,000-2,500 V

2,501-5,000 V

5,001 - 12,000 V

>12,000 V

Insulation Resistance Test Voltage

500 V

500 - 1,000 V

1,000 - 2,500 V

2,500 - 5,000 V

5,000 - 10,000 V

* Rated line-to-line voltage for three-phase machines, line-to-ground voltage for single-phase machines and rated DC voltage for dc machines or field windings

ROTOR WINDINGS

Connections - The test instrument is connected between field winding leads and the rotor body. The brushes must be lifted or the rotor diodes disconnected.

Instrument - Use a true IR (megohm meter) with a voltage selector and well-regulated voltage output. For motors and generators rated 4 kV and above, 1000 V is often used for the rotor winding test voltage.

INTERPRETATION

The insulation resistance is highly dependent on the temperature and humidity of the winding. Unless the winding is always measured under exactly the same humidity and temperature conditions, it is virtually meaningless to track the resistance over time. As described in IEEE Std. 43-2000, the insulation-resistance values can be corrected for the winding temperature (as determined from imbedded temperature indicators). It is common to correct the measurements to 40º C. If corrected measurements over the years on the same winding reveal gradually decreasing resistance, then the insulation may be deteriorating. However, it is much more probable that the resistance will swing wildly from measurement to measurement due to humidity conditions, making interpretation impossible. Similarly, in comparing two windings, a higher resistance in one does not imply that this winding is in better condition.

STATOR WINDINGS

When an actual fault or insulation puncture has occurred, the insulation resistance will be close to zero. This is easily recognized as being unacceptable. However, it is difficult to set a practical pass/fail criterion for the insulation-resistance test when the insulation is not punctured. IEEE standard 43-2000 recommends the minimum acceptable insulation resistance. These values should be considered absolute minimums, since modern machines typically have resistances exceeding 100's or even 1000's of megohms. In contrast, insulation that has been exposed to humid air for a long period of time may only achieve 10's of megohms.

TESTING ROTATING MACHINERY

TABLE 4. RECOMMENDED MINIMUM INSULATION RESISTANCE VALUES AT 40*C (ALL VALUES IN MEGOHMS) [IEEE 43-2000]

IR1(min) = kV + 1 for most windings made before about 1970, all field windings, and others not described below

IR1(min) =100 for most dc armature and ac stator windings built after about 1970 (form-wound coils)

IR1(min) =5 for most machines with random-wound coils and form-wound coils rated below one kV

IR1 (min) = minimum insulation resistance of the entire machine winding in megohms, at 40o C kV= rated machine terminal to terminal voltage, in rms kilovolts

ROTOR WINDINGS

When an actual fault or insulation puncture has occurred, the insulation resistance will be close to zero. This is easily recognized as being unacceptable. However, it is difficult to set a practical pass/fail criterion for the insulation resistance test when the insulation is not punctured. A minimum acceptable insulation resistance is about two megohms for rotor windings. This value should be considered an absolute minimum, since modern machines typically have resistances exceeding 100's of megohms. In contrast, insulation that has been exposed to humid air for a long period of time may only achieve 10's of megohms.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

IEEE std. 43-2000, IEEE Recommended Practice for Testing Insulation Resistance of Rotating Machinery

IEEE 62-1995 IEEE Guide for Diagnostic Field Testing of Electric Power Apparatus

IEEE Std. 95-2002, IEEE Recommended practice for Insulation Testing of Large AC Rotating Machinery with High Direct Voltage

ANSI/NETA Standard for Acceptance Testing Specifications for Electrical Power Distribution Equipment and Systems 2009 edition

ANSI/NETA Standard for Maintenance Testing Specifications for Electrical Power Distribution Equipment and Systems 2011 edition

Ms. Vicki Warren, Senior Product Engineer, Iris Power LP. Ms. Warren is an electrical engineer with extensive experience in testing and maintenance of motor and generator windings. Prior to joining Iris in 1996, she worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She was responsible for the testing and maintenance of hydrogenerator windings, switchgear, transformers, protection and control devices, development of SCADA software, and the installation of local area networks. At Iris, Ms. Warren has been involved in using partial discharge testing to evaluate the condition of insulation systems used in medium to high voltage rotating machines, switchgear and transformers. Additionally, Ms. Warren has worked extensively in the development and design of new products used for condition monitoring of insulation systems, both periodical and continual. Ms. Warren also actively participated in the development of multiple IEEE standards and guides, and was Chair of the IEEE 43-2000 Working Group.

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[PPI] PACIFIC POWERTECH INC.

After more than 15 years as Magna IV Engineering BC in Vancouver, Canada, we have decided to change our name. Pacific PowerTech management is proud of its association with NETA as a NETA Accredited Company and will continue this long relationship under its new banner. The leading supplier of independent electrical power system services in BC is the only NETA Accredited Company in the province.

Some recent achievements involve a major shutdown at one of the largest, and oldest, smelters in Canada. This required tremendous preparation regarding manpower and logistics as more than 30 technicians were put to work at many areas in the plant during a

single-day outage. Within the last year PPI has also added an Infrared/Corona Camera/Gas Camera division to its company.

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IS A KEY ELEMENT TO ELECTRICAL SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE COM MUNICATION

BY NETA SAFETY COMMITTEE

For industrial facilities, OSHA requirements, as well as the NFPA 70E standard, are provided to delineate the work rules and personal protective equipment necessary to identify and mitigate the effects of electrical hazards in the workplace. The purpose of this Safety Corner article is to place emphasis on how these requirements rely on effective communication to enhance electrical safety in the workplace. The NFPA 70E standard will be used as the basis for this article.

COMMUNICATION CONTENT

As stated above, standards and associated written procedures are the content of effective electrical safety communication. NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, is a key document that provides the content necessary for electrical safety in the workplace. Below is a brief summary of the communication content provided in NFPA 70E:

• Defi nitions – NFPA 70E, Article 100, provides definitions of terms “essential to the proper application of [the] standard.” The standard also provides informational notes and annexes to assist the worker in understanding the content of the standard.

Effective communication typically considers both content and context. Content is what is being communicated either in a written or verbal form. With respect to electrical safety in the workplace, the standards and associated written procedures are the content of effective electrical safety communication. Context has to do with understanding the language and circumstances of the communication. Worker training, skills, and knowledge of electrical equipment and electrical hazards are the context of effective electrical safety communication. A qualified worker is capable of taking requirements and procedural content and putting it in the appropriate context to perform an electrical work task safely.

ELECTRICAL SAFETY

• General Requirements – NFPA 70E, Article 110, provides electrical safety-related work practices and procedures. Requirements associated with the electrical safety program are presented. Key content for the electrical safety program include work procedures, electrical work permits, electrical hazard analysis, and evaluation.

• Electrically Safe Work Conditions – NFPA 70E, Article 120, communicates requirements associated with performing an adequate lockout/tagout (LOTO) process for electrical equipment so that the electrical hazards are mitigated. Further clarification is provided that, if equipment is not locked or tagged out in accordance with this process, it should be considered energized.

• Electrically Hazardous Work Conditions – NFPA 70E,

Article 130, provides a description of the circumstances that would allow electrically hazardous work to be performed. To ensure proper electrical hazard awareness, requirements associated with performing shock hazard and arc-flash hazard analyses are provided. Based on these analyses, the qualified electrical worker can select the appropriate work practices and personal protective equipment associated with performing the work safely. Additionally, requirements for equipment labeling and electrical hazard alerting techniques (i.e., safety signs and tags, barricades, attendants, etc.) are presented.

NFPA 70E is a living document that is updated every three to four years. Therefore, its content should be reviewed with each issued revision. There is no grandfathering associated with implementing electrical safety requirements in the workplace. New or updated safety requirements must be implemented upon issuance.

ELECTRICAL SAFETY COMMUNICATION CONTEXT

In addition to the electrical safety content provided in standards and written procedures, worker training, skills, and knowledge of electrical equipment and electrical hazards are the context of effective electrical safety communication. This is why so much emphasis is placed on using qualified electrical workers to work on or around electrical hazards. As stated above, a qualified worker is capable of taking requirements and procedural content and putting it in the appropriate context to perform an electrical work task safely. Some of this context is related to electrical equipment and system reliability and operability. This can only be accomplished with correct or appropriate maintenance. To enhance a workers capability to provide an appropriate context for performing work safely, NFPA 70 provides for some electrical communication context as well:

• Defi nitions – NFPA 70E, Article 100, provides definitions of terms “essential to the proper application of [the] standard.” Qualified electrical workers should understand and be familiar with these terms.

• General Requirements – NFPA 70E, Article 110, includes responsibilities for owners and contractors to tell each other about known hazards as well as reporting observed safety violations of the standard. Requirements associated with worker training and the electrical safety program are presented. Key contextual elements of the electrical safety program include job briefings and electrical hazard awareness.

• From NFPA 70E, Article 130.3 – “Th e arc fl ash analysis shall be updated when a major modification or renovation takes place. It shall be reviewed periodically, not to exceed five years, to account for changes in the electrical distribution system that could affect the results of the arc-flash hazard analysis.” The arc-flash analysis is the basis for selection of arc-flash PPE. If the analysis and associated labeling are not correct, the selected PPE may be inadequate to protect the worker.

• From NFPA 70E, Article 205.1 – “Employees who perform maintenance on electrical equipment and installations shall be qualified persons…and shall be trained in, and familiar with, the specific maintenance procedures and tests required.” Not all electrical workers are qualified to perform all electrical tasks. Electrical maintenance and testing activities have evolved into using more sophisticated equipment and techniques. Typically, additional training on the use of this testing equipment is required.

• From NFPA 70E, Article 205.2 – “A single line drawing, where provided for the electrical system, shall be maintained in a legible condition and kept current.” This is an often overlooked component of any good maintenance program. Having up-to-date drawings is a requirement for performing maintenance in a safe and proper manner. It is also critical in determining and implementing proper lockout/tagout processes and procedures.

SAFETY CORNER

• From NFPA 70E, Article 205.4 – “Overcurrent protective devices shall be maintained in accordance with manufacturers’ instructions or industry consensus standards.”

• From NFPA 70E, Article 205.6 - “Equipment, raceway, cable tray, and enclosure bonding and grounding shall be maintained to ensure electrical continuity.” The only way to verify that a facility has maintained electrical continuity in the grounding system is to test and measure that continuity. This testing is typically performed in several steps. First, a fall-of-potential test is performed to verify that the grounding electrode or system is adequately connected to ground. Then many point-topoint tests are performed to verify adequate connection of equipment, raceway, etc. to the grounding electrode.

• From NFPA 70E, Article 205.7 - “Enclosures shall be maintained to guard against accidental contact with energized conductors and circuit parts and other electrical hazards.”

• From NFPA 70E, Article 205.8 – “Locks, interlocks, and other safety equipment shall be maintained in proper working condition to accomplish the control purpose.”

• From NFPA 70E, Article 205.9 - “Access to working space and escape passages shall be kept clear and unobstructed.”

• From NFPA 70E, Article 210.3 - “Current-carrying conductors (buses, switches, disconnects, joints, and terminations) and bracing shall be maintained to: (1) Conduct rated current without overheating; (2) Withstand available fault current.”

• From NFPA 70E, Article 210.4 - “Insulation integrity shall be maintained to support the voltage impressed.” Insulation failure or breakdown is one of the more significant causes of failures for transformers, cables, cable terminations, cable splices, buses, and joints. Because of this, a range of tests has been developed to test and monitor insulation integrity (insulation resistance testing, ac and dc high-potential testing, power-factor testing, polarization index testing, partial discharge testing, VLF tan delta, etc.). Combinations of these tests are typically performed in an effort to determine the overall health of insulation systems.

• From NFPA 70E, Article 210.5 - “Protective devices shall be maintained to adequately withstand or interrupt available fault current.” Maintenance, which includes operability testing, must be performed on a periodic basis to ensure that protective devices operate as designed. With the recent requirements associated with arc-flash hazards analysis, correct protective device operation is critical to the accuracy of the arc-flash analysis, while minimizing and mitigating the arcflash hazards.

• From NFPA 70E, Article 225.1 - “Fuses shall be maintained free of breaks or cracks in fuse cases, ferrules, and insulators. Fuse clips shall be maintained to provide adequate contact with fuses. Fuseholders for current-limiting fuses shall not be modified to allow the insertion of fuses that are not current-limiting.” Any good maintenance program for low-voltage and mediumvoltage, fused disconnect switches includes visual inspection, contact resistance testing, and fuse resistance testing. Fuse sizing should be as designed and analyzed. Any change to a fuse size or type requires a review of the coordination and arc-flash studies.

• From NFPA 70E, Article 225.3 – “Circuit breakers that interrupt faults approaching their interrupting ratings shall be inspected and tested in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.” To feasibly meet this requirement, an accurate short-circuit study, which is usually performed along with the arc-flash analysis, is typically required.

SAFTEY CORNER

Over the past 10 years, the above electrical safety communication context should be well known to any qualified electrical worker. Most employers have provided very specific training associated with electrical safety in the workplace. If a qualified electrical worker is not aware of the requirements discussed above, the worker’s qualifications should be questioned.

In summary, effective communication typically considers both content and context. With respect to electrical safety in the workplace, the standards and associated written procedures are the content of effective electrical safety communication. NFPA 70E is a key document that provides the electrical safety content for a qualified worker. Worker training, skills, and knowledge of electrical equipment and electrical hazards provide the context for appropriately or correctly communicating and implementing the electrical safety requirements. This knowledge of the electrical equipment and electrical hazards includes whether correct system documentation, analyses, maintenance and operability are being provided for the equipment. With this information, a qualified worker should be capable of taking requirements and procedural content and putting them in the appropriate context to perform an electrical work task safely.

From big cit y to small town, east to west, Nor th America to Europe, we are expanding our resources and ser vice center locations to better ser ve you.

Contac t Shermco Industries for safe, reliable testing, repair, professional training, maintenance and analysis of rotating apparatus or elec trical power distribution systems for all market segments, including industrial, commercial, petrochemical, utilities and more.

SHERMCO INDUSTRIES RECOGNIZED

AS A

“BEST PLACES TO WORK” FINALIST FOR FIFTH YEAR

For the fifth time, Shermco Industries remains on the list of Dallas’ finest companies. The Dallas Business Journal has recognized Shermco as a mid-sized company finalist for the publication’s 2011Best Places to Work.

Shermco earned this distinction by being one of the top-scoring businesses in an employee survey administered by the Dallas Business Journal and the independent research firm, Quantum Market Research. Over 400 companies entered into the survey process, but only 18 mid-sized companies were chosen as finalists. A mid-sized company is defined as one with 100 to 499 local employees.

“Shermco has experienced tremendous growth, and we are grateful to have dedicated employees who take pride in their work and our company,” said Ron Widup, President of Shermco Industries. “We continue to expand and have over 50 new job openings posted! We are committed to our employees and appreciate their commitment to us.”

Founded in 1974 in Dallas and with a corporate location in Irving, Texas, a sales office in Brussels, and service centers in Austin, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Houston, Sweetwater, and Tulsa, Shermco Industries has more than 385 full-time employees. The company is a NETA Accredited Company. For more information about Shermco Industries, visit www.shermco.com.

GROUND TESTING SAFETY

The greatest safety hazard in ground resistance testing is the perceived lack of danger. The grounding system is often thought of as a dead element, other than in rare events when a fault clearance is occurring. Even then, it is easy to think that the ground is absorbing all the energy, and there is no danger. This may not be so! First, even in seemingly quiescent times when not clearing a fault, the grounding system may be carrying current - even lots of it. Secondly, an event, such as a fault clearance, does not have to introduce itself with crackling lightning or flashing sparks such as are popular on Action News highlights. The biggest risk to the operator during ground testing is complacency. This article will examine the sources of risk and the standard safety practices to avoid them.

The first point to consider is the grounding system under seemingly normal operating conditions. No breakers are tripping; no storms are on the horizon. The grounding system should be dead, and on a perfect electrical system, it would be. But load imbalances, harmonics generated by normal operation of equipment, ground leakage currents, and other imperfections commonly produce current going to ground. Often this is little more than a nuisance. The system may not be operating perfectly or to peak performance, equipment may wear more quickly, but such conditions are often considered tolerable and not worth the effort to remedy. But, there is no fair price on safety! These issues can magnify to the point of presenting a safety hazard. There are often several amps of current flowing to ground without notice. Never presume that the ground is not live. Always check it first.

Fortunately, in modern terms, this is easier than might be assumed. Years back, test equipment did not come with the safety features that are common now, and operators, in the interest of saving time, tended to develop a cavalier attitude. Leave that to the Three Musketeers. Be familiar with the safety features built into the unit and pay attention to them. If the ground test instrument is a clamp-on device, a good one will have a separate current measurement mode. Just set the meter, clamp over the electrode or grounding conductor, and see what’s there. This is a no-brainer as far as the instrument design is concerned. A clampon ground tester already has two windings, one for current and one for voltage, in order to perform the resistance measurement. A flick of the selector switch can engage the current winding only, and it becomes a clamp-on current meter. In terms of technology, when in the resistance configuration, the instrument reads only its own output frequency. But when in the ampere position, measurement becomes broad-band to include utility frequencies and their harmonics. This can also be an important feature in tracking down power quality problems, but most important, it alerts the operator that the system is live.

BY JEFF JOWETT, Megger

Standard three- and four-terminal ground testers may also have a current clamp function, and this should be used first to check the system before any physical contact is made. Even without this feature, most well-designed testers will have various types of warning indicators. It’s easy to overlook them when eagerly looking for a number, but always be familiar with an instrument’s indicators and what they mean. Basicfunction testers that lack any such features should be backed up with a clamp-on ammeter as part of the tool kit.

Modern ground test sets themselves are not a source of danger. The sensitivity available with microprocessor technology has enabled instrument design to be held within safe parameters; less than 50 volts and only a few milliamperes. Old test sets remaining in use may not be so limited, so be sure to review the test set’s specifications and respect them. The one other exception is equipment made for geophysical prospecting, where more power is needed to drive the signal to great depths. But these allowances aside, it is not the test equipment that poses any danger but the tested item; that is to say, the electrical system that can produce dangerous voltages on test instrumentation and leads. Be aware of the possibility of an event. A euphemistic description indeed, but an event can be extremely energetic, involving thousands of volts and hundreds of amperes, when a fault or lightning stroke is being cleared. As with on-line current, the biggest danger here is lack of perception. Since events are comparatively rare, they often are readily ignored. Moreover, the danger can be insidiously non-conspicuous. The weather does not have to be blowing up around the site or lightning visible close by. A spike or surge can travel for miles and go to ground through the test circuit. The danger is real but the protection is simple. Adherence to well-established industry standard safety practice is all that is required.

Extended test leads, in addition to the connected power system, are possible sources of risk. Large grids sometimes are tested using out-of-service transmission lines in the current circuit, and these present an inductive hazard. It is recommended not to schedule field measurements during periods of forecasted lightning activity. This may seem a no-brainer, but remember, the hazard is not confined to the immediate working area. The station being measured and the power network connected to the station being measured should all be included. Test leads should not be laid out or connected to out-of-service lines during such periods. Test leads should be left disconnected when not in use but still regarded as potentially energized. Similarly, if lightning is observed, testing should be ceased and conductors isolated.

The high voltages associated with lightning can inductively produce similar voltages on extended leads, and even though of short duration, the discharge can be lethal if through the body of the operator.

Standard safety recommendations include the use of insulated gloves and boots, hard hats, and eye protection. Work should be carried out on an insulated blanket or dry, crushed rock. Cable reels should be well insulated or mounted on an insulating platform, and bare-hand contact between equipment and test leads avoided. Personnel pulling cable should be in the clear before connection to instrumentation is made. Safety grounds should be sized for prospective fault levels and connected to all equipment frames, while being removed from the test circuit last. Leads can be fuse-protected, which safeguards the instrument as well as the operator, and switches or disconnects can be used to isolate when the test is not in progress. If necessary, the instrument can be connected to the grid through resistance voltage dividers or instrument transformers.

Testing of single-point grounds and smaller facilities can readily be performed solo, but large grids often call for teamwork in stringing long leads, measuring, repositioning, and the like. For safety, it is advisable to have a team leader coordinate all activities, direct the positioning of leads, and authorize the energizing and de-energizing of the circuit. A tailgate meeting before the start of the procedure can serve as a redundant safety feature, assuring that everyone knows the plan and their own role. In this way, confusion and oversights with the attendant safety hazards are prevented. No one should touch the test circuit without clearance from the leader. Such practice will prevent situations such as the instrument operator becoming aware of a live circuit situation but neglecting to relay the warning to persons at a remote position, who in turn contact a lead for reasons of their own. Elementary, but an important safeguard amidst the normal bustle of a test site. Even radio communication may be in order for safe and effective testing at the largest sites.

Less-extended grounding systems do not require such long test leads, and indeed may readily be covered by an operator working alone. However, it is best practice to be familiar with all the procedures and requirements of the largest and most demanding sites, typically substations, so that the plan can be adjusted down safely and without oversight. Finally, persons performing ground tests around substations and generation sites should be aware of step and touch potentials. These are the voltages that can develop in the earth itself, or between a fence and earth, in the vicinity of a substation during a fault. They must be kept to safe levels by system design, and must be measured for conformance. Step and touch potentials were covered in previous articles and will be reviewed again upon relevant standard revision.

Next, review will be made of underlying theory of ground resistance measurement, how it departs from “real world” experience, and yet remains relevant and useful.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION :

IEEE Standard 81.2 – “IEEE Guide for Measurement of Impedance and Safety Characteristics of Large, Extended or Interconnected Grounding Systems”

ANSI/ASTM D 120 & D 178

Jeffery R. Jowett is a Senior Applications Engineer for Megger in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, serving the manufacturing lines of Biddle, Megger, and multi-Amp for electrical test and measurement instrumentation. He holds a BS in Biology and Chemistry from Ursinus College. He was employed for 22 years with James G. Biddle Co. which became Biddle Instruments and is now Megger.

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND MEMBER MEETING

September in Boston, Massachusetts was beautiful along the water. Perfect sunny skies, cool breezes and warm days greeted the NETA Board of Directors and Members for the meetings on September 15-16, 2011. The Board meeting was focused on continuing the major strides made by the Association over the past year and a half, with more focused efforts placed on continuing to educate the public on the value of partnering with a NETA Accredited Company. Plans were finalized for a pilot lunch and learn program that will take place this fall and should open new doors for NETA and its members.

The Member Meeting was once again a great forum for discussion and ideas about the shifting demographics of electrical testing today. It is plain to see that everyone in attendance is passionate about their industry, their business, and their contributions to this Association. NETA is continually grateful to enjoy the participation of these volunteers who support NETA at every level in each core program.

Rounding out a perfect meeting, Scott Blizard, American Electrical Testing, and his lovely wife Lori, hosted a New England Clambake at their home on Cape Cod before the meeting. Gracious hospitality that would give the South a run for its money was equally paired with excellent food and the best of company.

CONFERENCE IN SESSION

The Electric Light & Power Executive Conference, now in its third year, focuses on providing utility industry executives with information they need to navigate challenges and seize opportunities in the energy industry. It provides an exclusive, intimate atmosphere in which industry leaders can network and discuss important issues with other executives, industry and financial experts and regulators. The conference is designed to help utilities move toward and adapt to a sustainable energy future.

Todd Buchholz

U.S. economist and bestselling author

Opening Keynote Session - Sunday, Jan. 22, 4 - 5 p.m.

A former director of economic policy at the White House, managing director of the $15 billion Tiger hedge fund, and award-winning Harvard economics teacher, Todd Buchholz has advised President Bush and is a frequent commentator on ABC News, PBS and CBS, and recently hosted his own special on CNBC. Buchholz has debated such luminaries as Lester Thurow and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz. He is co-founder and managing director of Two Oceans Management LLC and was a fellow at Cambridge University in 2009. His newest book, “Rush: Why You Need and Love the Rat Race,” has been named a top 10 book for 2011 by Publishers Weekly.

Bill Richardson

Former governor of New Mexico, U.S. energy secretary, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and member of the U.S. House of Representatives

Luncheon Keynote Session - Monday, Jan. 23, 12:50 - 2 p.m.

Bill Richardson completed his second term as governor of New Mexico in December 2010. Since then, he was named chairman of APCO Worldwide’s executive advisory service Global Political Strategies (GPS).  In addition, Richardson has joined several nonprofit and for-profit boards, including Abengoa’s International Advisory Board, the fifth-largest biofuels producer in the U.S.  Richardson served 15 years in northern New Mexico representing the 3rd Congressional District. He served in 1997 as the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., and in 1998 he was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as secretary of the Department of Energy.  While a congressman, Richardson won the release of hostages, U.S. servicemen and prisoners in North Korea, Iraq, Cuba and Sudan. Richardson has been nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Opening Keynote Session sponsored by:

Luncheon Keynote Session sponsored by:

ANSWER 1

ANSWERS

1. List the seven steps involved with placing equipment in an electrically-safe work condition: The seven steps are:

a. Determine all possible sources of electrical energy.

b. After properly interrupting the load, open the disconnecting device for each source.

c. When possible, visually verify all blades or contacts are open.

d. Apply lockout/tagout devices.

e. Operate the circuit or device, if possible, to ensure deactivation.

f. Test each conductor for the absence of voltage.

g. If necessary, ground the circuit.

ANSWER 2

2. Which OSHA regulation contains the requirements for electrical lockout/tagout?

c. 1910.333

1910.147 covers lockout/tagout of mechanical equipment, while 1910.333(b) covers lockout/tagout of electrical equipment.

ANSWER 3

3. How does electrical lockout/tagout differ from mechanical lockout/tagout?

a. Equipment is not considered deenergized until it has been tested.

a. is the correct answer. 1910.147 requires that energy sources be blocked or restrained, and it also requires that a nylon cable tie or its equivalent be used for tags. The main difference is that electrical lockout/tagout requires a test to verify the absence of voltage. Until this test is performed, it must be considered energized.

ANSWER 4

4. Which NFPA 70E article covers placing equipment in an electricallysafe work condition?

c. Article 120 Article 100 covers definitions, Article 110 covers general requirements, Article 120 covers placing equipment in an electricallysafe work condition, and Article 130 covers work involving electrical hazards.

ANSWER 5

5. Name the hazard involved with placing an electrical system in an electrically-safe work condition. f. All the above

f. There are specific hazards associated with the different configurations of electrical power systems. Doubleended substations have twice the incident energy if both main breakers and the tie breaker are closed. Ring bus or loop systems will usually have energized stabs on the end breakers. Tie breakers can have both sets of stabs energized. The important thing is to be aware of the configuration of the system and expect the unexpected. In other words, don’t make assumptions.

NFPA Disclaimer: Although Jim White is a member of the NFPA Technical Committee for both NFPA 70E “Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace” and NFPA 70B “Recommended Practice for Electrical Equipment Maintenance,” the views and opinions expressed in this message are purely the author’s and shall not be considered an official position of the NFPA or any of its technical committees and shall not be considered to be, nor be relied upon as, a formal interpretation or promotion of the NFPA. Readers are encouraged to refer to the entire text of all referenced documents.

ANSI/NETA STANDARDS UPDATES

ANSI/NETA ATS-2013

The ANSI/NETA Standard for Acceptance Testing Specifications for Electrical Power Equipment and System is scheduled to be published as a revised document in 2013. These specifications cover the suggested field tests and inspections that are available to assess the suitability for initial energization of electrical power equipment and systems. The purpose of these specifications is to assure that tested electrical equipment and systems are operational, are within applicable standards and manufacturer's tolerances, and are installed in accordance with design specifications. Work on this document began in the spring of 2011. Once completed, this standard will carry the designation of ANSI/NETA ATS-2013.

In keeping with NETA’s branding initiative, the covers of all three ANSI/NETA Standards have undergone revision and all future editions will reflect the new cover designs. If you have any questions about the ANSI/NETA Standards, including how to specify testing to the ANSI/ NETA Standards, please contact the NETA office at neta@netaworld.org or call 888-300-6382.

ANSI/NETA MTS-2011 NEW EDITION!

On May 16, 2011, NETA received notification that the ANSI/NETA Standard for Maintenance Testing Specifications for Electrical Power Equipment and Systems was approved as a revised American National Standard. This document contains specifications which cover the suggested field tests and inspections that are available to assess the suitability for continued service and reliability of electrical power distribution equipment and systems. The purpose of these specifications is to assure that tested electrical equipment and systems are operational and within applicable standards and manufacturer’s tolerances and that the equipment and systems are suitable for continued service. It is available in hard copy, PDF, and CD Rom formats. Order your copy today at www.netaworld.org

ANSI/NETA ETT-2010

The ANSI/NETA Standard for Certification of Electrical Testing Technicians was approved as an American National Standard on January 8, 2010. The document was originally approved as an ANSI standard in 2000. This standard establishes minimum requirements for qualifications, certification, training, and experience for the electrical testing technician. It also provides criteria for documenting qualifications and certification and details the minimum qualifications for an independent and impartial certifying body to certify electrical testing technicians..

PARTICIPATION

Comments and suggestions are always welcome on any of the standards and should be directed to the NETA office at neta@netaworld.org or 888-300-6382. To learn more about the NETA standards review and revision process, purchase these standards, or to get involved, please visit www.netaworld.org or call 888-300-6382.

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NETA ACCREDITED COMPANIES

A&F Electrical Testing, Inc.

80 Lake Ave. South, Ste. 10 Nesconset, NY 11767 (631) 584-5625 Fax: (631) 584-5720 kchilton@afelectricaltesting.com www.afelectricaltesting.com

Kevin Chilton

A&F Electrical Testing, Inc.

80 Broad St. 5th Floor New York, NY 10004 (631) 584-5625 Fax: (631) 584-5720 afelectricaltesting@afelectricaltesting.com www.afelectricaltesting.com

Florence Chilton

Advanced Testing Systems 15 Trowbridge Dr. Bethel, CT 06801 (203) 743-2001 Fax: (203) 743-2325 pmaccarthy@advtest.com www.advtest.com

Pat MacCarthy

American Electrical Testing Co., Inc.

480 Neponset St., Building 3 Canton, MA 02021-1970 (781) 821-0121 Fax: (781) 821-0771 sblizard@aetco.us www.99aetco.com

Scott A. Blizard

American Electrical Testing Co., Inc. 34 Clover Dr. South Windsor, CT 06074 (860) 648-1013 Fax: (781) 821-0771 jpoulin@aetco.us www.99aetco.com

Gerald Poulin

American Electrical Testing Co., Inc. 76 Cain Dr. Brentwood, NY 11717 (631) 617-5330 Fax: (631) 630-2292 mschacker@aetco.us www.99aetco.com

Michael Schacker

American Electrical Testing Co., Inc. 50 Intervale Rd., Ste. 1 Boonton, NJ 07005 (973) 316-1180 Fax: (781) 316-1181 trosato@aetco.us www.99aetco.com

Anthony Rosato

American Electrical Testing Co., Inc. 1811 Executive Dr., Ste. M Indianapolis, IN 46241 (317) 487-2111 Fax: (781) 821-0771 rramsey@99aetco.us www.99aetco.com

Rick Ramsey

American Electrical Testing Co., Inc. Green Hills Commerce Center 5925 Tilghman St., Ste. 200 Allentown, PA 18104 (215) 219-6800 jmunley@aetco.us www.99aetco.us

Jonathan Munley

American Electrical Testing Co., Inc. 1672 SE 80th Bella Vista Dr. The Villages, FL 32162 (727) 447-4503 Fax: (727) 447-4984 rhoffman@aetco.us www.99aetco.com

Bob Hoffman

Apparatus Testing and Engineering 11300 Sanders Dr., Ste. 29 Rancho Cordova, CA 95742 (916) 853-6280 Fax: (916) 853-6258 jlawler@apparatustesting.com www.apparatustesting.com

James Lawler

Apparatus Testing and Engineering 7083 Commerce Circle, Ste. H Pleasanton, CA 94588 (925) 454-1363 Fax: (925) 454-1499 info@apparatustesting.com www.apparatustesting.com

Harold (Jerry) Carr

Applied Engineering Concepts 1105 N. Allen Ave. Pasadena, CA 91104 (626) 398-3052 Fax: (626) 398-3053 michel.c@aec-us.com www.aec-us.com

Michel Castonguay

Burlington Electrical Testing Co., Inc. 300 Cedar Ave. Croydon, PA 19021-6051 (215) 826-9400 (221) Fax: (215) 826-0964 waltc@betest.com www.betest.com

Walter P. Cleary

C.E. Testing, Inc.

6148 Tim Crews Rd. Macclenny, FL 32063 (904) 653-1900 Fax: (904) 653-1911 cetesting@aol.com

Mark Chapman

CE Power Solutions, LLC

4500 W. Mitchell Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45232 (513) 563-6150 Fax: (513) 563-6120 info@cepowersol.com

Mark McCloy

CE Power Solutions of Wisconsin, LLC

3255 W. Highview Dr. Appleton, WI 54914 (920) 968-0281 Fax: (920) 968-0282 jimvh@cepowersol.com

James Van Handel

DYMAX Holdings, Inc.

4751 Mustang Circle St. Paul, MN 55112 (763) 717-3150 Fax: (763) 784-5397 gphilipp@dymaxservice.com www.dymaxservice.com

Gene Philipp

High Voltage Service, Inc.

4751 Mustang Circle St. Paul, MN 55112 (763) 717-3103 Fax: (763) 784-5397 www.hvserviceinc.com

Mike Mavetz

DYMAX Service Inc.

23426 Industrial Park Ct. Farmington Hills, MI 48335-2854 (248) 477-6066 Fax: (248) 477-6069 www.dymaxservice.com

Bruce Robinson

DYMAX Service Inc. 4213 Kropf Ave. Canton, OH 44706 (330) 484-6801 Fax: (740) 333-1271 www.dymaxservice.com

Gary Swank

Eastern High Voltage 11A South Gold Dr. Robbinsville, NJ 08691-1606 (609) 890-8300 Fax: (609) 588-8090 joewilson@easternhighvoltage.com www.easternhighvoltage.com

Joseph Wilson

ELECT, P.C.

7400-G Siemens Rd., P.O. Box 2080 Wendell, NC 27591 (919) 365-9775 Fax: (919) 365-9789 btyndall@elect-pc.com www.elect-pc.com

Barry W. Tyndall

Electric Power Systems, Inc. 21 Millpark Ct. Maryland Heights, MO 63043-3536 (314) 890-9999 Fax: (314) 890-9998 cfr@eps-international.com www.eps-international.com

Steve Reed

Electric Power Systems, Inc. 557 E. Juanita Avenue, #4 Mesa, AZ 85204 (480) 633-1490 Fax: (480) 633-7092 www.eps-international.com

Louis G. Gilbert

Electric Power Systems, Inc. 4436 Parkway Commerce Blvd. Orlando, FL 32808 (407) 578-6424 Fax: 407-578-6408 www.eps-international.com

Doug Pacey

Electric Power Systems, Inc. 6753 E. 47th Avenue Dr., Unit D Denver, CO 80216 (720) 857-7273 Fax: 303-928-8020 www.eps-international.com

Thomas C. Reed

Electric Power Systems, Inc. 23823 Andrew Rd. Plainfield, IL 60585 (815) 577-9515 Fax: (815) 577-9516 www.eps-international.com

George Bratkiv

Electric Power Systems, Inc. 2601 Center Rd., # 101 Hinckley, OH 44233 (330) 460-3706 Fax: (330) 460-3708 www.eps-international.com

Garth Paul

Electric Power Systems, Inc. 1129 East Hwy 30 Gonzalez, LA 70737 (225) 644-0150 Fax: (225) 644-6249 www.eps-international.com

C.J. Theriot

Electric Power Systems, Inc.

827 Union St. Salem, VA 24153 (540) 375-0084 Fax: (540) 375-0094 virginia@eps-international.com www.eps-international.com

Bruce Eppers

Electric Power Systems, Inc.

915 Holt Ave., Unit 9 Manchester, NH 03109 (603) 657-7371 Fax: 603-657-7370 www.eps-international.com

Cindy Taylor

Electric Power Systems, Inc.

146 Space Park Dr. Nashville, TN 37211 (615) 834-0999 Fax: (615) 834-0129 www.eps-international.com

Larry Christodoulou

Electric Power Systems, Inc.

1090 Montour West Industrial Blvd. Coraopolis, PA 15108 (412) 276-4559 www.eps-international.com

Ed Nahm

Electric Power Systems, Inc.

6141 Connecticut Ave. Kansas City, MO 64120 (816) 241-9990 Fax: (816) 241-9992 www.eps-international.com

Joe Dillon

EPS Technology

29 N. Plains Hwy., Ste. 12 Wallingford, CT 06492 (203) 649-0145 www.eps-technology.com

Chris Myers

Electrical & Electronic Controls 6149 Hunter Rd. Ooltewah, TN 37363 (423) 344-7666 (23) Fax: (423) 344-4494 eecontrols@comcast.net

Michael Hughes

Electrical Energy Experts, Inc. W129N10818, Washington Dr. Germantown, WI 53022 (262) 255-5222 Fax: (262) 242-2360 bill@electricalenergyexperts.com www.electricalenergyexperts.com

William Styer

NETA ACCREDITED COMPANIES

Electrical Equipment Upgrading, Inc. 21 Telfair Place Savannah, GA 31415 (912) 232-7402 Fax: (912) 233-4355 kmiller@eeu-inc.com www.eeu-inc.com

Kevin Miller

Electrical Maintenance & Testing Inc. 7301 N. Georgetown Rd., Ste. 212 Indianapolis, IN 46268 (317) 471-8600 Fax: (317) 471-8605 www.emtesting.com

Brian K. Borst

Electrical Reliability Services

1057 Doniphan Park Circle, Ste. A El Paso, TX 79922 (915) 587-9440 Fax: (915) 587-9010 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services

1775 W. University Dr., Ste. 128 Tempe, AZ 85281 (480) 966-4568 Fax: (480) 966-4569 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services

1455 East Sam Houston Parkway S., Ste. 190 Pasadena, TX 77503 (281) 241-2800 Fax: (281) 241-2801 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services

4099 SE International Way, Ste. 201 Milwaukie, OR 97222-8853 (503) 653-6781 Fax: (503) 659-9733 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services

5810 Van Allen Way Carlsbad, CA 92008 (760) 804-2972 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services

8500 Washington St. NE, Ste. A-6 Albuquerque, NM 87113 (505) 822-0237 Fax: (505) 822-0217 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services 1380 Greg Street, Ste. 217 Sparks, NV 89431 (775) 746-8484 Fax: (775) 356-5488 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services

2275 Northwest Parkway SE, Ste. 180 Marietta, GA 30067 (770) 541-6600 Fax: (770) 541-6501 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services 7100 Broadway, Ste. 7E Denver, CO 80221-2915 (303) 427-8809 Fax: (303) 427-4080 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services 348 N.W. Capital Dr. Lees Summit, MO 64086 (816) 525-7156 Fax: (816) 524-3274 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services 6900 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 415 Pleasanton, CA 94566 (925) 485-3400 Fax: (925) 485-3436 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services 10606 Bloomfield Ave. Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670 (562) 236-9555 Fax: (562) 777-8914 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services 14141 Airline Hwy, Bldg. 1, Ste. X Baton Rouge, LA 70817 (225) 755-0530 Fax: (225) 751-5055 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services 121 E. Hwy. 108 Sulphur, LA 70665 (337) 583-2411 Fax: (337) 583-2410 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services 5580 Enterprice Parkway Ft. Myers, FL 33905-5507 (239) 693-7100 Fax: (239) 693-7772 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services 2222 West Valley Hwy. N., Ste 160 Auburn, WA 98001 (253) 736-6010 Fax: (253) 736-6015 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services 3412 South 1400 West, Unit A West Valley City, UT 84119 (801) 975-6461 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services 6351 Hinson St., Ste. B Las Vegas, NV 89118 (702) 597-0020 Fax: (702) 597-0095 www.electricalreliability.com

Electrical Reliability Services 610 Executive Campus Dr. Westerville, OH 43082 (877) 468-6384 Fax: (614) 410-8420 info@electricalreliability.com www.electricalreliability.com

Elemco Services, Inc. 228 Merrick Rd. Lynbrook, NY 11563 (631) 589-6343 Fax: (631) 589-6670 BobW@elemco.com www.elemco.com

Robert J. White

Electrical Testing, Inc. 2671 Cedartown Hwy Rome, Ga 30161 (706) 234-7623 Fax: (706) 236-9028 steve@electricaltestinginc.com www.electricaltestinginc.com

Steve C. Dodd Sr.

Grubb Emgineering, Inc. 3128 Sidney Brooks San Antonio, Tx 78235 (210) 658-7250 Fax: (210) 658-9805 bobby@grubbengineering.com www.grubbengineering.com

Robert D. Grubb Jr.

Hampton Tedder Technical Services 4571 State St. Montclair, CA 91763 (909) 628-1256 x214 Fax: (909) 628-6375 matt.tedder@hamptontedder.com www.hamptontedder.com Matt Tedder

Hampton Tedder Technical Services 4920 Alto Ave. Las Vegas, NV 89115 (702) 452-9200 Fax: (702) 453-5412 www.hamptontedder.com

Roger Cates

Hampton Tedder Technical Services 3747 West Roanoke Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85009 (480) 967-7765 Fax: (480) 967-7762 www.hamptontedder.com

NETA ACCREDITED COMPANIES

Harford Electrical Testing Co., Inc. 1108 Clayton Rd. Joppa, MD 21085 (410) 679-4477 Fax: (410) 679-0800 harfordtesting@aol.com

Vincent Biondino

High Energy Electrical Testing, Inc.

2119 Orien Rd. Toms River, NJ 08755-1366 (732) 286-4088 Fax: (732) 286-4086 hinrg@comcast.net www.highenergyelectric.com

James P. Ratshin

High Voltage Maintenance Corp. 24 Walpole Park South Dr. Walpole, MA 02081 (508) 668-9205 www.hvmcorp.com

High Voltage Maintenance Corp. 941 Busse Rd. Elk Grove Village, Il 60007 (847) 228-9595 www.hvmcorp.com

High Voltage Maintenance Corp.

7200 Industrial Park Blvd. Mentor, OH 44060 (440) 951-2706 Fax: (440) 951-6798 www.hvmcorp.com

High Voltage Maintenance Corp.

3000 S. Calhoun Rd. New Berlin, WI 53151 (262) 784-3660 Fax: (262) 784-5124 www.hvmcorp.com

High Voltage Maintenance Corp. 8320 Brookville Rd. #E Indianapolis, IN 46239 (317) 322-2055 Fax: (317) 322-2056 www.hvmcorp.com

High Voltage Maintenance Corp. 1250 Broadway, Ste. 2300 New York, NY 10001 (718) 239-0359 www.hvmcorp.com

High Voltage Maintenance Corp.

355 Vista Park Dr. Pittsburgh, PA 15205-1206 (412) 747-0550 Fax: (412) 747-0554 www.hvmcorp.com

High Voltage Maintenance Corp.

150 North Plains Industrial Rd. Wallingford, CT 06492 (203) 949-2650 Fax: (203) 949-2646 www.hvmcorp.com

High Voltage Maintenance Corp. 9305 Gerwig Ln., Ste. B Columbia, MD 21046 (410) 309-5970 Fax: (410) 309-0220 www.hvmcorp.com

High Voltage Maintenance Corp. 1455 Jamike Dr., Ste. 5 Erlanger, KY 41018 (859) 371-5355 Fax: (859) 371-5399 www.hvmcorp.com

High Voltage Maintenance Corp.

24371 Catherine Industrial Dr. Ste. 207 Novi, MI 48375 (248) 305-5596 Fax: (248) 305-5579 www.hvmcorp.com

High Voltage Maintenance Corp.

5100 Energy Dr. Dayton, OH 45414 (937) 278-0811 Fax: (937) 278-7791 www.hvmcorp.com

HMT, Inc. 6268 Route 31 Cicero, NY 13039 (315) 699-5563 Fax: (315) 699-5911 jpertgen@hmt-electric.com www.hmt-electric.com

John Pertgen

Industrial Electric Testing, Inc. 11321 West Distribution Ave. Jacksonville, FL 32256 (904) 260-8378 Fax: (904) 260-0737 gbenzenberg@bellsouth.net www.industrialelectrictesting.com

Gary Benzenberg

Industrial Electric Testing, Inc. 201 NW 1st Ave. Hallandale, FL 33009-4029 (954) 456-7020 www.industrialelectrictesting.com

Industrial Electronics Group P.O. Box 1870 850369 Highway 17 South Yulee, FL 32041 (904) 225-9529 Fax: (904) 225-0834 butch@industrialgroups.com www.industrialgroups.com

Butch E. Teal

Industrial Tests, Inc. 4021 Alvis Ct., Ste. 1 Rocklin, CA 95677 (916) 296-1200 Fax: (916) 632-0300 greg@indtests.com www.industrialtests.com

Greg Poole

Infra-Red Building and Power Service 152 Centre St. Holbrook, MA 02343-1011 (781) 767-0888 Fax: (781) 767-3462 tom.mcdonald@infraredbps.net www.infraredbps.com

Thomas McDonald Sr.

M&L Power Systems, Inc. 109 White Oak Ln., Ste. 82 Old Bridge, NJ 08857 (732) 679-1800 Fax: (732) 679-9326 dan@mlpower.com www.mlpower.com

Darshan Arora

Magna Electric Corporation 2361 Industrial Dr., Box 995 Regina, SK S4P 3B2 Canada (306) 949-8131 Fax: (306) 522-9181 kheid@magnaelectric.com www.magnaelectric.com

Kerry Heid

Magna Electric Corporation 3430 25th St. NE Calgary, AB T1Y 6C1 Canada (403) 769-9300 Fax: (403)769-9369 ppetrie@magnaelectric.com www.magnaelectric.com

Pat Petrie

Magna Electric Corporation 851-58th St. East Saskatoon, SK S7K 6X5 Canada (306) 955-8131 x 5 Fax: (306) 955-9181 www.magnaelectric.com

Luis Wilson

Magna Electric Corporation 1683 Church Ave. Winnipeg, MB R2X2Y7 Canada (204) 925-4022 Fax: (204) 925-4021 cbrandt@magnaelectric.com www.magnaelectric.com Curtis Brandt

Magna IV Engineering 4103 - 97th St., N.W. Edmonton, AB T6E 6E9 Canada (780) 462-3111 Fax: (780) 462-9799 jwentzell@magnaiv.com www.magnaiv.com Jereme Wentzell

Magna IV Engineering Unit 10, 10672- 46 St. S.E. Calgary, AB T2C 1G1 Canada (403) 723-0575 Fax: (403) 723-0580 info.calgary@magnaiv.com Jereme Wentzell

Magna IV Engineering 8219D Fraser Ave. Fort McMurray, AB T9H 0A2 Canada (780) 791-3122 Fax: (780) 791-3159 info.fmcmurray@magnaiv.com Jereme Wentzell

Magna IV Engineering 96 Inverness Dr. East, Unit R Englewood, CO 80112 (303) 799-1273 Fax: (303) 790-4816 info.denver@magnaiv.com Jereme Wentzell

Magna IV Engineering Oficina 1407 Torre Norte 481 Nueva Tajamar Las Condes, Region Metropolitana 7550099 Chile +(56) 9-9-517-4642 info.chile@magnaiv.com

Jereme Wentzell

Magna IV Engineering 1040 Winnipeg St. Regina , SK S4R 8P8 Canada (306) 504-6501 Fax: (306) 729-4897 info.regina@magnaiv.com

Jereme Wentzell

MET Electrical Testing LLC

3602 East Southern Ave., Ste. 1 & 2 Phoenix, AZ 85040 (602) 796-6583 Fax: www.met-test.com

Mike Ferguson

MET Electrical Testing LLC

6280 South Valley View Blvd., Ste. 618

Las Vegas, NV 89118 (702) 216-0982 Fax: (702) 216-0983 www.met-test.com

Terry Travelstead

MET Electrical Testing LLC 814 Greenbrier Circle, Ste. E Chesapeake, VA 23320 (757) 548-5690 Fax: (757) 548-5417 www.met-test.com

Mark Anthony Gaughan, III

MET Electrical Testing LLC

3700 Commerce Dr. #901-903 Baltimore, MD 21227 (410) 247-3300 Fax: (410) 247-0900 www.met-test.com

Bill Hartman

MET Electrical Testing LLC

710 Thomson Park Dr. Cranberry Township, PA 16066-6427 (724) 772-4638 Fax: (724) 772-6003 william.mckenzie@met.lincfs.com www.met-test.com

William (Pete) McKenzie

Carolina Electrical Testing Co. 5805 G Departure Dr. Raleigh, NC 27616 (919) 877-1008 Fax: (919) 501-7492 www.met-test.com

Mark Robinson

Substation Test Co.

4390 Parliament Place, Ste. Q Lanham, MD 20706 (301) 967-3500 Fax: (301) 735-8953 www.met-test.com

Frank Ceci

National Field Services

649 Franklin St. Lewisville, TX 75057 (972) 420-0157 www.natlfield.com

Eric Beckman

Nationwide Electrical Testing, Inc.

6050 Southard Trace Cumming, GA 30040 (770) 667-1875 Fax: (770) 667-6578 Shashi@N-E-T-Inc.com www.n-e-t-inc.com

Shashikant B. Bagle

North Central Electric, Inc. 69 Midway Ave. Hulmeville, PA 19047-5827 (215) 945-7632 Fax: (215) 945-6362 ncetest@aol.com

Robert Messina

Northern Electrical Testing, Inc. 1991 Woodslee Dr. Troy, MI 48083-2236 (248) 689-8980 Fax: (248) 689-3418 ldetterman@northerntesting.com www.northerntesting.com

Lyle Detterman

NETA ACCREDITED COMPANIES

Orbis Engineering Field Services Ltd. #300, 9404 - 41st Ave. Edmonton, AB T6E 6G8 Canada (780) 988-1455 Fax: (780) 988-0191 lorne@orbisengineering.net www.orbisengineering.net

Lorne Gara

Pacific Power Testing, Inc. 14280 Doolittle Dr. San Leandro, CA 94577 (510) 351-8811 Fax: (510) 351-6655 steve@pacificpowertesting.com www.pacificpowertesting.com

Steve Emmert

Pacific Powertech, Inc. #110, 2071 Kingsway Ave. Port Coquitlam, BC V3C 1T2 Canada (604) 944-6697 Fax: (604) 944-1271 chite@pacificpowertech.ca www.magnaiv.ca

Cameron Hite

Phasor Engineering Sabaneta Industrial Park #216 Mercedita, PR 715 Puerto Rico (787) 844-9366 Fax: (787) 841-6385 rcastro@phasorinc.com

Rafael Castro

Potomac Testing, Inc. 1610 Professional Blvd., Ste. A Crofton, MD 21114 (301) 352-1930 Fax: (301) 352-1936 kbassett@potomactesting.com www.potomactesting.com

Ken Bassett

Potomac Testing, Inc. 11179 Hopson Rd., Ste. 5 Ashland, VA 23005 (804) 798-7334 Fax: (804) 798-7456 www.potomactesting.com

Power & Generation Testing, Inc. 480 Cave Rd. Nashville, TN 37210 (615) 882-9455 Fax: (615) 882-9591 mose@pgti.net www.pgti.net

Mose Ramieh

Power Engineering Services, Inc. 9179 Shadow Creek Lane Converse, TX 78109 (210) 590-4936 Fax: (210) 590-6214 engelke@pe-svcs.com www.pe-svcs.com

Miles R. Engelke

POWER PLUS Engineering, Inc. 46575 Magallan Dr. Novi, MI 48377 (248) 344-0200 Fax: (248) 305-9105 smancuso@epowerplus.com www.epowerplus.com

Salvatore Mancuso

Power Products & Solutions, Inc. 12465 Grey Commercial Rd. Midland, NC 28107 (704) 573-0420 x12 Fax: (704) 573-3693 ralph.patterson@powerproducts.biz www.powerproducts.biz

Ralph Patterson

Power Products & Solutions, Inc. 13 Jenkins Ct. Mauldin, SC 29662 Fax: (800) 328-7382 ralph.patterson@powerproducts.biz www.powerproducts.biz

Raymond Pesaturo

Power Services, LLC P.O. Box 750066, 998 Dimco Way Centerville, OH 45475 (937) 439-9660 Fax: (937) 439-9611 jbydash@att.net

Gerald Bydash

Power Solutions Group, Ltd. 2001 Commerce Dr. Sidney, OH 45365 (937) 497-2025 Fax: (937) 492-3911 bwilloughby@powersolutionsgroup.com www.powersolutionsgroup.com

Barry Willoughby

Power Systems Testing Co. 4688 W. Jennifer Ave., Ste. 108 Fresno, CA 93722 (559) 275-2171 ext 15 Fax: (559) 275-6556 dave@pstcpower.com www.powersystemstesting.com

David Huffman

Power Systems Testing Co. 600 S. Grand Ave., Ste. 113 Santa Ana, CA 92705-4152 (714) 542-6089 Fax: (714) 542-0737 www.powersystemstesting.com

Power Systems Testing Co. 2267 Claremont Ct. Hayward, CA 94545-5001 (510) 783-5096 Fax: (510) 732-9287 www.powersystemstesting.com

Power Test, Inc. 2200 Highway 49 Harrisburg, NC 28075 (704) 200-8311 Fax: (704) 455-7909 rich@powertestinc.com www.powertestinc.com Richard Walker

POWER Testing and Energization, Inc. 14006 NW 3rd Ct., Ste. 101 Vancouver, WA 98685 (360) 576-4826 Fax: (360) 576-7182 chris.zavadlov@powerte.com www.powerte.com

Chris Zavadlov

POWER Testing and Energization, Inc. 731 E. Ball Rd., Ste. 100 Anaheim, CA 92805 (714) 507-2702 http://www.powerte.com

POWER Testing and Energization, Inc. 22035 70th Ave. South Kent, WA 98032 (253) 872-7747 www.powerte.com

Powertech Services, Inc. 4095 South Dye Rd. Swartz Creek, MI 48473-1570 (810) 720-2280 Fax: (810) 720-2283 jbrown@powertechservices.com www.powertechservices.com

Jean A. Brown

Precision Testing Group 18590 Wedemeyer Rd. Kiowa, CO 80117 (303) 621-2776 Fax: (303) 621-2573 glenn@precisiontestinggroup.com Glenn Stuckey

PRIT Service, Inc. 112 Industrial Dr., P.O. Box 606 Minooka, IL 60447 (815) 467-5577 Fax: (815) 467-5883 Rod.Hageman@pritserviceinc.com www.pritserviceinc.com

Rod Hageman

Reuter & Hanney, Inc. 149 Railroad Dr. Northampton Industrial Park Ivyland, PA 18974 (215) 364-5333 Fax: (215) 364-5365 mikereuter@reuterhanney.com www.reuterhanney.com

Michael Reuter

NETA ACCREDITED COMPANIES

Reuter & Hanney, Inc. 4270-I Henninger Ct. Chantilly, VA 20151 (703) 263-7163 Fax: 703-263-1478 www.reuterhanney.com

Reuter & Hanney, Inc.

1371 Brass Mill Rd., Unit E Belcamp, MD 21017 (410) 297-9566 Fax: (410) 297-9984 www.reuterhanney.com

Michael Jester

REV Engineering, LTD 3236 - 50 Ave. SE Calgary, AB T2B 3A3 Canada (403) 287-0156 Fax: (403) 287-0198 rdavidson@reveng.ca www.reveng.ca

Roland Nicholas Davidson, IV

Scott Testing Inc. 1698 5th St. Ewing, NJ 08638 (609) 882-2400 Fax: (609) 882-5660 rsorbello@scotttesting.com www.scotttesting.com

Russ Sorbello

Shermco Industries 2425 E. Pioneer Dr. Irving, TX 75061 (972) 793-5523 Fax: (972) 793-5542 rwidup@shermco.com www.shermco.com

Ron Widup

Shermco Industries

1705 Hur Industrial Blvd. Cedar Park, TX 78613 (512) 259-3060 Fax: (512) 258-5571 kewing@shermco.com www.shermco.com

Kevin Ewing

Shermco Industries 33002 FM 2004 Angleton, TX 77515 (979) 848-1406 Fax: (979) 848-0012 mfrederick@shermco.com www.shermco.com Malcom Frederick

Shermco Industries 1357 N. 108th E. Ave. Tulsa, OK 74116 (918) 234-2300

jharrison@shermco.com www.shermco.com

Jim Harrison

Shermco Industries

777 10th St. Marion, IA 52302 (319) 377-3377 Fax: (319) 377-3399 Lhamrick@shermco.com www.shermco.com

Lynn Hamrick

Shermco Industries

2100 Dixon St., Ste. C Des Moines, IA 50316 Fax: (515) 263-8482 DesMoines@shermco.com www.shermco.com

Lynn Hamrick

Shermco Industries

Boulevard Saint-Michel 47 1040 Brussels Brussels, Belgium

+32 (0)2 400 00 54 Fax: +32 (0)2 400 00 32 cperry@shermco.com www.shermco.com

Chris Perry

Sigma Six Solutions, Inc.

2200 West Valley Hwy., Ste. 100 Auburn, WA 98001 (253) 333-9730 Fax: (253) 859-5382 jwhite@sigmasixinc.com www.sigmasixinc.com

John White

Sigma Six Solutions, Inc. 1004 Wurzbach Rd., #226 San Antonio, TX 78230 info@sigmasixinc.com www.sigmasixinc.com

Southern New England Electrical Testing, LLC

3 Buel St., Unit 2 Wallingford, CT 06492 (203) 269-8778 Fax: (203) 269-8775 dave.asplund@sneet.org www.sneet.org

David Asplund, Sr.

Southwest Energy Systems, LLC 2231 East Jones Ave., Ste. A Phoenix, AZ 85040 (602) 438-7500 Fax: (602) 438-7501 bob.sheppard@southwestenergysystems.com www.southwestenergysystems.com

Robert Sheppard

Taurus Power & Controls, Inc. 9999 SW Avery St. Tualatin, OR 97062-9517 (503) 692-9004 Fax: (503) 692-9273 robtaurus@tauruspower.com www.tauruspower.com

Rob Bulfinch

Taurus Power & Controls, Inc. 6617 S. 193rd Place , Ste. P104 Kent, WA 98032 (425) 656-4170 Fax: (425) 656-4172 jiml@tauruspower.com www.taruspower.com

Jim Lightner

Three-C Electrical Co., Inc. 190 Pleasant St. Ashland, MA 01721 (508) 881-3911 Fax: (508) 881-4814 jim@three-c.com www.three-c.com

Jim Cialdea

Three-C Electrical Co., Inc. 79 Leighton Rd., Ste. 9 Augusta, ME 04330 (800) 649-6314 Fax: (207) 782-0162 jim@three-c.com www.three-c.com

Jim Cialdea

Tidal Power Services, LLC 4202 Chance Lane Rosharon, TX 77583 (281) 710-9150 Fax: (713) 583-1216 monty.janak@tidalpowerservices.com www.tidalpowerservices.com

Monty C. Janak

Tony Demaria Electric, Inc. 131 West F St. Wilmington, CA 90744 (310) 816-3130 x 111 Fax: (310) 549-9747 tde@tdeinc.com www.tdeinc.com

Anthony Demaria

Trace Electrical Services & Testing, LLC 293 Whitehead Rd. Hamilton, NJ 08619 (609) 588-8666 Fax: (609) 588-8667 jvasta@tracetesting.com www.tracetesting.com

Joseph Vasta

Utilities Instrumentation Service, Inc. PO Box 981123 Ypsilanti, MI 48198-1123 (734) 482-1450 (14) Fax: (734) 482-0035 GEWalls@UISCorp.com www.uiscorp.com

Gary E. Walls

Utility Service Corporation 4614 Commercial Dr. NW Huntsville, AL 35816-2201 (256) 837-8400 Fax: (256) 837-8403 apeterson@utilserv.com www.utilserv.com

Alan D. Peterson

Western Electrical Services 14311 29th St. East Sumner , WA 98390 (253) 891-1995 Fax: (253) 891-1511

dhook@westernelectricalservices.com www.westernelectricalservices.com

Daniel Hook

Western Electrical Services 5680 South 32nd St. Phoenix, AZ 85040 (253) 891-1995 dhook@westernelectricalservices.com www.westernelectricalservices.com

Daniel Hook

is issue’s advertisers are identi ed below. Please thank these advertises by telling them you saw their advertisement in YOUR magazine –NETA World.

INDEPENDENT NETA ACCREDITED COMPANIES

ABB’s large installed base of breakers, transformers, and distribution equipment, coupled with our talent and technology, position us to reduce downtime, improve reliability, increase safety, and extend the life of your existing equipment. Our worldwide leadership and service excellence provide a variety of aftermarket solutions for nuclear and conventional applications. ABB offers quality aftermarket solutions including breaker technology upgrades, breaker refurbishment, protection devices, and safety upgrades. Contact us today to improve the safety and reliability of your existing distribution equipment. www.abb.us/mvservice

My Dad Tests Relays

... ... and he is really excited about OMICRON´s test equipment.

No wonder Dad is so excited: Over the last 20 years, OMICRON has helped him to do a great job – and, with the following two products, his life gets even easier:

CMC 356

Dad´s new protection test set, the CMC 356, is the universal solution for testing all generations and types of protection relays. It provides the perfect combination

of versatility and power. Dad can test everything from high burden electromechanical relays to the latest IEC 61850 IEDs. He can even perform wiring and plausibility checks of current transformers, by using primary injection of high currents from his test set.

CMControl

For speedy manual tests, Dad now has an easy to use alternative to the proven Test

Universe PC software. His new CMControl utilizes an intuitive touch screen user interface and a control wheel. He can use it either as front panel control or as a handheld controller. Dad can also magnetically attach the CMControl to a protection panel for convenient eye-level operation. He can even upgrade his existing CMCs.

Now that’s exciting!