Electricity statutory requirements

Independent environmental assessments have shown that there is no increase in the emission of solids to the atmosphere and these are well below statutory requirements. With the addition of batteries, the total particulate emission level, measured during trials in Spain, did not increase and remained 30% below the permitted level. Furthermore, treating batteries does not increase the heavy metal content of the emissions. As for the electric arc furnaces, the heavy metal content of emissions are measured as the sum of Pb, Cr, Cu and Mn in mg/Nm. With the addition of batteries at up to 15% of the charge, no increase in the normal operating levels was measmed. In both cases the values were more than 10 times lower than the permit levels. 

Make sure that all statutory requirements and instructions given by inspecting authorities have been complied with. Some of these could be for boilers, economiser, steam lines, and electrical mains which have to be necessarily stopped for thorough cleaning and internal inspections. 

Caution There are chances of fire due to the circulating high-temperature oil, and hence, the motors, electrical fittings, and lighting must be flameproof. The pipelines, valves, gaskets, and pumps (with mechanical shaft seals) must he selected for high-temperature and high-pressure service and shall he tested as per statutory requirements. 

Clarifications are also required by statutory authorities before granting consent to start operations (generally these pertain to safety precautions, pollution control equipments, electrical power required for initial constmction, and continuous running afterwards). 

When the Electricity at Work Regulations (EWR) tell us to ensure that all systems are constructed so as to prevent danger they do not tell us how to actually do this in a specific situation. However, the lET Regulations tell us precisely how to carry out our electrical work safely in order to meet the statutory requirements of the EWR. In Part 1 of the lET Regulations, at 114, it states the Regulations are non-statutory. They may, however, be used in a court of law in evidence to claim compliance with a statutory requirement. If your electrical installation work meets the requirements of the lET Regulations, you will also meet the requirements of EWR. 

The periodic inspection and testing by a competent person of electrical plant and installations as a statutory requirement arises only under the Cinematograph (Safety) Regulations 1955 which require inspection and testing by a competent person every twelve months. 

Chapter 56 and section 313-02-01 are concerned with the requirements for electricity supplies for safety services which are generally for energising fire alarms, fire fighting and emergency lighting installations, but also, for example, for gas detection installations in unattended locations where there is a flammable hazard. Some of these installations are subject to statutory requirements which the designer must observe. He should also have regard to applicable standards and codes of practice. 

The third edition of Guidance Note No. 4 was published in November 1998. Section 1 lists the statutory requirements including the 1990 Scottish and 1991 English Building Regulations. Both have electrical requirements for fire stop, and the former, in section 26 for electrical installations, calls for avoidance of injury. 

Planning identification of the need for planned maintenance and arranging a schedule for this to meet any statutory requirements. A partial list of items for consideration includes air receivers and all pressure vessels, lifting equipment, electrical tools and machinery, fire and other emergency equipment, and structural items subject to wear, such as scaffold fittings. 

Once the primary considerations of size, height, conceptual layout, structural loads, servicing (mechanical, electrical, communications, public health, statutory services) requirements, access, material and personnel traffic, etc. have been addressed, a facility brief can be produced to allow collation of the basic project planning information ... 

There shall be a special budget for items for personal safety and ETP and for expenses required to comply with instructions from statutory inspectors work on pressure vessels, electrical equipments, boilers). 

We wiii now look at one non-statutory regulation, what is sometimes called the electrician s bible , the most important set of regulations for anyone working in the electrical industry, the BS 7671 2008 Requirements for Electrical Installations, lET Wiring Regulations 17th Edition. 

The electrical subcontractor will be responsible for the electrical design and installation. If the design and installation meets the requirements of the lET Regulations then it will also comply with the statutory regulations such as the Electricity at Work Act. 

Plant that is subject to periodic statutory inspections includes lifting plant for both goods and people and associated ancillary components, boilers, pressure vessels, power presses, extract ventilation plant and some electrical installations in special situations. A list of the principal Regulations containing plant inspection requirements is given in Table 29.1. 

The principal control measures for electrical hazards are contained In the statutory precautionary requirements covered by the Electricity at Work Regulations, the main provisions of which are outlined in Chapter 20. They are applicable to all electrical equipment and systems found at the workplace and impose duties on employers, employees and the self-employed. 

As there is no electrical legislation for domestic premises, the safety criteria have to be the requirements of the non-statutory BS 7671 2001 (see Chapter 10). This is the recognised safety standard observed by all reputable electrical contractors and as such is generally accepted by the courts as the benchmark standard. Compliance with the standard is invariably a requirement in specifications for electrical installation projects. Non-compliance usually means that the installation is likely to be unsafe, with the attendant risks of electric shock and/or burn or fire. However, it should be borne in mind that amendments to standards such as BS 7671 are not meant to be applied retrospectively. So the fact that an installation completed, say, 20 years ago does not comply with the latest edition of the standard should not be taken as an indication that the installation is unsafe if it complies with the edition of the standard extant at the time the installation was completed. The acid test is not so much whether the installation complies with a standard but whether or not it is safe, and professional judgement will frequently be needed to determine this. Non-compliances with the current edition of the standard should be recorded, but the safety consequences of the non-compliances should also be considered and noted. 

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