Canadian Occupational Safety

26 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com collaboration between these groups so organizations can achieve full compli- ance with the intended interpretation, specifi cally the implementation of an electrical safety program as part of an employer's overall OHSMS. The elec- trical maintenance department will be required to consult OHS practitioners for help digesting the new terminol- ogy and requirements. The tendency in industry to keep arc fl ash and shock isolated in the electrical departments of companies should now evolve to ensure a more focused safety manage- ment system approach is developed and implemented. The clauses within the new CSA Z462 have been updated to realign it with the CSA Z1000 Occupational Health and Safety Management standard. In recent years, the CSA Z1002-12 Occupational Health and Safety – Hazard Identifi cation and Elimination and Risk Assessment and Control stan- dard was published. While content from this was inserted in the current edition of CSA Z462 and Annex F, the new standard expands this content and brings it forward into the body of the standard. Employers will need to update their existing electrical safety programs to ensure their safety management systems include the elements necessary to main- tain a sustainable process for identifying and eliminating electrical hazards and assessing and controlling risk. TERMINOLOGY CHANGES In the constantly changing world of electrical safety, industry adopted language is always being updated. Long ago, the terms "live" and "dead" were used which were later changed to "energized" and "de-energized." More wholesale terminology changes are coming in the new CSA Z462 for 2015, similar to the global revision from fl ame resistant (FR) to arc-rated (AR) between the fi rst and second edi- tions. Many of the currently adopted electrical safety terms will be deleted in the third edition of CSA Z462, and new terminology and related require- ments will be added. The most signifi cant change in ter- minology and related requirements is eliminating references to a "hazard identifi cation and analysis" and replac- ing it with "risk assessment procedure." This applies to both arc fl ash and shock so the new terminology will be an "arc fl ash risk assessment" and a "shock risk assessment." Workers will be required to complete a risk assessment proce- dure related to energized electrical work tasks. Employers with well-estab- lished OHS management systems may already include the use of risk assessments and should rejoice at this result. The previous editions of both CSA Z462 and NFPA 70E: Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace had a fuzzy application of the term "risk," which was incorrectly being used to describe probability or likelihood. The new requirement of imbedding a risk assessment procedure in an imple- mented electrical safety program fully aligns CSA Z462 with CSA Z1002. The new risk assessment proce- dure will require a qualifi ed electrical worker to do the following: • ensure the electrical hazards apply to the work task • assess the risk of undertaking the work task in an energized state • implement both preventive and protective controls following occupational health and safety hierarchy of methods to reduce risk to as low as reasonably practicable. NEW 'TABLE METHOD' In addition to the risk assessment focus of CSA Z462, all references to hazard/ risk category (HRC) table method have been completely deleted from the updated standard. The updated version of the table method — called "arc fl ash PPE category method" — requires the identifi cation of when arc fl ash personal protective equipment (PPE) will be required related to a justifi ed energized electrical work task. The condition of the energized electri- cal equipment must also be identifi ed as normal or abnormal. "Normal" refers to the following: • the equipment is properly installed • the equipment is properly maintained • all equipment doors are closed and secured • all equipment covers are in place and secured • there is no evidence of impending failure. When arc fl ash PPE is required, the updated table method still requires electrical specifi c prerequisites, called parameters, to be met for certain equipment and voltages. If the param- eters are met, an arc fl ash PPE category is assigned to the work task and this category correlates to a required mini- mum protection. There will still be the same mini- mum protection requirements from the deleted HRCs 1-4 to the new arc fl ash PPE categories 1-4. All references to a category 0 have been eliminated. Another change worth noting is an improved explanation of equipment labelling requirements and changing the text to ensure clarity. Appropriate electrical equipment shall have a fi eld applied equipment label that includes: nominal system voltage; arc fl ash boundary; and incident energy data or arc fl ash PPE category (but not both). Terry Becker and Jim Pollard are members of the CSA Z462 Technical Committee. Becker is the owner of ESPS Electrical Safety Program Solutions in Calgary. He can be reached at terry. becker@esps.ca or (403) 465-3777. Pollard is the arc-rated PPE subject matter expert at Unlimited PPE in Stoney Creek, Ont. He can be reached at jim@unlimitedppe.com or (905) 573-0300. The Working Alone SAFETY SOLUTION Visit us at proTELECcheckmate.com 1-866-775-6620 NO HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE CheckMate is a proactive automates communication service designed to check on people working alone to ensure thier safety. CheckMate is a proactive automates communication service designed to check on people working alone to Visit us at proTELECcheckmate.com Get the best protection for your employees who work alone! DIFFERENCES CSA Z462 2nd Edition CSA Z462 3rd Edition hazard/risk category Arc fl ash PPE category Arc fl ash hazard analysis Arc fl ash risk assessment Shock hazard analysis Shock risk assessment Probability or risk Likelihood risk not defi ned Defi nition of risk hazardous not defi ned Defi nition of hazardous hazard not defi ned Defi nition of hazard risk assessment not defi ned Defi nition of risk Assessment ohS hierarchy of Controls not provided ohS hierarchy of Controls provided Energized Electrical Work Permit Improved clarity on exemptions N/A Annex on human performance and workplace electrical safety

• Cover