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22
ENERGY INTERNATIONAL
December 2011/January 2012 www.esb.ie/em
European Directives seminar hosted by Engineers Ireland
THE ENGINEERS IRELAND Cork Annual Seminar was held on Tuesday November 8th. The papers presented this year were on the legislative requirements for compliance to European Directives.
Nine expert speakers shared their experiences on some of the New Approach Directives, Regulations and EN Standards, encompassing the following topics: Compliance Overview; Pressure Equipment; Potentially Explosive Atmospheres; Machinery; Low Voltage; REACH, Classification, Labelling and Packaging, Noise, RoHS, WEEE; Personnel Protective Equipment; Electromagnetic Compatibility; and Functional Safety.
Members of ESB International’s Technical Group 1 (TG1), Donnchadh Irish, Shane Cooney and Ken Lynch, delivered three papers on the day. Other ESBI staff who contributed to other papers presented included TG1 members John Doyle and Adrian Dennehy.
“TG1 was set-up to focus on advising and giving guidance on related European Directives with the aim of achieving associated CE Compliance for projects executed within the EU and EFTA Member States. Ensuring conformity to relevant National, European and International Standards helps in meeting the essential health and safety requirements referenced in the Directives,” said ESBI Head of Engineering Mick Mackey.
The seminar looked at the roles, key definitions and core directives, regulations and standards and addressed the implications and obligations for clients, owners, operators, maintenance personnel, designers and owners’ engineers.
Engineers Ireland Cork Region Chairman Dr Jim Robinson said, “We were delighted to host the seminar, which was extremely informative, pertinent and timely. The array of high caliber speakers and the strong attendance was indicative of its importance and the level of interest within the profession.”
The level of interest was also evidenced by the active engagement by the attendees during the various discussions and Q&A sessions over the course of the day.
“The content was an eye-opener and provided a fantastic overview of legislative requirements from the EU Directives reviewed both for Manufacturers, designers and especially for the user. Having this knowledge means that we are more informed on what supporting documentation and certification should be available when specifying and tendering for projects,” added ESB Aghada Technical Services Manager Paddy Fogarty, who attended the seminar.
There is already sufficient interest in the seminar for TG1 to begin looking at staging the event in Dublin in the coming months.
Additionally, TG1 are currently drafting a guide booklet on Compliance to European Directives and its implications for the energy sector. The booklet is due for release in early 2012.
Generation Operations shares the learning
GENERATION OPERATIONS’ annual Safety Conference took place in Dublin on Thursday October 27th. This year’s theme was Continuous Improvement – Share the Learning. The conference comprised presentations and discussion sessions on overhaul and contractor safety, planning in safety, learning from incidents and initiatives, implementation of the new safety rules, process safety and safety improvements in 2011 and 2012.
The conference also heard from speakers outside of Generation Operations with Jim Cooke of Coolkeeragh ESB and Moss Finn of ESB Networks giving insights into the approaches to safety in their locations. The discussions were animated and a high level of responses to all the speakers was evident in the lively question and answer sessions which took place.
The conference was preceded on Wednesday October 26th by a meeting of Generation Operations’ Safety Professionals, where the issues of safety communications, contractor safety induction and improving the effectiveness of our OHSAS certified safety management systems were discussed. The ICE (In Case of Emergency) initiative for ESBEI was also launched.
Safety Excellence Awards
Presentation of the Safety Excellence Awards also took place during the conference with five merit awards for Safety Management in 2010/11 going to:
- Ardnacrusha Station
- Moneypoint Station
- Poolbeg Overhaul and Station
- Turlough Hill Overhaul and Station
- West Offaly Power and Lough Ree Power Overhaul and Stations
The overall award went to Poolbeg Overhaul and Station. Not only was the award in recognition of their major safety achievements in 2010/2011, but it also acknowledged that these achievements are the culmination of a long journey towards an injury free environment on the part of all at Poolbeg over many years.
The 60-year-old lift at Ardnacrusha is replaced
WORK HAS RECENTLY been completed on upgrading the passenger lift at Ardnacrusha’s navigation locks. The old lift, which was installed in the 1950s, has been replaced with a new lift which is 60% more efficient. Ennis Lifts were contracted carry out the works including the removal of the old lift. The lift runs from the middle navigation lock to the bottom lock through solid rock and measures 30 meters in height with a shaft of 1.6m x 1.4m. The capacity of the new lift now stands at 450Kgs or six persons.
