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23
ESB NETWORKS LTD
October/November 2012 www.esb.ie/em
There's a new old-switch room in South Lotts Road!
THE DUBLIN CENTRAL branch of ESB Networks has many types of very old switchgear to deal with in its area.
Targeted replacement of old MV switchgear under a major Asset Replacement Programme means that it is necessary for the Network Technicians (NTs) doing this work to remove earths for test purposes. Earlier this year, a query was raised at a meeting of the South Lotts Safety & Quality Group regarding how best to ensure that NTs were familiar with the older types of switchgear.
Back in the 1980s, the late John Brown developed a specific training course for this purpose so, following on a Safety & Quality Group suggestion, a complete revision and update of the course was undertaken by Dublin Central Supervisor Dave Richardson and Dublin South Division STSS Matt Davis. The new course is designed to be rolled out to all NTs undertaking removal of earths work in Dublin Central and other areas of the Dublin South Division.
In the past, participants on this training course visited MV substations and switched out sections of cable in order to gain experience in operating and earthing the switches. Two experienced Operations NTs, Keith Maher and Mark Kelly, agreed to be the trainers for the new course. They suggested that, as we had already removed many old switches, some of these could be located in a building in South Lotts Road so that they would be available for any future training as the need arose. They set to work with great enthusiasm and developed an excellent training room. This provided a controlled safe training environment which no longer involved any operation on the network.
The training facility now includes 14 different types of MV switchgear/RMUs and, thanks to a rebuild, even includes an Open Cubicle with a Concordia switch. Another great idea was to cut sections out of the body of some switches, or open the lids of others, allowing the course participants to see the movement of the linkage and contacts within the switches. The training for all participants was completed in late June, the course being run over two days, with six to eight participants at each session. Visits to 110kV and 38kV stations were included to help gain experience on the different types of MV switchgear feeding the network. On completion of the course each participant received a comprehensive training folder to keep in their van as a job-aid, when required.
Chief Executive Pat O’Doherty and Dublin South Divisional Manager Mike Fitzgerald visited a training session and both were impressed with the quality of the training and the trainer’s interaction with the course participants. All involved in the training agreed this was a very worthwhile course. Feedback from NTs has been very positive. Many thanks to all involved in this innovative endeavour, as they have developed an excellent training facility, with equally fine training documentation.
The Polarity Wall
The danger associated with Phase Reversals is well-known to Network Technicians. As an innovation, Dublin Central Supervisors Dave Richardson and Ray Eustace suggested setting up a permanent facility where NTs could do actual tests on live network to check for correct polarity. We called on the services of Operations NTs Keith Maher and Mark Kelly, Dublin Central, to design and build a training area to recreate, as closely as possible, the situations that NTs can encounter while testing at customers premises.
They both rose to the challenge with huge enthusiasm and the ‘Polarity Wall’ became a reality. Safety is always the first priority and protection is provided, including red lights at each end of the display wall warning when the network is live. Some bundle conductor is used to simulate ESB’s network, while cutouts, meters and consumer units are installed to represent domestic premises. Dual cutouts are used at each location so testing can be done while the premises are still live.
Four different scenarios are represented on the Polarity Wall:
- Furthest to the left is a standard customer connection with correct polarity
- Next is a reverse polarity, where the drops to the cut-out have been reversed meaning that all bonded equipment in the customers house is live
- The next installation represents a high-impedance fault on the neutral supplying the house
- The last installation represents a situation where all ESB connections are correct but the phase and neutral tails are reversed in the customer’s board.
• Also included is a selection of both single and three phase meters that have been used over the years showing different connection arrangements.
All NTs in South Lotts Road received a half-day training course on the Polarity Wall and everyone used an independent earth and volt meter at each of the simulated premises to see the actual readings characteristic of each of the different scenarios. Copies of the relevant Job-Aids were given to each NT to keep in their Site & Workplace Safety folders.
One very interesting issue highlighted by the Polarity Wall is that when dealing with a reverse polarity connection at a premises a phase-check-instrument is not a definitive test for polarity, as it can give an incorrect reading, depending on the location of the premises earth rod. This demonstration reinforces the importance of using independent earths for the testing.
This training has been very valuable to all NTs as it clearly demonstrates, in a very practical way, what to expect when testing following works on our networks. Many thanks to the two excellent trainers, Keith and Mark, for a job very well done.
ESB Networks fReeCYCLE Site
Innovation is alive and well in ESB Networks
Well done to the Wilton Sustainability committee who have developed a new fReeCYCLE site on sharepoint. This is a new application where Networks staff can post ESB items or goods they no longer require, such as office furniture, office supplies, etc, and offer them for reuse by other staff elsewhere who have an ESB need for these particular items. Indeed, the reverse is also true, staff looking for a particular item for ESB business can post a request to see if the item can be provided by someone else or some other function, a sort of a Networks swap shop. Business items may only be posted on the site as opposed to items for personal use.
The site is simple and easy to use and has been launched and piloted in Networks. If it proves successful, it can easily be extended to other Business Units.
The site is available on sharepoint and can be accessed through the following link: http://esb-moss/sc/sust/networks/fs/default.aspx?PageView=Shared
Bearing in mind the well known waste management 3 x Rs concept (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) the Wilton Committee believe it is much more cost effective to have someone else reuse an item rather than discard it – ‘It’s good for the planet, good for us, good for the company’.
