High Voltage advice (11KV)

[D Skelton]

my first time switching was last week standing very much alone in a switch room trying to work out how to get the RMU out of earth and praying that nothing further down the line was earthed out then closed my eyes and pulled the lever

There are five things dangerously wrong with this sentence alone.

Your company need reporting to the HSE without delay. They're going to kill somebody!

 

[snowhead]

in fact my first time switching was last week standing very much alone in a switch room trying to work out how to get the RMU out of earth and praying that nothing further down the line was earthed out then closed my eyes and pulled the lever, pretty terrifying! I then had to repeat the exercise in a temporary substation standing 2 feet from a 2000KVA oil filled transformer in a steel box,

This isn't scaremongering and IS meant to scare the Cr*p out of you,,
Do not pray that everything down the line is not longer earthed, BE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN IT ISN'T.

I never did HV switching but over my last 25 yrs of work was present many times during switching for 11kv transformer replacements or tap changes by suitably trained and experienced contractors or maintenance on the network switches by local DNO.

I was not present at this incident but did visit the customers site afterwards.
A contractor for the DNO had been testing part of the local HV ring, his colleague was at the other end with the test box across the lines.
Somewhere along the way they got out of sequence (poor comms) and the guy at the customers end restored power to the section they had been testing.
The test box was still inline.
Statement from the contractor a few days later when he had calmed down enough to talk,,
I made the switch, I heard the rumble, I ran out of the substation, I remember waking up sometime later.
I beleive he suffered concussion and shock and probably never worked again

The door had been blown off the substation, the roof had been lifted and had landed back on the substation.
The contractor didn't get far out of the substation before being blown part way across the service yard., luckilly no moving vehicles and no obstructions for him to be thrown against.

 

[Petej999]

I'm looking for a union right now as its pretty much a given that I will be punished for not following orders, I'm trying to get out of the dreadful place anyhow.
The AP course was delivered onsite by a firm in York but in was during covid so we didn't get to practice on any switch gear, in fact my first time switching was last week standing very much alone in a switch room trying to work out how to get the RMU out of earth and praying that nothing further down the line was earthed out then closed my eyes and pulled the lever, pretty terrifying! I then had to repeat the exercise in a temporary substation standing 2 feet from a 2000KVA oil filled transformer in a steel box, I wasn't prepared for the amount of noise it made, I remember thing darker coloured underpants may have been wise. I was offered a couple of volunteers to help, I got them to stand well outside with the number for the fire brigade if it all went belly up. I was handed a single line diagram of the system that was full of mistakes, I didn't even realize I needed a switching plan, its about a year now since doing the Course.
My employer doesn't take advise, they are far too arrogant, they believe if I pass an HV coarse I can the make the HV terminations and save the company a fortune (that sure as hell isn't going to happen). They did it to me a few years back when I had to do an ATEX coarse, I told them until I was blue in the face that I'm not a qualified electrician but again it fell on deaf ears.
I'm trying to get in touch with the people who did the HV course.
You guys have been a huge help, it seemed what I was being asked to do didn't feel right now I know it absolutely isn't right.

PROSPECT I was a member until I retired, I sat the HV AP Course twice at DOE/RAF Cardington., don/t know if its still being held

 

[SparkMuffin]

OK, union joined! I should have someone to fight my corner now. I'm going to try to keep well away from HV, It's not my back ground, I don't like it, I was never asked if I wanted to do it and I'm not confident or competent in it. They need to look at employing a professional as this is likely to be an ongoing thing.

I came within a hair of giving the HSE an anonymous tip off once before over another matter.

Edit. Found out my training certificate, is says 'Authorised Person High Voltage-operation & Safety', no idea why everyone is calling me an SAP!

 

[Petej999]

OK, union joined! I should have someone to fight my corner now. I'm going to try to keep well away from HV, It's not my back ground, I don't like it, I was never asked if I wanted to do it and I'm not confident or competent in it. They need to look at employing a professional as this is likely to be an ongoing thing.

I came within a hair of giving the HSE an anonymous tip off once before over another matter.

Edit. Found out my training certificate, is says 'Authorised Person High Voltage-operation & Safety', no idea why everyone is calling me an SAP!

Are you the only person with an AP ticket on your company ? if the answer is yes then that makes you SAP, in your firm, more money on yer pocket for that

 

[Petej999]

Sadly all of that is down to me, somehow I'm the company SAP. I'm totaly on my own with this one, if I try and talk to any of the mangers all I get is 'I'm not technical, I dont understand what your saying' then they burry their heads back in the sand.
I think the RMU is a SF6 Schneider ring master.
Unfortuneatey the company is non union.

Do you opperate a closed or open ring? or is it a Radial?

 

[pc1966]

The door had been blown off the substation, the roof had been lifted and had landed back on the substation.

Where I used to work they had a transformer fault on the incoming 11kV supply and it literally blew the doors off. Thankfully nobody in the street at the time.

Out of curiosity I would like to do a HV course, but in reality I would rather stick to working with non-explosive levels of power.

 

[Lister1987]

OK, union joined! I should have someone to fight my corner now. I'm going to try to keep well away from HV, It's not my back ground, I don't like it, I was never asked if I wanted to do it and I'm not confident or competent in it. They need to look at employing a professional as this is likely to be an ongoing thing.

I came within a hair of giving the HSE an anonymous tip off once before over another matter.

Edit. Found out my training certificate, is says 'Authorised Person High Voltage-operation & Safety', no idea why everyone is calling me an SAP!

Now get an email to your employer with your concerns PRONTO and CC in your rep. If you are the SAP ( i know its not but it may as well stand for 'Sole Authorised Person' in your case) then I would be put in your email about that you have concerns and under EAWR 29 [Defence] that you are discharging your duty of care and bringing to thier attention your concerns that under 4(3) [RAMS/Permits] & 16 [Competency] that do not feel suitably trained, mentored and experienced [owing to the nature of the work] to undertake the work.

The highlight phrase is deliberate; you could be thr best LV spark in the world and be thr worst HV guy. That should be enough to start a conversation and if ---- comes to shove and you get treated differently thrn the union will put thrm through the wringer at a tribunal

 

[SparkMuffin]

Quick question, I need to raise the switching operation as a near miss to get it officially recorded, I think it was only luck that I didn't switch onto earthed conductors as I wasn't aware at the time that its possible to earth the incoming power to an RMU.
What would have been the likely result if had? If it had done some expensive damage, put the factory out of action for a couple of days and prevented the management from having meetings it may have forced the issue however I would have likely been badly hurt.

 

[Moley]

Take a look at this videoHere