The switchgear assembly is a collection of electrical switches, relays, fuses, or circuit breakers used to regulate, protect and isolate electrical equipment.
The switchgear can either power off the device to complete the work or troubleshoot downstream faults.
Although switchgear is usually reliable and works normally, failures (although rare) can be catastrophic. Oil-filled interrupted Switchgear tanks usually burn clouds of oil and gas, which can cause death or serious injury, and cause serious damage to nearby factories and buildings.
The failure of the switch cabinet can also cause serious economic losses.
Things that Lead to Electrical Switchgear Risks:
- Lack of service
- Overvoltage/stressing of switchgear
- Availability of equipment with dependent manual control, i.e. The movement of the switchgear contacts directly depends on the movement Operator control knob
- Lack of anti-glare control handle
- Insufficient fire protection
- Limited access and egress.
Molded case circuit breakers should be inspected at least once a year. A routine trip test should be conducted every 3-5 years.
Low-voltage circuit breakers should be inspected and repaired every 1 to 3 years, depending on their operation and working conditions. Whenever the interrupted current of the switch is equal to or close to its rated power, the switch should be inspected and repaired.
What can be Done to Avoid Electrical Switchgear Risks?
- It is prohibited to operate on overstressed switchgear when live, including disabling automatic operation to eliminate system faults. This will require adjustments to the electrical input protection to ensure that the system remains protected;
- Prevent contact with live switching equipment;
- Where possible, reduce the failure rate by reconfiguring the network;
- Except under very careful control conditions, it is prohibited to manually operate related switchgear under voltage;
- Replace the overvoltage/stressing switchgear.
Hazards are divided into several main categories, and each category is subdivided into specific hazard sources. A comprehensive checklist helps to thoroughly check whether all safety aspects are covered.
Main categories:
HC 1 Basic health and safety requirements
HC 2 design and construction
HC 3 information requirements
HC 4 control system
HC 5 guards and protection devices
HC 6 installation, operation, and maintenance
How can Care Labs help?
Safety-related risk assessment includes a series of steps:
- 1 Switchgear restrictions and determination of the scope of use
- The next step involves checking the related hazards.
- The subsequent risk assessment will consider the severity of the damage and its probability of occurrence.
- Finally, an assessment is made to determine whether the acceptable risk has been reached or whether additional measures are needed to reduce the risk. This can be done using risk charts. The acceptable level of risk in this area depends on the specific industry.
- Reducing risk means prioritizing. Whenever possible, the structure itself should be intrinsically safe, supplemented by protective devices and user information.
Benefits of availing services from Care Labs:
- Get a single point of contact for all your queries throughout the project life cycle
- Offers highly skilled electrical engineers to carry out electrical switchgear risk evaluation availed by you
- Achieve compliance with relevant regulation and standards in Australia
- Meet employee/staff safety demands and dedication to electrical safety
- Discover and eliminate problems of your electrical infrastructure
- Reduce the risk of expensive litigation should a product cause injury
- Improve productivity of your business by reducing downtime due to electricity-related issues
- Get a reliable and trustworthy report about your electrical system using industry-recognized ETAP software
- Care Labs detailed study and analysis report will assist your technicians to identify any damage or general wear and tear that could affect your safety
- Study and analysis report will also help to find any components that could cause electric shock or high temperatures that could result in fire
- Enhance your electrical installation performance by performing Electrical Switchgear Risk Assessment
Standards:
The switchgear assembly is manufactured to global standards, like IEC 62271 series where design, performance, and testing requirements rule out hazard risks.
Although IEC standards for HV electrical equipment focus primarily on electrical safety, they do not explicitly link the requirements to the hazards of it.
Care Labs offer electrical switchgear risk assessment services in Australia in all the major cities of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, and Western Australia.
Care Labs provides a reliable and professional electrical safety service for all types of facilities in Australia. Contact us to know more or book your electrical switchgear risk assessment today!
