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A model safety program
gets safer
How Fluor Hanford
defends against electrical accidents
For decades, the
Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in southeastern Washington
produced nuclear materials that helped win the Cold War and
conducted research which contributed to the nation’s commercial
nuclear power industry.
Today everything has
changed.
The sprawling
586-square-mile Hanford site is now the world’s largest
environmental cleanup project, containing 50 million gallons of
high-level radioactive waste in 177 underground storage tanks; 2,300
tons of spent nuclear fuel; 20 tons of material laced with
plutonium; and 25 million cubic feet of solid waste. Cleanup is
expected to last a generation or more.
And instead of weapons
and national defense, the focus for the 3,500 employees of Fluor
Hanford, one of the prime contractors for the cleanup, is safety.
When an unrated multimeter caused an injury at another Department of
Energy (DOE) site late last year, Hanford Electrical Safety Program
coordinator Paul Case took immediate action.
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Fluor Hanford is
deactivating a nuclear reactor that was built to develop and test
fuel, materials, and equipment for the U.S. breeder-reactor program.
A prime contractor to the Department of Energy since 1996, Fluor
Hanford has approximately 3,500 employees and manages several major
activities at the Hanford Site, including dismantling former nuclear
processing facilities, cleaning up the site’s contaminated
groundwater, retrieving and processing transuranic waste
(radioactive chemical elements whose atomic numbers are higher than
that of uranium [92]) for off-site shipment, maintaining the site’s
infrastructure, and operating the Volpentest HAMMER Training &
Education Center. |
A robust program
A veteran of more than 30 years in the industry, Paul Case began his
apprenticeship in 1974 with IBEW Local 112 in Kennewick, Wash. He
worked for 10 years as a construction electrician, then as a
maintenance electrician on the Hanford Site.
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Here an
electrical safety refresher course is in progress at
HAMMER, a U.S. Department of Energy training
facility. Managed by Fluor Hanford, HAMMER
specializes in hands-on training for the Hanford
site and the nation's Homeland Security mission.
HAMMER stands for Hazardous Materials Management and
Emergency Response. Since HAMMER opened its doors,
it has played an integral part in preparing workers
and emergency responders for high-risk tasks and the
use of new technologies. |
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Case was part of team
that developed the Hanford Electrical Safety Program following a
series of electrical safety incidents in the early 1990s. Today, he
administers the program as Fluor’s Electrical Safety Program
Coordinator.
“We have developed a
robust electrical safety program here, addressing both installation
safety issues and worker safety,” Case says.
Case is the interface
between the Hanford Electrical Codes Board, which focuses on design
and installation standards (relying on the National Electrical
Code), and the Hanford Workplace Electrical Safety Board (HESB),
which focuses on safe work practices. The safety board bases its
decisions on OSHA electrical rules and National Fire Protection
Association Standard 70E (NFPA 70E) work practices. Case is also the
interface between the multiple contractors on the Hanford Site.
The members of both
electrical safety boards stay on the lookout for emerging safety
issues. That means sharing information, both about best practices
and, as happened in December 2005, those considered less than the
best.
Early that month an
electrician performing a zero-energy check on a circuit at the DOE’s
Fernald Environmental Management Project, a former nuclear fuel
production facility northwest of Cincinnati, was burned by an arc
flash. He escaped severe injury, but the incident focused attention
on the digital multimeter that failed and caused the accident.
It turned out that the
meter wasn’t tested and rated by a nationally-recognized testing
laboratory (NRTL) like Underwriters Laboratories. In addition, it
wasn’t rated under the CAT (category) system set up by the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Canadian Standards
Association (CSA), and the International Electro-Technical
Commission (IEC) for voltage test equipment.
Why even try such a
meter? The culprit was convenience. The techs owned rated meters,
but they weren’t in easy reach.
Case says instruments
used in an area where they might become contaminated by radiation
need to be protected and “surveyed-in” to a work area. Already on
site, the techs decided to go with the meter in-hand instead of
going to get a fully rated instrument.
Unfortunate good news
Case calls the Ohio incident “unfortunate good news.”
“It’s hard to think of
every situation and say, ‘Hey, we’d better go look at this,’ ” he
says. “Typically there’s some trigger that kicks you into action.
Luckily, this trigger wasn’t a more serious incident.”
It was enough though to
persuade the Hanford team to examine the test equipment on site to
make sure each tool was 1) NRTL listed and labeled, and 2) for use
by electricians, rated for CAT III or CAT IV operating conditions.
They checked 420 test instruments — multimeters and process
calibrators — and found that 76 of them were not NRTL listed.
Many of those were “old
favorite” tools sometimes, 15 or 20 years old. Nonlisted meters were
removed from service unless their use was restricted to circuits
below 50 volts. The team also temporarily removed all meters not
rated at CAT III or higher, to avoid the temptation to use a meter
outside its rated capability.
The incident stimulated
a refresher course on meter safety for more than 150 electricians
and supervisors at the Hanford operation.
A deep concern for
safety
In early January, Fluke delivered four meter safety seminars for the
Hanford team. Electricians at one of Hanford’s many facilities, were
instrumental in coordinating the scheduling for the Fluke seminars.
The craftsmen at Hanford are an integral part of all safety efforts
and are heavily involved in the HESB, which is the key to its
success.
“This provided another
opportunity to impress on our electricians, instrument test
supervisors and safety professionals the importance of using the
right meter in the right situation,” Case says. “I got a lot of
feedback. Everyone was very impressed and felt they were very
valuable. I liked the information about how transients can trigger
an arc flash, and the way you can actually use the instrument to
test itself.”
“I really appreciate
Fluke stepping up and offering to do the seminars,” he says. “Of
course they have an interest in selling products, but I think they
also have a deep concern for the safety of the workers. They don’t
want people to get hurt. I don’t know any other reason they’d step
up and spend the resources to put on these seminars. I think it was
really great, and I’m really appreciative.”
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Improving
electrical measurement safety
Checking your meter
and leads
Look for independent testing and certification
Verify your test tools have been tested and certified by two or more
independent testing laboratories, such as UL in the United States,
CSA in Canada and TUV in Europe.
Inspect your tools
• Check for a broken case or a faded display.
• Inspect your test leads and probes for frayed or broken wires and
be sure they have shrouded connectors, finger guards, double
insulation, a minimum of exposed metal at the tip, and are CAT rated
for equal or above your meter.
• Use the continuity function to check test lead resistance.
Verify rating and
construction
• Look for 600 or 1000 V CAT III or 600 V CAT IV ratings on the
front or back and a double insulated symbol on the back.
• Check the manual to verify that the ohms and continuity circuits
are protected to the same level as the voltage test circuit.
• Make sure the amperage and voltage of meter fuses meet safety
standards. Fuse voltage must be as high or higher than the meter’s
voltage rating.
• Use the resistance feature to verify the fuse value is close to
zero.
• Plug test lead in V/Ohm
input. Select Ohm.
• Insert probe tip into mA
input. Read value.
• Insert probe tip into A
input. Read value.
Setting Up a Safety
Program
An effective safety program includes the following four elements:
• Management commitment and employee involvement
• Worksite analysis
• Hazard prevention and control
• Ongoing safety and health training |
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Safety at Fluor
Hanford
Fluor Corporation is one of the world’s largest engineering,
construction and maintenance firms, a FORTUNE 500 company with more
than 30,000 employees in more than 25 countries.
Since Fluor started work
at Hanford in 1996, the company has reduced OSHA-recordable injuries
by more than 80 percent and recorded injury rates are among the
lowest of any major Department of Energy (DOE) contractor. Seven
Fluor Hanford projects have achieved Star Status in the DOE’s
Voluntary Protection Program, for achieving and maintaining injury
and illness rates at least 50 percent to 75 percent better than
industry averages.
Fluor Hanford attributes
its improved safety record to involving employees in every step of
the cleanup work, from planning work through incorporating lessons
learned. Education is a major contributor to that performance. The
Volpentest HAMMER (Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency
Response) Training and Education Center at Hanford has conducted
more than 325,000 student days of training since 1997. Electricians
and supervisors go through an initial 16-hour safety training
course, followed by an eight-hour refresher every three years. |
This
article appeared in the February/March 2008 issue of
MRO Today
magazine. Copyright 2008. Back to top
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