Management Is On the Hook Do not Let it Off
Dave Smith has been an Industrial Maintenance Electrician since 1975. He has taught maintenance, troubleshooting and safety courses to thousands of electricians in mines, mills, refineries, factories, plants, power stations and offshore platforms throughout North America and the Middle East. Dave is a hands-on guy and teache...
A few days after that story was published, I visited the facility of a manufacturer of similar product. I initially met with the plant safety manager regarding conducting an arc flash assessment and training his staff. He put me on to the general manager, who then set up a meeting with a senior electrician. The meetings were excellent and, as an initial step, they gave me a tour of the facility, where I met a second electrician who had been lobbying for these actions.
A quick check of the transformer supplying the plant revealed that workers were probably exposed to a Hazard Risk Category (HRC) 3 in the main electrical rooms. The daily clothing was cotton coveralls and the reflective vests they wore were 100% polyester. In addition, there was no mandate that only cotton street clothes were to be worn under the coveralls.
For those unaware of arc flash HRC categories, HRC 3 is a grave danger, and the electrical staff at this facility was seriously unprotected. Any person exposed to an arc flash wearing cotton coveralls is likely to have his clothes ignite and, when wearing the polyester vest, guaranteed to be acutely burned.
At the conclusion of the tour, plans were made to begin the arc flash study and for the electricians to participate in a training course the following week. All that was required now was the final stamp of approval from the COO, as the electricians and various managers were all on board. Two days later I learned the COO had decided “they were too busy right now” and “they would look at it again this fall”.
Were a serious or fatal accident happen to one of these workers while the COO keeps everything on hold, the company and its managers would be in dire straits. They would have few of the defences the Transpave management had in that:
• they are aware of the dangers facing their electrical staff;
• they are in a province with regulations dictating the use of flame-resistant clothing; and,
• by deferring action due to “busy”-ness, management is realizing a benefit.
Senior managers are universally disparaged by workers as “bean counters” when it seems they’ve made a decision that seems to be favouring beans over bodies. However, were we to meet this particular COO, we would probably find a person not impervious to human suffering. He probably contributes to many charities and is responsible for many good deeds. Managers at this level make many complex daily decisions, but there’s a difference with this one: he was not qualified to make it.
The standard driving changes in our electrical work practices is NFPA 70E. Article 110.6(D)(1)(4) states that a qualified worker be trained in: “the decision-making process necessary to determine the degree and extent of the hazard and the personal protective equipment and job planning necessary to perform the task safely”.
Were the COO qualified, he would have immediately ensured his electrical workers were outfitted in F/R coveralls and arc flash PPE, and scheduled them for training. He would have banned the use of the polyester vests, mandated all underclothing to be cotton or natural fiber, embarked upon an arc flash hazard study and purchased the PPE required for the hazards identified.
NFPA 70E will soon be superseded by CSA Z462 in Canada; the requirements will essentially be the same, yet still only stated as “requiring workers to be qualified”. Clearly, those counting the beans also need to be qualified, or be required to defer such decisions to those who are. Due to the COO’s lack of qualification, he made a decision that continues to expose his workers to grave danger.
We now have laws enabling courts to put managers and executives in prison. A necessary next step are laws requiring qualification of managers and executives to ensure they are trained in “The decision-making process necessary to determine the degree and extent of the hazard and the [PPE] and job planning necessary to perform the task safely”.
Until next time, be ready, be careful and be safe.