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What is a Global Electrical Safety Standard?
A GESS is a single document or suite of documents which describes the arrangements that are in place to ensure the safe operation of your company’s electrical systems throughout their lifecycle. It also describes the management of different aspects of your electrical systems and their operation. The aim of the GESS is to provide guidance on how individuals and your organisation can manage the risks associated with your electrical systems and other associated systems. Companies that have multi-national operations need to ensure good practice is being followed at all their sites and that consistent standards are set and being complied with wherever they do business.
What is the scope of a typical GESS?
The scope covers activities carried out on electrical plant and equipment (including electrical distribution systems) at specified voltage levels and is normally mandatory across all sites operated by your Organisation. It should also include some aspects of electrical safety management that are considered key to the safe operation of the facilities. Finally, the design of your electrical plant and equipment should also be included.
The foundation of your GESS is your Electrical Safety Policy which commits you to high standards of performance in Electrical Safety by putting into effect management systems designed to ensure legal compliance and continual performance improvement. Your electrical safety policy describes the principles, organisation and arrangements for electrical health and safety.
Built upon your policy foundation is the rest of your GESS which covers different aspects of electrical safety management. The following list gives some of the subjects which may be included in the scope of your GESS:
- Ageing and obsolescence
- Arc Flash Risk Management
- Authorisation of electrical personnel
- Capacitor Banks – Management of the risks associated with Capacitor Banks
- Cathodic protection
- Low Voltage Wiring
- Control of excavations and associated risks
- Design of High Voltage Electrical installations
- Design of Low Voltage Electrical installations
- Design of Electrical power system earthing
- Detection of flammable gases and oxygen
- Detection of toxic gases and vapours
- Earthing systems design and maintenance
- Electric Shock Risk Management
- Electrical Competency Management System
- Electrical Maintenance
- Electrical Safety Accident/Incident Investigation and Root Cause Analysis
- Electrical Safety Rules (ESR)
- Electronic device parameter records and offsite backup (Relays; PLCs, VSD etc)
- Emergency lighting systems
- Explosive Atmospheres
- Fire systems
- Hazards due to static electricity
- Ignition of flammable atmospheres by radio frequency radiation
- Instructions for the management of risk from equipment of unknown integrity
- Instructions for the management of risk from unused/obsolete cables
- Isolation and Immobilisation
- Live Working
- Machinery Safety
- Management of Portable Electrical Apparatus
- Management of risk during fault finding
- Protection against lightning
- Rules for the management of cartridge tools e.g. cable spiking gun; Hilti etc.
- Safety Instrumented Systems
- Short circuit, load flows and protection co-ordination studies
How do I know if my GESS is fit for purpose?
There is guidance available that covers some aspects of the subjects listed above. BS EN 50110 covers the operation of electrical installations. NFPA 70E Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace covers many aspects of Electrical Safety. The Institution of Engineering Technology has produced a Code of Practice for Electrical Safety Management. Then there are the many British, European and International Standards that cover the topics above. Setting global standards for electrical design and electrical safety can be problematic due to variations in regional design standards, legislation and custom and practice, however as time passes engineering standards and legislation are tending to converge. As well as this, good practice and engineering excellence do not change dependent upon location, so regional variations can be less of a problem that you might think.
You may not feel comfortable with producing a new GESS or amending an existing GESS. A good starting point is to take advantage of Electrical Safety UK’s free Electrical Health Check. This is a free check that is carried out by video conference, where we assess your GESS and determine if it meets your needs and current good practice. Check out our website for more information, and find out how to enquire about taking advantage of this free offer.
We have helped many Companies develop a new GESS, some examples are:
- Merck
- DP World Ports and Terminals
- PD Ports
- Amcor (Berry Global)
- Connected Energy
- DFS
- Tabreed (Middle East)
- EVO Energy
- Manx Telecom
Roll-out, Implementation and Training
Writing a new GESS or reviewing and updating an existing GESS is the easy part. The value in your GESS is only realised when it is fully implemented and being complied with, and that is the hard part.
Electrical Safety UK can help and advise you on the implementation phase. Some key things to remember are:
Communication and Engagement
- Involve key stakeholders right from the beginning
- Engage with Senior Leaders in the business, you will need their buy-in
- Consider what you are going to communicate to your business about the GESS
- Consider who you will communicate with and how you will do that
- Consult electrical personnel as the GESS is drafted and before finalising
Roll-out
- Who needs to know what and when – put a plan in place
- Comprehensive training plan needs to be in place and delivered before the GESS can go live
- All the supporting documents and templates need to be ready to go e.g. permits, switching programs, supporting procedures
- Communicate and consult
Compliance
- Identify the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) you are going to monitor
- Ensure arrangements are in place to collect the KPI data
- How are you going to report on performance – remember your Senior Leaders and Key Stakeholders
- Have processes in place to check/audit compliance – these should be built into your Policy and GESS.
Electrical Safety UK have helped our clients implement their new GESS. One of the tools that can help are Gap Analysis tools that can be used by all your sites to identify gaps that exist between existing practice and the requirements in your GESS. The Gap analysis tools identify gaps; time limited action plans can then be put in place to close out the gaps.
Finally, consider that in Global Organisations there may be significant variations in each site’s maturity and starting point. It can be useful to make the harder to achieve requirements in your GESS, goals rather than absolute requirements, for a limited period. This should give the less mature sites more time to get up to speed, instead of setting them up to fail, because they are unable to comply with the GESS when it is published.
