6
PowerVac
®
5kV Vertical Lift
Chapter 1. Introduction
1-1 Safety
IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT ALL PERSONNEL
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS EQUIPMENT READ
AND COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THE
WARNINGS LOCATED THROUGHOUT THIS
INSTRUCTION BOOK. FAILURE TO DO SO
CAN RESULT IN DAMAGE TO PROPERTY OR
PERSONAL INJURY.
Each user must maintain a safety program for
the protection of personnel, as well as other
equipment, from the potential hazards associ-
ated with electrical equipment.
The following requirements are intended to aug-
ment the user’s safety program but NOT sup-
plant the user’s responsibility for devising a
complete safety program. The following basic
industry practiced safety requirements are ap-
plicable to all major electrical equipment such
as switchgear or switchboards. GE neither con-
dones nor assumes any responsibility for prac-
tices which deviate from the following:
1.
ALL CONDUCTORS MUST BE ASSUMED
TO BE ENERGIZED UNLESS THEIR POTEN-
TIAL HAS BEEN MEASURED AS TO
GROUND.
Many accidents have been caused by
power system back feeds from a wide vari-
ety of sources.
2.
It is strongly recommended that all equip-
ment be completely de-energized, verified
to be “dead”, then grounded with adequate
capacity grounding assemblies prior to any
maintenance. The grounding cable assem-
blies must be able to withstand energizing
fault levels so that protective equipment
may clear the circuit safely. Additional dis-
cussion on this concept is covered in Chap-
ter 20 of ANSI/NFPA 70B, Electrical Equip-
ment Maintenance.
3.
Although interlocks to reduce some of the
risks are provided, the individual’s actions
while performing service or maintenance
are essential to prevent accidents. Each
person’s knowledge; his mental awareness;
and his planned and executed actions of-
ten determine if an accident will occur.
The most important method of avoiding
accidents is for all associated personnel
to carefully apply a thorough understand-
ing of the specific equipment from the view-
points of its purpose, its construction, its
operation and the situations which could
be hazardous.
1-2 Maintenance
All personnel associated with installation, op-
eration and maintenance of electrical equip-
ment, such as power circuit breakers and other
power handling equipment, must be thoroughly
instructed, with periodic retraining, regarding
power equipment in general as well as the par-
ticular model of equipment on which they are
working. Instruction books, actual devices and
appropriate safety and maintenance practices
such as OSHA publications, National Electric
Safety Code (ANSI C2), and National Fire Pro-
tection Association (NFPA) 70B Electrical Equip-
ment Maintenance must be closely studied and
followed. During actual work, supervision
should audit practices to assure conformance.
