TRANSFER SWITCH ?

[hawkeye23]

There was job where my boss test a deiesl generator with transfer switch seperate from both the generator and the main breakers to the company electric service 2000amps and 460volts. The transfer switch has selector type switch that indicates which test you are puting the generator in. At the start of the test a safety man told my boss he needs to be dress in arc flash gear to perform this test even though there is no labels on equiment stating the class of ppe to dress in.

Was the safety peron right ? After a pow wow with the two sides it was discovered he could not do the switching because he is not trained to do this work even if he is there electrical call person. There person is not around for this to be done.

If anyone has anything to add to this good or bad please do.

 

[Volta]

There was job where my boss test a deiesl generator with transfer switch seperate from both the generator and the main breakers to the company electric service 2000amps and 460volts. The transfer switch has selector type switch that indicates which test you are puting the generator in. At the start of the test a safety man told my boss he needs to be dress in arc flash gear to perform this test even though there is no labels on equiment stating the class of ppe to dress in.

Was the safety peron right ? After a pow wow with the two sides it was discovered he could not do the switching because he is not trained to do this work even if he is there electrical call person. There person is not around for this to be done.

If anyone has anything to add to this good or bad please do.

The 'safety person' was probably right. That is an awful lot of power to play with. But you are right to point out that there is no information provided to show how much energy could be released if a fault were to occur.

If the 'safety person' was the safety compliance worker, he should be working to have a study done to label such equipment, but this thinking is something only decades old, so many people and places are still behind the times.

Still, I would think that having a 40 cal suit and accessories would be a reasonable interim step between doing it in Levi's with a cotton shirt and having the full study completed.

That said, some equipment cannot ever be considered safe to work on that way either when energized, even in a 120 cal suit, due to the incredible amount of power available at that point in the system.

 

[ACE1970]

I have worked in refineries for several years and good thing this guy was told not to mess with something he has no real understanding of. There is always potential for something to go wrong Electricity is a theory and 460v is somewhat a little risky but if you where there and something went wrong for one you would both likely be dead and without PPE you family would have little to live off of. Good luck and stay safe. I am General Electrician and most mistakes a re made by anyone thinking their is no potential or People who make assumptions those people get others killed....

 

[Dazed440]

So Something was Installed in an Illegal situation here?

So Something was Installed in an Illegal situation here?

If Main Power was OFF, then I am wondering what is the purpose of these Transfer switches?
What would be the purpose of an Emergency Generator?
One is not allowed to connect with "Lockout Switches". Else, SPARKS would be Fun.

 

[Volta]

If Main Power was OFF, then I am wondering what is the purpose of these Transfer switches?
What would be the purpose of an Emergency Generator?
One is not allowed to connect with "Lockout Switches". Else, SPARKS would be Fun.

No reason to think that anything was installed incorrectly. I doubt that the main power was off, the OP was referring to a test being planned. And you can probably guess the purpose of the Emergency Generator.

What does it mean to "connect with Lockout Switches"?