LarryFine said:
To me, there's no difference between being qualified for 480v and 240v. You need to know how to properly connect any equipment at any voltages. If you're not working it hot, what's the difference?
Here's the deal- these items are shut down and locked out before work is performed on them, but the problem is that the act of verifying de-energization with a meter after they are locked out is treated as working on energized equipment up until the point that determination has been made, as OSHA clarifies in the interpretation letter
here.
Verifying deenergization is hazardous for these unqualified employees, because the facilities are often modified, breaker panels rewired, etc. with no communication that this has occurred, and therefore the LOTO procedures do not get updated.
We have had two recent instances where the wrong breaker was locked out and the equipment hot when the person went out bare handed and in street clothes to verify with a meter. It is my opinion that the unqualified person should not be sent out to take this verification meter reading as they have been.
Since the issue has been brought to light, some people within the company have been trying to interpret the definition of "qualified" to mean that we could simply send the unqualified persons through a training class for a few hours or watch some qualified persons do it a couple of times and that they would then be able to put on some PPE and perform this verification safely. I do not think that this approach is safe, as they may be trained how to do the job safely when everything works as advertised, but would not necessarily recognize when there was a problem.
There are low voltage qualified persons in the company, but they will not work on this equipment due to contract issues- the responsibility for the equipment does not fall under their union contract. It is "owned" by a non-represented portion of the company.
I hope that clarifies things.