Operational personnel in electrical installations is the staff that performs direct maintenance and management of electrical components. His responsibilities include:
- monitoring the health of electrical installations;
- operational switching;
- job preparation for employees;
- workers admission and supervision;
- performance of planned maintenance work.
Bit of theory
The monitoring of the operability of electrical installations is carried out through inspection - this is one of the most important items on the list of duties of operational personnel. Firstly, regular inspection eliminates the likelihood of an accident, and secondly, it ensures the safety of employees performing live work.
Operations Responsibilities
When examining a particular part of the electrical equipment, employees need to know what needs to be noted first and what may indicate a breakdown. To do this, you must have a strong sense of responsibility for someone else's life and great concentration, otherwise the consequences may be irreversible.
Typically, electrical equipment is inspected in a well-defined sequence, that is, operational personnel follow a pre-approved route. As a rule, a scheduled inspection of electrical installations is performed at least 2 times a day. If the substation does not have service personnel, then it can be carried out once a day.
However, in addition to daily examinations, extraordinary ones also happen. They are carried out after adverse weather conditions - during heavy snowfall, glaciation, with a squally wind with rain. At night, at least 2 times a month, with heavy fog or rain, contact joints are checked for excessive heating of coronary charges.
Extraordinary inspections are also carried out when an emergency occurs due to an automatic shutdown of electrical equipment. In this case, the first thing they check is whether the installation is damaged and if it works correctly (for example, if oil is thrown out, if the circuit breaker is active, if there are unnatural noises or burning odors, etc.). A particularly thorough inspection is carried out after a thunderstorm. In this case, open switchgear, such as surge arresters, voltage limiters and so on, are surveyed.
The principles of work of employees of electrical installations
The result of the work of the operating personnel to inspect electrical installations is always recorded in the documentation of the unit itself, and then approved. Also, the record is duplicated in the operational document and transmitted to the duty dispatcher, who is the superior link. He, in turn, takes appropriate measures when an emergency is detected to prevent it. At the same time, the dispatcher plans repair work to eliminate violations in the functionality of electrical installations.

In critical cases, for example, in an emergency that can threaten the lives of people or the integrity of electrical equipment, operational personnel need to take control of the situation themselves and take immediate measures to eliminate the danger. In other cases, when identifying defects in the operation of electrical installations, employees should first let the higher management know about this, and then, under his supervision, carry out the elimination of these defects. It should be noted that inspection of the electrical equipment of the stations is required to be carried out in accordance with the safety rules for the operation of electrical installations using the necessary personal protective equipment to avoid accidents and deaths.
Who is the operational staff
For admission to the inspection of electrical installations, it is necessary to pass the necessary training course on the subject of labor protection, fire safety. You also need to know the special instructions of the operating personnel for servicing this or that equipment and other regulatory documents. In addition, employees must have a certain electrical safety group, in particular a third.
Groups
So, here is a short list of electrical safety requirements by group:
- III group. Anyone who belongs to the operational personnel of the third group is required to master the key principles of electrical engineering. To work with an electrical installation, knowledge is needed on the order of its maintenance and on the safety rules for its operation, including the conditions for access to work. Also, in order to exclude an accident, the specialist of the third group is obliged to know the rules for using protective equipment and special requirements regarding the work being done. Thus, each of the leading members of the state should be able to ensure the safe progress of tasks and monitor the operational personnel in electrical installations. In addition, employees need to know how to get rid of the harmful effects of current, as well as be able to provide first aid to victims of electric shock.
- IV group. The specialist of the fourth group is obliged to possess in-depth knowledge and skills in electrical engineering, such as understanding the electrical circuits of the site. So, the volume of his knowledge should correspond to a specialized educational institution. In addition, the operational staff must be familiar with such documents as MPOT, PUE, PTEE and PPR in the framework of his post.
- V group. Employees of the fifth group of electrical safety need to know perfectly the wiring diagrams and equipment layouts. Not only have the perfect knowledge of intersectoral labor protection rules, but also understand what caused this or that requirement. The specialist of this group is obliged to create absolutely safe conditions for the work and to carry out the management of the use of electrical installations at any voltage, be it less than 1000 V or more than 1000 V. Also, the fifth group corresponds to working with lower-level operational personnel for instructing on labor protection, and in addition training them in safety rules and first aid techniques.
Verification and work with employees
I must say that if a worker is transferred from one electrical installation to 1000 V to another, more than 1000 V, then he will have to again pass the test of his knowledge of electrical safety. Each position has its own set of skills and their volume. In order to confirm knowledge and the group, the audit must include a commission of at least five people who themselves have a V group up to and above 1000 V. Otherwise, the employee will not be transferred to another electrical installation.
There are also mandatory forms of work with operational personnel, such as:
- introductory, unscheduled and repeated briefings on labor protection;
- fire safety briefing;
- emergency and fire drills;
- continuous training.
conclusions
The work of operational personnel plays a large role in safety, and the lives of many workers in electrical installations depend on the level of their qualifications. In addition, the activities of these people sometimes provide the population with heat and electricity.