Best Practices in Wind Power Facility Electrical Safety

New wind industry resource on electrical safety best practices a Canadian first

Today marks a milestone publication for the Canadian wind industry with the release of an electrical safety resource targeting wind farm operations across the country. The CanWEA Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Program has been strategically developing health and safety materials to meet industry needs. The latest addition to the library is entitled Best Practices in Wind Power Facility Electrical Safety and is one of the most substantial to date. It contains a range of resources for wind farm owners, operators, equipment manufacturers, and service providers. While the contents are widely applicable to the global wind industry, the CanWEA Occupational Health and Safety Committee (OH&S) took the opportunity to create a home-grown initiative addressing this important topic from a Canadian perspective.

What’s inside

The Best Practices guide is a compilation of topics deliberately selected by professionals involved in the daily operations of wind power facilities. An emphasis is placed on the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) anchor standard on electrical safety; CSA Z462. The guide goes beyond this standard, however, describing a wind industry approach to the topics covered by CSA and many others as well. Here are the main sections aimed at providing safe work practices and tools to promote those practices in Canada’s various provincial jurisdictions.

• General Electrical Safe Work Practices
• Task-Specific Safe Work Practices
• Definitions
• Regulations
• Decision Matrix
• Electrical Worker Qualifications
• Standard Forms

One section that will be of particular interest to wind power facility operators is the Task-Specific Safe Work Practices. It covers major components of the facility from the substation to generators and everything in between.

• Generators
• Control Panels
• Slip Rings
• Batteries
• Capacitors
• Transformers
• Collector System
• Substation
• Test Equipment

CanWEA’s OH&S Committee selected Shermco Industries as the primary consultant to draft and advise on this work. Shermco’s leadership in wind farm electrical testing, maintenance, repair, engineering, and training services made them an exceptional fit for the project. The Committee also provided significant input to ensure industry consensus throughout the development process.

We are excited to have another excellent resource that will be used at many levels of wind facility operations. CanWEA is also happy to provide open access to download the Best Practices in Wind Power Facility Electrical Safety with the intent of equipping wind farm O&M managers, supervisors, and workers with the best tools we have to offer.

Visit the CanWEA O&M page for this and more resources and to find out how you can get involved in future projects. You are also invited to connect with members of the O&M Program and learn from industry leaders at the next O&M Summit, January 29-30, 2019 in Toronto, ON.

Phil McKay

Operations and Maintenance Program Director at the Canadian Wind Energy Association