B

brizospark

OK, so I am currently carrying out a PIR in an industrial factory.

Today i was working on a dist. board and discovered a major fault in the way that when I isolated the DB one of the phases was still live.

Upon further investigation I further discovered that the reason for this was in fact that on of the circuits on the L2 phases was being fed from another DB as well.

This meant that with the fuse for this particular circuit in place the voltage was transferred to every circuit on the L2 phase I removed this fuse, the rest of the circuits on the L2 phase were now de-energised but of course the top of the fuse in question was still live.

I decided to inform the head of electrical maintenance about this fault immediately as I thought it would require immediate remedying. I suggested that although we were only carrying out a PIR that I felt this was a particularly dangerous banana skin for any other sparks working in the DB and that I should trace out the cable (single core in steel trunking along with 100 other cables) to find out the exact implications of putting this to rights.

After a bit of deliberation he said "I think you should just cut the (live) cable put a connector on it and stick it in the trunking. I point blank refused to carry out this procedure and managed to convince him that although it would probably take the rest of the day it was very important to correctly rectify this fault.

So I traced the cable to a light switch, where it went out on another cable, by which time it was time to call it a day. I put a note on the DB warning of the danger and told the electrical supervisor that I would continue tracing the circuit on Monday morning.

His parting shot was " I still think you should have just cut the cable"

What do you guys think about this?
 
OP, are you going to get paid for all this extra work?

How about laminating up a danger sign over the weekend, disconnect that conductor at the switch and screw the sign to the wall next to it. At least you will have removed the danger from the DB. Then issue a danger notice direct to the most senior company man you can find on site on Monday morning. Ask him for authorisation to continue with the rectification work. if it's not forthcoming you've done your bit (except if you still feel it's v dangerous and they aren't really taking it/you seriously then report it anonymously to HSE).

I'd certainly say you're doing the "right thing", but it sounds like you're doing it off your own back rather than with the full cooperation of the company concerned.
 
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Was I right?
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brizospark,
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rocker,
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