DIY-5 – Easy steps for a safer electric room
Is your electric room safe? If you haven’t maintained it and don’t know where to start, follow these five simple steps to improve safety. The best part? It’s cost effective.
STEP 1 – SPRING CLEANING
Sweep the floor
Remove trash
Remove unused equipment
Remove non-electrical system equipment
Replace light fixture bulbs
Seal the room from dust
STEP 2 – ANNUAL & PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE
Tighten connections
Cycle the breakers
Verify all fuses are a matching set
Review settings in equipment to match the last Coordination/Arc Flash study that was performed
Ask your local Electrical supply house to generate a list of spare parts
Install spare parts shelving
Pressurize the room
STEP 3 – SAFE & SECURE
Install proper safety signage
Ensure PPE and lock-out tag equipment is readily available
Ensure all guards and covers are installed
Plug unused holes in equipment
Properly secure all enclosures and raceways
Install panic hardware on doors and have them swing out of the room
Install insulating mats for working clearance issues
STEP 4 – ENSURE PROPER DOCUMENTATION
Redline drawings to match equipment
Post base documentation and charts in either paper, poster or IPAD format
Create a directory for each motor and its locations in the electric room to facilitate lock-out/tag-out
STEP 5 – LABEL ALL EQUIPMENT TO MATCH DOCUMENTATION
Switchboards
MCCs
Panelboards
