Electrical hot working safety program

An internal review of the safety practices for a large Canadian chemical plant indicated that the established procedures for electrical hot work needed to be expanded and formalized. Here, the authors describe how the practices were expanded into a comprehensive electrical hot work program that included a philosophy, controls, qualifications, and safe work methods. The program resulted in changes that improved on an adequate chemicals and plastics safety standard and a facility safety standard. Detailed definitions were added to the chemicals and plastics safety standard, and a mandate for an electrical hot work procedure for all electrical hot work activity was added to the facility safety standard.