Advancing Electrical Safety Programs with the Introduction of Authorized Persons

There are some unique electrical safety challenges found in the oil & gas pipeline industry, hereafter referred to as the pipeline industry, that are not normally encountered in the plant environment. One of the more prominent challenges is that pipeline facilities and sites are often unstaffed, in remote areas, and may be in extreme weather locations. Furthermore, pipelines are often located in shared right-of-ways with high voltage electrical utilities, and are cathodically protected which can cause unexpected electrical safety hazards on pipelines, equipment, and appurtenances. If a candid assessment was performed, a large percentage of pipeline maintenance and operations employees would likely be found to have only minimal electrical safety training and knowledge, yet routinely perform specific nonexposed energized electrical tasks such as lockout / tagout of equipment and starting an electric motor. This paper will introduce the concept of an Authorized Person as a means of recognizing this group of persons who routinely perform nonexposed energized electrical tasks as part of normal job duties to ensure they receive the appropriate levels training, knowledge, and tools as part of an electrical safety program. Often this group of persons can be an underappreciated aspect of an electrical safety program. Authorized Persons are a subset of Qualified Persons as defined by NFPA 70E, and are qualified for the task per NFPA 70E, but are only authorized to perform specific non-exposed energized electrical work. For the pipeline industry, this provides a convenient designation to distinguish between persons who have the training, knowledge, and skills to perform exposed energized electrical work from those that only perform non-exposed energized electrical work as part of normal job duties. New considerations for advancing electrical safety programs have been outlined in this paper due to the introduction of the Authorized Person concept.