HIGH VOLTAGE SAFETY

AWARENESS
COURSE NOTES
 3.2 Theoretical Concepts Relating to High Voltage
Electricity 28
Table of Contents 3.2.1 Three-Phase Systems..................................28
1 Introduction................................................................. 4
3.2.2 Voltage Level ..............................................29
1.1 Introduction ...................................................... 4
3.2.3 Current Level ..............................................30
1.2 Definition of High Voltage ................................. 5
3.2.4 Frequency ...................................................30
1.3 Definition of Competence ................................. 5
3.2.5 Identification of Phases/Phase Rotation .....30
1.4 Definition of Technical Knowledge .................... 5
3.2.6 Star and Delta Configuration ......................31
1.5 Definition of Experience .................................... 6
3.2.7 Power in a Three-Phase System..................32
1.6 Health & Safety at Work .................................... 6
3.2.8 Star/Delta Configurations ...........................33
1.7 The Electricity at Work Regulations ................... 6
3.3 Isolating Transformers .....................................33
Activity 1.1 ................................................................... 7
Activity 3.1 ..................................................................34
1.8 Summary ........................................................... 8
3.4 Power Distribution Units ..................................35
2 Safety with High Voltage Systems............................... 9
3.5 Contactors, Circuit Breakers and Control
2.1 Introduction ...................................................... 9 Relays 35
Activity 2.1 ................................................................. 10 3.5.1 Contactors ..................................................35
2.2 Attitudes Towards Safety ................................ 11 3.5.2 Circuit Breakers ..........................................36
2.3 The Safety Culture ........................................... 11 3.5.3 Control Relays .............................................38
2.4 Safety Legislation ............................................ 11 3.6 Monitoring Equipment (Voltmeters, Current
Meters, etc.) .....................................................................39
Activity 2.2 ................................................................. 12
Activity 3.2 ..................................................................40
2.4.1 Statutory Instruments ................................ 13
3.6.1 Voltmeters ..................................................42
2.5 Approved Codes of Practice ............................ 13
Activity 3.3 ..................................................................43
2.5.1 IMCA/AODC Guidance Notes ..................... 14
3.6.2 Current Meters ...........................................44
2.6 Responsibilities................................................ 14
3.6.3 Lamps and LED Indicators ...........................45
2.7 Personnel Requirements ................................. 15
3.6.4 Other Monitoring Devices ..........................45
2.8 Key Personnel Roles ........................................ 16
3.7 Surface Junction Box ........................................46
2.8.1 Those Responsible for Offshore Activities.. 16
3.8 Slip Rings ..........................................................46
2.8.2 Individual Employees ................................. 16
3.9 ROV Junction Boxes .........................................48
2.8.3 Safety Representatives .............................. 16
3.10 Transformers....................................................48
2.8.4 Health and Safety Advisors ........................ 17
3.10.1 Composition ...............................................49
Activity 2.3 ................................................................. 18
3.10.2 Rating and Losses .......................................50
2.9 The Norwegian Safety Environment ................ 19
3.10.3 Methods of Cooling ....................................50
2.9.1 Norwegian Petroleum Directorate and PSA19
3.10.4 Transformer Tap Changing .........................51
2.10 Norwegian Regulations ................................... 19
3.10.5 Transformer Cleaning .................................51
2.10.1 The Norwegian Perspective ....................... 19
3.11 Cables and Glands ............................................51
2.10.2 Purpose of the Guidelines .......................... 20
3.11.1 Conductors .................................................52
2.10.3 Scope of the Guidelines ............................. 20
3.11.2 Cable Insulation ..........................................52
2.10.4 Responsibilities of the OLF ......................... 20
3.11.3 Armoured Cable .........................................52
2.10.5 Personnel Qualification Requirements for
High Voltage Maintenance .............................................. 21 3.11.4 Cable Ratings ..............................................53
2.11 Safe Working Practices .................................... 21 3.12 Protection Devices ...........................................53
2.12 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) .............. 22 Activity 3.4 ..................................................................54
2.13 The Management of Health and Safety at 3.12.1 Line Insulation Monitors .............................55
Work 22
3.12.2 Residual Current Devices ............................56
2.14 Risk Assessment .............................................. 23
3.12.3 Fuses...........................................................57
Activity 2.4 ...................................................... 24
3.12.3.1 Fuse Characteristics ............................................57
2.15 Summary ......................................................... 25
3.12.4 Semi-Enclosed Fuses...................................58
3 High Voltage System Components ............................ 28
3.12.5 Cylindrical (Cartridge) Fuses .......................58
3.1 Introduction .................................................... 28
3.12.6 High Breaking Capacity (HBC) Fuses ...........58

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 3.12.7 NH (Blade-Type) Fuse Systems................... 59 5.8 Performing an Isolation ................................... 88
3.12.8 D/DO (European Bottle Fuse) Fuses ........... 59 5.8.1 Identification .............................................. 88
3.13 Soft Starts ........................................................ 60 5.8.2 Disconnection ............................................. 88
3.14 Summary ......................................................... 61 5.8.3 Isolation ...................................................... 89
4 Risk and Injury ........................................................... 65 Activity 5.3 .................................................................. 90
4.1 Introduction .................................................... 65 5.8.4 Post Notices ................................................ 91
4.2 The Effects of Electric Current on the Human 5.8.5 Proving Dead .............................................. 92
Body 65
5.8.6 Earthing ...................................................... 92
4.3 The Body as a Conductor ................................. 67
5.8.7 Adjacent Parts ............................................ 93
4.4 Electrical Hazards to the Human Body ............ 68
5.8.8 Additional Procedures ................................ 94
4.4.1 Electric Shock ............................................. 68
Activity 5.4 .................................................................. 95
4.5 Burns Caused by Electricity ............................. 69
5.9 Summary.......................................................... 96
4.6 Overview of First Aid Actions and Treatment of
6 Hazardous Areas ........................................................ 99
Electric Shock .................................................................. 69
6.1 Introduction ..................................................... 99
Activity 4.1 ................................................................. 71
6.2 What Constitutes a Hazardous and Safe
4.6.2 Assessing the Condition of the Casualty .... 72
Area? 100
4.6.3 Clearing the Airway .................................... 72
6.2.1 Classification of Hazardous Areas ............. 100
4.6.4 Checking for Breathing............................... 72
6.3 How the Zoning System Applies to the ROV
4.6.5 Checking for Circulation ............................. 73 Industry 101
4.6.6 The Recovery Position ................................ 74 6.4 Overview of the ATEX Directive ..................... 102
4.6.7 Treatment of Burns .................................... 74 6.5 The Types of ‘Ex’ Protection........................... 103
4.6.8 Other Injuries ............................................. 74 6.5.1 Exclusion of the Fuel Element................... 105
4.6.9 Defibrillators .............................................. 74 6.5.2 Exclusion of Oxygen .................................. 106
4.7 Summary ......................................................... 75 6.5.3 Exclusion of Ignition Source ...................... 106
5 Risk and Injury ........................................................... 77 6.6 Equipment Used in Hazardous Areas ............. 107
5.1 Introduction .................................................... 77 6.6.1 ROV Control Vans for Hazardous Areas .... 109
5.2 Protection Against Electric Shock .................... 77 6.6.2 Purging Systems ....................................... 109
5.3 Safe Working Practices and Procedures .......... 78 6.6.3 Pre-Startup Checks of A60 Control Vans... 110
5.4 Personal Protective Equipment ....................... 78 6.6.4 Startup Procedure with Purge, Fire and Gas
Control Panel ................................................................. 110
Activity 5.1 ................................................................. 79
6.6.5 Emergency Shut-Down of A60 Control
5.5 Insulation, Earthing and Bonding .................... 80
Vans 111
5.5.1 Earthing ..................................................... 81
6.6.6 Flameproof Enclosures ............................. 111
5.5.2 Additional Earths ....................................... 82
6.6.7 Types of Flameproof Joints ....................... 112
5.5.3 Bonding ...................................................... 83
6.6.8 Terminals .................................................. 113
5.6 Passive Protection ........................................... 83
6.6.9 Greases ..................................................... 113
5.7 Use of Test Equipment .................................... 83
6.6.10 Type ‘N’ Equipment .................................. 113
Activity 5.2 ................................................................. 84
6.7 The Principles of Intrinsic Safety and the
5.7.1 Risks When Using Test Equipment on ‘Low Meaning of ‘ia’ and ‘ib’ .................................................. 114
Voltage’ and ‘Extra Low Voltage’ Systems ....................... 85
6.8 The Meaning of Temperature Ratings, and IP
5.7.2 Test Probes and Leads ............................... 86 Classification .................................................................. 116
5.7.3 Theory of Operation .................................. 86 6.9 The Labelling of ‘Ex’ Equipment ..................... 117
5.7.4 Safety Considerations ................................ 87 6.9.1 The ATEX Approach to Labelling
Equipment 119
5.7.5 Probe Maintenance ................................... 87
6.10 Summary........................................................ 119
5.7.6 Precautions to Take While Testing ............. 87
5.7.7 Method for Using a High Voltage Tester .... 88

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1 INTRODUCTION

CONTENTS
1.1. Introduction
1.2. Definition of High Voltage
1.3. Definition of Competence
1.4. Definition of Technical Knowledge
1.5. Definition of Experience
1.6. Health & Safety at Work
1.7. The Electricity at Work Regulations

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims of this session are to:

 Define what High Voltage is and how the concept is addressed in the ROV industry
 Define ‘competence’ and how it applies to maintenance on High Voltage systems
 Provide an introduction to the legislative requirements that apply to maintenance
activities on High Voltage equipment
 Introduce the Electricity at Work Regulations that apply to maintenance activities carried
out on ROV equipment.

1.1 INTRODUCTION
This course has been designed to support information contained in the guidance document, IMCA
R005, that has been issued by the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) to
facilitate the safe operation of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) in the offshore industry.

This course may also be used to support training of personnel working in the offshore industry
who are seeking to demonstrate competence in activities that relate directly to maintenance
activities carried out on ROV systems. It must be noted that attendance on training courses on
High Voltage systems does not directly imply competence. High Voltage training courses should
be seen as:

 A method by which individuals are made aware of the hazards of working on systems that
make use of ‘High Voltage’
 A method by which individuals are made aware of legislative and company safety
requirements
 A method by which individuals are made aware of the operational and technical
procedures required to make the system safe to work on
 A means of assessing a person’s knowledge of the safety-critical factors, operating
procedures and basic technical requirements of High Voltage systems.

In order to deem a person competent, it is first necessary to assess their experience on High
Voltage systems. This may involve assessing their technical background, industry experience and
role within the ROV team.

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1.2 DEFINITION OF HIGH VOLTAGE
High Voltage is defined as a line voltage (phase-to-phase) in excess of 1kV AC or DC.

It is prudent, however, to treat all voltages in excess of 50 VAC with caution – particularly in wet
or damp atmospheres.

There is some debate as to the dangers of DC voltages and the classification of a DC High Voltage.
For the purposes of this course, DC High Voltage is also quoted at 1kV.

1.3 DEFINITION OF COMPETENCE

Health and safety legislation dictates that all employees must demonstrate competence in the
workplace. Competence can therefore be defined as:

‘The ability to repeatedly perform tasks to a given standard both efficiently and
safely.’

There are generally perceived to be three elements that must be measured to asses an
individual’s competence. They are:

1 Underpinning knowledge in both safety and technical activities

2 The necessary skills to carry out the work
3 Experience in the type of work being performed.

The responsibility for deciding whether or not a person is competent to carry out work on High
Voltage AC power distribution within ROV systems lies with the ROV Supervisor. The Supervisor
may in turn have to seek guidance from company personnel who should hold records of the
individual’s competence.

For the purposes of this course, ‘competence’ relates to the ability to isolate a High Voltage
system and make it safe to work on. Competence should also include an awareness of the
hazards posed by High Voltage systems and a thorough understanding of your own capabilities
and limitations.

In some cases, personnel working offshore may have no electrical background and have no desire
to be involved in any High Voltage isolations or maintenance activities. This is perfectly
acceptable and we would only encourage people with an electrical discipline to carry out
isolations.

However, all personnel have a duty to be aware of the hazards posed by electricity, and this
course will assist individuals who do not have an electrical discipline in achieving this objective.

Guidance on such matters can be obtained from MTCS.

1.4 DEFINITION OF TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE

Technical knowledge should include:

 Adequate knowledge of electricity

 Adequate understanding of the system to be worked on
 Adequate understanding of the hazards that may arise when carrying out the work, and
the precautions that must be taken.

Technical knowledge can be assessed by either examination or oral questioning.

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1.5 DEFINITION OF EXPERIENCE
Experience should include:

 Adequate experience of the work being carried out

 Adequate experience of the system being worked on
 The ability to recognise hazards and decide whether it is safe for work to continue.

The simplest method of assessing experience is by determining the number of hours/days an

individual has worked on a system or piece of equipment.

1.6 HEALTH & SAFETY AT WORK

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, sometimes referred to as HASAWA, makes the
following definitions regarding safety in the workplace.

The employer:

‘To ensure the health, safety and welfare of their employees and to provide
“such information, instruction, training and supervision as are necessary” to
ensure these responsibilities are properly discharged.’

‘To protect persons not in their employment and self-employed persons who
may be affected by their operations and provide a written statement of safety
policies and procedures which must be freely available to employees.’

This may typically be in the safety manual.

The employee:

‘To look after the health, safety and welfare of themselves and others they
may be working with and to make full and proper use of any control measure,
personal protective equipment or other thing or facility provided pursuant to
these regulations and if they discover any defect therein, they shall report it
forthwith to their employer.’

It can be seen therefore that everyone has some accountability for safety in the workplace
whether it be the employer or the employee.

It should also be remembered that these statements are in fact Acts of Parliament. This means
that both companies and individuals may be held legally responsible for wilfully carrying out
unsafe activities that lead to an accident in the workplace.

1.7 THE ELECTRICITY AT WORK REGULATIONS

The Electricity at Work Regulations form the main plank of the legislative regime that is
appropriate to working offshore on HV equipment.

The Regulations were formed in 1989 and were made under the Health and Safety at Work etc
Act 1974, coming into force on 1 April 1990. The Regulations are universally applicable and were
developed as a result of extensive consultations with the TIC, CBI and IEE and are therefore a
reflection of best practice. It is the duty of both employer and employee to interpret the
Regulations and appreciate how they apply to their industry. The Regulations must be made
available to all personnel at the worksite. You should be aware of their location at your worksite.

The Regulations are discussed in more detail in Section 2 of this course booklet.

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ACTIVITY 1.1
Allow 15 minutes

Consider your own career history to date, including your role prior to working in the ROV industry.
What evidence could you produce to contribute to an assessment of competence in isolating High
Voltage systems?

What would you consider your plan of action to be on completing this course and progressing
towards competence in isolating High Voltage systems?

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1.8 SUMMARY
In this session we have provided a brief introduction to High Voltage safety awareness and
examined how competence assurance relates to the maintenance of High Voltage systems.

You should now be able to:

 Define what is meant by High Voltage

 Appreciate the factors that determine competence in maintenance activities, particularly
in isolating a High Voltage system
 Appreciate your own capabilities and limitations and set an action plan to achieve
competence in isolating High Voltage systems
 Explain what your duties are under the Health & Safety at Work Act
 Locate the Electricity at Work Regulations at your worksite.

Key Points
 High Voltage training courses should be seen as:
o A method by which individuals are made aware of the hazards of working on
systems that make use of ‘High Voltage’
o A method by which individuals are made aware of legislative and company safety
requirements
o A method by which individuals are made aware of operational and technical
procedures required to make the system safe to work on
o A means of assessing a person’s knowledge of the safety-critical factors, operating
procedures and basic technical requirements of High Voltage systems.
 High Voltage is defined as a line voltage (phase-to-phase) in excess of 1kV AC or DC
 ‘Competence’ is defined as:

‘The ability to repeatedly perform tasks to a given standard both efficiently and
safely.’

 Competence consists of:

o Underpinning knowledge in both safety and technical activities
o The necessary skills to carry out the work
o Experience in the type of work being performed.
 Knowledge consists of:
o Adequate knowledge of electricity
o Adequate understanding of the system to be worked on
o Adequate understanding of the hazards that may arise when carrying out the
work, and the precautions that must be taken.
 Experience consists of:
o Adequate experience of the work being carried out
o Adequate experience of the system being worked on
o The ability to recognise hazards and decide whether it is safe for work to
continue.
 Under HASAWA the employee has a duty to:

‘Look after the health, safety and welfare of themselves and others they may
be working with and to make full and proper use of any control measure,
personal protective equipment or other thing or facility provided pursuant to
these regulations and if they discover any defect therein, they shall report it
forthwith to their employer.’

 The Electricity at Work Regulations form the main plank of the legislative regime that is
appropriate to working offshore on HV equipment.

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2 SAFETY WITH HIGH VOLTAGE SYSTEMS

CONTENTS
2.1. Introduction
2.2. Attitudes Towards Safety
2.3. The Safety Culture
2.4. Safety Legislation
2.5. Approved Codes of Practice
2.6. Responsibilities
2.7. Personnel Requirements
2.8. Key Personnel Roles
2.9. The Norwegian Safety Environment
2.10. Norwegian Regulations
2.11. Safe Working Practices
2.12. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
2.13. The Management of Health and Safety at Work
2.14. Risk Assessment

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims of this session are to:

 Discuss the safety legislation that applies to High Voltage systems and how it determines
how we carry out maintenance activities on ROV systems
 Define your own responsibilities and those of colleagues when working on High Voltage
systems
 Discuss the Norwegian perspective to High Voltage safety awareness and associated
maintenance activities
 Identify what is considered to be safe working practice when carrying out electrical
maintenance activities
 Introduce the concept of risk assessment that must be undertaken prior to carrying out
maintenance activities.

2.1 INTRODUCTION
This session introduces the concept of High Voltage safety awareness and the safety legislation
that must be taken into consideration when maintaining High Voltage systems. It is important to
appreciate that we all have some responsibility for the safety of ourselves and others we may be
working with. The session will now examine some of the points that we must consider in order to
ensure we conduct our work in a safe manner.

It is important to remember that under no circumstances should any work be carried out on live
High Voltage equipment.

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ACTIVITY 2.1
Allow 15 minutes

Before studying this session, think about the last time you were involved in an umbilical re-
termination. What safety factors did you take into account prior to and whilst carrying out this
activity.

Hint: think about ‘good safe working practices’ when using tools, test equipment and
consumables!

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2.2 ATTITUDES TOWARDS SAFETY
Attitudes towards safety are the most important factor when trying to implement and maintain
safe working practices.

A safe working environment will rarely be achieved in the workplace without there being a
positive attitude towards safety amongst team members. Poor attitudes towards safety usually
come from a belief that:

‘Accidents will only happen to other people, not to me!’

and

‘The main priority is to get the job done!’

It is generally accepted that people who have experienced an accident or near miss will change
their attitude towards safety. They are likely to be more than willing to share their experience
with others in order that they too may change their attitude towards safety.

It is particularly important to allow for any inexperience and to encourage less experienced
personnel to seek assistance or instruction from Supervisors. Supervisors must use ‘appropriate
supervision’ as required and recognise individuals who may need guidance and support in carrying
out activities.

2.3 THE SAFETY CULTURE

Every group of people develops a ‘culture’ – shared attitudes, beliefs and ways of behaving. In an
organisation with a good culture, everyone puts safety high on the list, which influences the ways
in which group members handle new events and decisions. They know, for example, that they are
not expected to react to a problem by cutting corners on safety for operational needs!

Key factors that are required to ensure a good health and safety culture are usually grouped
together as the ‘four Cs’:

 Control  Co-operation
 Competence  Communication.

2.4 SAFETY LEGISLATION

It is important that we are all aware of the legislative requirements that apply to our industry and,
in turn, relate to the job that we carry out.

Many initiatives have been put in place to improve safety and thus support the legislative
requirements. For example, safety awards and certificates are now seen as a good method of
gaining employees’ commitment to safety and therefore improving the safety culture.

Although this course will concentrate more on day-to-day safety issues that we are likely to
encounter when maintaining High Voltage equipment, we must first gain an overview of relevant
legislation, including:

 Acts of Parliament
 Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 Part 1 (HASAWA).

An Act of Parliament is basically the law. The HASAWA applies to all industry in the United
Kingdom. Contravention of an Act of Parliament could render a company liable to prosecution by
the Health & Safety Executive.

Although the HASAWA forms the hub of British safety legislation, there are equivalent
frameworks in other countries.

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ACTIVITY 2.2
Allow 5 minutes

Think about your career to date. Write down any near misses you have had when working
offshore.

In what way do you think your attitude towards safe working practice, or that of others, at that
time may have had some bearing on the incident? Try and relate to the ‘four Cs’.

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2.4.1 STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS
A statutory instrument is in other words a regulation. There is a vast amount of regulations that
pertain to industry in general; the ones that relate to the offshore industry are listed below.
However, statutory instruments are fairly generic and can be applied to many different work
environments.

The most relevant statutory instruments are as follows:

 SI 635 The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989

 SI 192 The Equipment and Protective Systems Intended for Use in Potentially Explosive
Atmospheres Regulations 1996 (ATEX 95 Directive)
 SI 2776 Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (ATEX 137
Directive)
 SI 1232 The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Application Outside Great Britain)
Order 1989 – fully applicable in the UKCS from March 1995
 SI 2885 The Offshore Installations (Safety Case) Regulation 1992
 SI 2306 The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
 SI 2966 The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992
 SI 3242 The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

Copies of these will be available at the worksite and it is important to become familiar with them
as soon as possible.

Guidance on relevant regulations should be sought from your installation manager or designated
safety representative, who is required to have an in-depth knowledge of health and safety
matters. SI 1232 specifically refers to fixed installations and applies on or within 500m of them.

Reference is made to the Electricity at Work Regulations in this course. A full copy of the
Regulations will be available at the worksite or can be ordered from HSE publications.

2.5 APPROVED CODES OF PRACTICE

Approved codes of practice (ACOPs) are more focused on specific industries. For example, they
will detail procedures that must be adopted to carry out specific activities. They may in
themselves constitute a legal requirement, as failure to follow an ACOP could be construed by a
court as failure to meet the HASAWA. Operations outside the UK will be governed by the laws of
that country and may not be the same as UK law. If in doubt, British Standards, codes of practice
and UK legislation are a good guide to safe working practice.

It is good practice to think of IMCA guidance notes as codes of practice as they relate directly to
activities in which you will be involved. IMCA guidance notes are put together by experts from
within the industry and draw on information from a wide variety of sources. It is these guidance
notes that form the hub of many practices and procedures that your company will adhere to.

Some guidance notes are referred to as ‘AODC’ guidance notes, which was the name for IMCA
prior to the mid-1990s.

According to IMCA guidance document R005, High Voltage is defined as being:

‘A line voltage (phase-to-phase) in excess of 1kV AC or DC.’

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2.5.1 IMCA/AODC GUIDANCE NOTES
The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has issued a series of guidance notes on
safe working practices that must be adopted when working on ROV electrical systems.

The following guidance notes pertain to safe working practice on ROV electrical systems:

 IMCA R004 - The Safe and Efficient Operation of Remotely Operated Vehicles (Superseded
AODC 051)
 IMCA R005 - High Voltage Equipment: Safety Procedures for Working on ROVs
(Superseded AODC 60)
 IMCA R015 - Code of Practice for the Safe Use of Electricity Under Water (Superseded
 D045; AODC 035)
 AODC 062 - Use of Battery Operated Equipment in Hyperbaric Conditions

IMCA/AODC Publications may be obtained from:

IMCA
52 Grosvenor Gardens
London
SW1W 0AU
www.imca-int.com

Government legislation and statutory instruments may be obtained from:

HMSO
Her Majesty’s Stationery Office

There are some excellent publications explaining the application of the various health and safety
legislations, available from:

HSE Books
PO Box 29
Norwich
NR3 1GN
www.hsebooks.co.uk

2.6 RESPONSIBILITIES
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act (HASAWA):

‘The employer has a responsibility to ensure the health, safety and welfare of
their employees and to provide “such information, instruction, training and
supervision as are necessary” to ensure these responsibilities are properly
discharged. The employer must provide a written statement of their safety
policies and procedures, which must be freely available to employees.’

This statement is usually located in the company safety manual. Furthermore:

‘Employers also have a duty to protect persons not in their employment and
self-employed persons who may be affected by their operations. The employer
must provide a written statement on their safety policies and procedures,
which must be freely available to employees and is usually known as the safety
manual.’

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These regulations also place a duty on the employee to:

‘Look after the health, safety and welfare of themselves and others they may
be working with and to make full and proper use of any control measure,
personal protective equipment or other thing or facility provided pursuant to
these regulations and if they discover a defect therein, they shall report it
forthwith to their employer.’

It is considered to be of the utmost importance for individuals to be aware of these

responsibilities.

IMCA guidance document R005 expands on this and places overall responsibility on the ROV
Supervisor to ensure that all maintenance and repair tasks to be carried out on the
equipment/vehicle are conducted:

 In a safe manner
 In accordance with any recognised code or standard which may apply
 By a competent person
 With the approval of the senior person responsible for electrical safety within the
location/installation and in accordance with a laid-down procedure.

The document also states that:

 Personnel should be familiar with all relevant safe working practices

 Personnel must conduct themselves in a safe manner and take reasonable care for the
health and safety of others in the workplace
 It is recommended that personnel are trained in resuscitation techniques and know how
to summon medical help.

It is recommended that personnel refer to the IMCA guidance document R005 before engaging in
any maintenance activities on High Voltage equipment. The document will normally be available
on ROV systems and in workshops.

2.7 PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS

In the UK sector the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 make reference to the duties that are
imposed on personnel carrying out electrical testing and maintenance:

Regulation 3 (‘Persons on whom duties are imposed and levels of duty’) states that:

‘It is the duty of every employer and self-employed person to comply with the provisions of these
Regulations in so far as they relate to matters which are within their control.’

It is the duty of every employee while at work:

 to co-operate with their employer so far as is necessary to enable any duty placed on that
employer by the provisions of these Regulations to be complied with; and
 to comply with the provision of these Regulations in so far as they relate to matters which
are within their control.

All duties are to be considered as absolute unless described as “so far as is reasonably
practicable”.

The defence in any proceedings is defined in Regulation 29 as “… for any person to prove that they
took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of that offence.”’

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As with many regulations that apply to the workplace these are fairly nebulous and are often
subject to debate. It is generally the duty of trade associations, employers and industry specialists
to ensure the regulations are correctly interpreted and applied to their activities.

Regulation 16 (‘Persons to be competent to prevent danger and injury’) defines the need for
competent personnel when carrying out maintenance activities. It states that:

‘No person shall be engaged in any work activity where technical knowledge or experience is
necessary to prevent danger or, where appropriate, injury, unless they possess such knowledge or
experience, or are under such degree of supervision as may be appropriate having regard to the
nature of the work.’

The IMCA document R005 makes reference to the training requirements for personnel involved in
electrical maintenance activities. It includes a proposed syllabus for training in High Voltage
electricity. The areas personnel must be trained in include:

 Safety
 Certification of equipment
 High Voltage system components
 Repair and maintenance
 Legislation and guidance notes
 Electricity in hazardous areas.

2.8 KEY PERSONNEL ROLES

As well as defining responsibilities, the law also addresses safety by identifying key roles amongst
the workforce. The definitions of these roles are described below.

2.8.1 THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR OFFSHORE ACTIVITIES

Installation operators and owners and other employers of staff, who work offshore, have legal
duties to ensure the health and safety of those who work offshore and all who are affected by
their activities.

In particular, on an offshore installation, the operator or owner will set the policy, provide the
main resources for health and safety and co-ordinate management of the operation. Many other
employers may have people working for them on the installation, or in connected roles, such as
ROV operations. They too have legal duties to ensure the health and safety of offshore workers.
They must co-operate with the operators or owners and each other, to ensure that activities can
be managed safely.

Line managers, down to front line supervisors, who act on behalf of those with the primary duties,
must understand their responsibilities to ensure safe working and be equipped to carry them out.

2.8.2 INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES

Individual employees have legal duties to take care of their own and others’ safety and to co-
operate with management in meeting their obligations. Everyone who works offshore must
recognise this responsibility and act accordingly.

2.8.3 SAFETY REPRESENTATIVES

Safety representatives are elected by offshore workers to speak to management for them on
health and safety matters. Safety representatives have special training and some defined
functions; for example, they can carry our inspections (with or without management), be involved

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in investigating incidents, etc. They often act as a contact point for the workforce with HSE
inspectors who visit the installation.

In general, safety representatives help individual employees to keep in touch with important
developments which may affect their health and safety, including the preparation of the
installation safety case.

Safety committees, which include safety representatives and management, provide a regular
forum for co-operation.

2.8.4 HEALTH AND SAFETY ADVISORS

These are appointed by companies. Usually, though not always, they will be staff in the
employer’s Health, Safety and Environment department. Advisors give expert support to
management and can also inform and advise others, including safety representatives and
employees.

Clearly ROV Supervisors are in effect line managers, and they must therefore be equipped to
enable employees to understand and carry out their duties in order to ensure safe working
practices. There are a variety of training courses that can assist the Supervisor in obtaining
appropriate management skills.

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ACTIVITY 2.3
Allow 15 minutes

Consider your own installation/vessel or workplace. With reference to section 2.8, identify the
relevant personnel who ‘fit’ the roles discussed. How do they communicate with you in the
workplace on safety-related matters? What responsibility is placed on you by these people?

Page 18 of 122
2.9 THE NORWEGIAN SAFETY ENVIRONMENT
The Norwegian safety environment is considered by many to be the most comprehensive in the
world, and it therefore receives special attention here.

The Norwegian safety regime is designed to reflect the basic principle of the licensees’ full
responsibilities for ensuring that the petroleum activity is carried out in compliance with the
conditions laid down in legislation. In order to emphasise this principle, the safety regime has
been founded on internal control. This means that the authorities aim to ensure that the
licensees’ management systems are adequately catering for regulatory compliance with regards
to safety and working environment in their activities.

On a ministerial level, safety and working environment in all Norwegian industries and trades is a
responsibility of the Ministry of Local Government and Labour.

2.9.1 NORWEGIAN PETROLEUM DIRECTORATE AND PSA

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) is the professional agency that carried out the day-
to-day supervision of safety activities offshore on behalf of the Norwegian government.

Responsibility has now been passed, however, to the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) which was
established 1 January 2004.

The PSA has the regulatory responsibility for safety, emergency preparedness and the working
environment in petroleum activities. Any regulations relating to health, safety and environment
(HSE) in petroleum activities continues with the PSA as the responsible authority.

The ‘Activities Regulation’ was issued by the NPD on 3 September 2001 and is a comprehensive
series of regulations pertaining to work activities in the Norwegian sector.

Within this document there are regulations that relate to training, competence and High Voltage
safety. Operators should be aware that reference is made to working on live electrical
equipment.

It should be noted that the ROV industry takes exception to this and operating companies insist
that no live working on High Voltage equipment shall take place under any circumstances.

Within this regime of strong emphasis on the licensee’s responsibilities, the role of the authorities
is to provide the premises through legislation, supervision, information and guidance.

2.10 NORWEGIAN REGULATIONS

The following authorities issue guidelines for High Voltage safety in the Norwegian sector:

 The Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLF) – Recommended Guidelines for ROV
Services
 The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Administration – Regulation for Electrical
Installations; Maritime Installations; 1990
 Norwegian Petroleum Directorate 1996 – Regulation Relating to Electrical Installations in
the Petroleum for Work in High Voltage Electrical Installations (DH-
915.

2.10.1 THE NORWEGIAN PERSPECTIVE

There is much collaboration between the UK and Norwegian sectors to ensure personnel
requirements are satisfied for both sectors. Personnel requirements in Norway are defined by the
Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLF).

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The OLF is a professional body and employer’s association for oil and supplier companies engaged
in the field of exploration and production of oil and gas on the Norwegian continental shelf. It is a
member of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO).

The OLF issued recommended guidelines for ROV services in August 1994.

As discussed above, operators bear overall responsibility for health and safety on their
installations. These recommendations should be seen not as prescriptive, but as minimum
acceptable standards. ROV contractors wishing to work in Norway will be required to convince
the operators that they meet or surpass these minimum standards.

It is not intended to quote the whole document as it will be available within your organisation,
but the following excerpts are particularly relevant to this course.

2.10.2 PURPOSE OF THE GUIDELINES

To establish a common norm in planning, conducting and verifying operations involving the use of
ROV services.

2.10.3 SCOPE OF THE GUIDELINES

The guidelines cover personnel and equipment involved in ROV operations on the Norwegian
continental shelf, and under contract, or the responsibility, of the operators.

The guidelines are complementary to, and shall be read in conjunction with all applicable
Norwegian regulatory requirements. In case of doubt, the text in the Norwegian language shall
be used.

The guidelines are guidelines only for operating companies, and are not binding, legally or in any
other way, unless individual companies state so in internal control documents or supporting
documentation.

2.10.4 RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE OLF

OLF is responsible for maintaining and updating these guidelines.

The operators are responsible for adhering to these guidelines as far as is practicable, and for
incorporating the guidelines into their internal control system.

The contractors are responsible for adhering to regulations and requirements for:

 Equipment verification, condition and maintenance

 Team sizes, personnel requirements, training, familiarisation and working time
constraints
 Operational, emergency and contingency procedures, operational time constraints,
planning and reporting
 The safe conduct of ROV activities.

All personnel have a responsibility within their field of expertise to ensure that operations are
carried out within the requirements of this document.

There are sections of these guidelines to cover technical requirements, documentation

requirements, personnel qualification requirements and data sheets. The technical and
documentation requirement sections will be referred to in later chapters of this book, but the
personnel requirements section is of such significance to safety that it will be quoted here. In
general, the Health and Safety at Work Act refers to the requirement for personnel to be

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competent for the task in hand; these guidelines, however, offer a much more detailed analysis of
competence as it applies to ROV personnel.

2.10.5 PERSONNEL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR HIGH VOLTAGE

MAINTENANCE
Personnel involved in maintenance and repair of a High Voltage (above 1000V) system shall as a
minimum be qualified as follows:

 Certified ships electrician, or certified electrician group L, or equivalent

 Additional recognised courses regarding High Voltage systems maintenance and repair
 Courses held by the ROV equipment manufacturer.

The above detailed descriptions are included to act as guidelines only. It is important to check the
requirements of each operator prior to each engagement to ensure compliance with current
requirements. The information has been included to enable the student to better understand the
acceptable levels of competence, with this final section being particularly relevant to the scope of
this course.

In practice, the ‘Person in Charge’ of an isolation will be trained in High Voltage isolation
procedures and deemed competent to perform the task. They will therefore be responsible for
the safe isolation of the system prior to any maintenance taking place.

2.11 SAFE WORKING PRACTICES

Adopting safe working practices is critical to minimising risk and injury. The most important
practices to be followed when carrying out electrical work are listed below.

All personnel should adhere to this summary of precautions as a minimum in order to ensure their
personal protection during work on ROV electrical systems:

1. Only work on electric systems if you are sure you know what you are doing. Personnel
should also have a relevant electrical background and experience of the equipment/job in
hand
2. Only work on High Voltage systems in pairs
3. Follow all written instructions/procedures
4. Gain permit to work where required
5. Always prove systems are dead before commencing work; ensure isolation procedures
are followed and locks and caution notices are installed
6. Be absolutely sure that the ground connection is made through the umbilical to the ROV –
i.e. the ROV frame is earthed – before working on the ROV
7. Connect an additional external ground strap when the ROV is on deck during maintenance
8. Wear rubber gloves if handling the umbilical or ROV frame when power is on during
operations. Remove all items of jewellery
9. Make sure that inexperienced personnel stand well clear during operational and
maintenance procedures, and areas where danger may be present are cordoned off with
relevant safety notices posted
10. Do not allow personnel and tools to become disorganised during maintenance and repair
procedures, and do not take shortcuts due to operational pressures. Keep control
11. Stand on a rubber mat when working in the vicinity of High Voltages, and when testing
keep one hand behind your back; or better still, connect the meter to test points and
stand clear before applying power
12. Know the first aid for shock treatment and medical evacuation procedures of the vessel
and have this information available in a convenient location

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 13. All meters must be suitably rated, e.g. 1000V AC or 5000V AC as required, and tested
immediately prior to and following testing. They must then be stored in safe, dry
conditions
14. Know where mains isolating switches are and that they are correctly identified. Ensure
that LIMs and RCDs are operational when operating testing equipment.

2.12 PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE)

PPE must be made readily available to all employees and contractors. The following guidelines
apply to the use of PPE:

 Employees must look after PPE and report any defect in the item(s) immediately
 PPE must not be altered or redesigned
 Non-standard PPE is not recommended. Always check the certification stamp on the
item(s) where applicable
 Ensure PPE is in date where applicable, e.g. High Voltage safety gloves.

There is often controversy over the use of PPE whilst carrying out certain maintenance
procedures. This is mainly due to the fact that some PPE does restrict movement and can make
delicate tasks virtually impossible. It is also argued that PPE is not required as individuals should
not be working on live High Voltage equipment.

It should be remembered, however, that there will be a period of time when the equipment,
although isolated, has not been proven dead. It is therefore possible that the equipment could be
live and therefore PPE should be worn until a full isolation has been implemented by an
authorised person. Even then, the removal of PPE is only acceptable if it does not contravene any
local safety procedures imposed at the worksite.

2.13 THE MANAGEMENT OF HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 establish the duties and
responsibilities of the employer and employee with regards to the management of health and
safety at work. These Regulations establish the criteria and areas of responsibility for risk
assessment in the workplace. The HSE has published several different booklets to promote best
practice in these areas, including:

 L21 Approved Code of Practice and Guidance on the Management of Health and Safety at
Work Regulations 1999
 HSG 183 & INDG163 Five Steps to Risk Assessment
 HSG 85 Electricity at Work, Safe Working Practices
 HSG 38 Electrical Test Equipment for Use by Electricians
 INDG354 Safety in Electrical Testing at Work, General Guidance
 INDG231 Electrical Safety and You
 EIS37 Safety in Electrical Testing.

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2.14 RISK ASSESSMENT
There are many textbooks and courses on risk assessment, reflecting how critical the process is
within organisations’ safety management systems. A basic risk assessment should be broken
down into five steps, as described below:

1. Hazard identification – look only for hazards which you could reasonably expect to result
in significant harm. This could include hazards such as poor lighting, extreme
temperatures, inadequate workspace, stored energy, adjacent live parts, etc.
2. Who might be harmed? Think about the people who may be harmed, e.g. maintenance
and operational personnel, uninvolved personnel, inexperienced staff
3. Is more needed to control the risk? For the identified hazards, do the existing precautions
meet the required company and national legal requirements? Do you need to revise your
initial precautions?
4. Record your findings – this could be in the form of a risk assessment log, or a form that is
attached to the relevant maintenance log or job information record
5. Review your assessment – this should be conducted at regular intervals to ensure any
changes to the equipment or work areas are accounted for.

Risk can be defined as follows:

Risk = Hazard Severity x Likelihood of Occurrence

Many companies have their own risk assessment procedures which involve a range of
measurement criteria that are used in conjunction with a scoring matrix. The purpose of this
system is so that on completion of the risk assessment, the user will be presented with an actual
number that represents the level of risk.

The levels of risk typically equate to:

 High risk – Procedures must be put in place immediately to reduce the level of risk before
the activity can be carried out
 Medium risk – The activity may be carried out but procedures must be reviewed and
precautions taken
 Low risk – The activity can be carried out although some precautions may still be
necessary.

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ACTIVITY 2.4
Allow 20 minutes

Imagine you are tasked with cleaning a High Voltage transformer on an ROV system.

Locate your organisation’s risk assessment department. Perform an assessment for this activity
using the organisation’s documentation and identify precautions and control measures you will
have to implement before carrying out the task.

You may consult colleagues whilst carrying out this task. Summarise below the steps you took to
carry out this risk assessment. What improvements could be made to the procedure, if any?

DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS TASK IN REALITY; IT IS ONLY AN EXERCISE!

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2.15 SUMMARY
In this session we have examined how attitudes towards safety are the most important factor
when trying to implement and maintain safe working practices. The legislation that applies to
operating and maintaining High Voltage equipment, including statutory instruments (SIs) and
accepted codes of practice (ACOPs), must be correctly interpreted and applied to daily
maintenance activities.

Individuals and organisations have responsibilities to ensure a safe working environment is

maintained and the key roles within an offshore team who ensure safety are maintained. This is a
legal requirement and persons found to be contravening these regulations may be liable to
prosecution.

The Norwegian perspective towards safety has been founded on internal control. This means that
the authorities aim to ensure that the licensees’ management systems are adequately catering for
regulatory compliance with regards to safety and working environment in their activities.

The OLF is an association that provides guidelines on personnel requirements for offshore
activities in the Norwegian sector. Regulatory bodies include the Norwegian Petroleum
Directorate (NPD) and latterly the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA).

There is a standard list of safety factors that must be taken into account whenever any electrical
maintenance activities are being carried out, including the use of PPE.

Risk assessment forms an integral part of any maintenance activity. In practice it is normally
carried out prior to a new maintenance or operational activity. It is important to review a
previously completed risk assessment prior to carrying out any High Voltage maintenance activity.
If no risk assessment exists then one must be carried out.

You should now be able to:

 Identify what constitutes a ‘good’ attitude towards safety

 Describe what is meant by the ‘safety culture’
 Identify safety legislation documentation at your worksite and describe how the Health &
Safety framework applies to your worksite
 Identify your responsibilities when carrying out High Voltage maintenance activities
 Identify key personnel roles on your vessel or installation
 List the safe working practices that you must take into account when carrying out any
electrical maintenance activity
 Identify your responsibilities when using personal protective equipment
 List the key steps in a risk assessment and be able to describe your organisation’s risk
assessment procedure for maintenance on High Voltage equipment.

Key Points
 Under no circumstances must any work be carried out on live High Voltage equipment
 Attitudes towards safety are the most important factor when trying to implement and
maintain safe working practices
 Key issues that are required to ensure a good health and safety culture are usually
grouped together as the ‘four Cs’:
o Control
o Competence
o Co-operation
o Communication

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 The legislative framework consists of:
o Acts of Parliament: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 Part 1 (HASAWA)
o Statutory instruments
o Approved codes of practice (ACOPs)
o ACOPs are more focused on specific industries. They may in themselves
constitute a legal requirement, as failure to follow an ACOP could be construed by
court as failure to meet the HASAWA
o The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has issued a series of
guidance notes on safe working practices that must be adopted when working on
ROV electrical systems
 Under HASAWA:

‘The employer has a responsibility to ensure the health, safety and welfare of
their employees and to provide “such information, instruction, training and
supervision as are necessary” to ensure these responsibilities are properly
discharged. The employer must provide a written statement of their safety
policies and procedures, which must be freely available to employees.

Employers also have a duty to protect persons not in their employment and
self-employed persons who may be affected by their operations. The employer
must provide a written statement on their safety policies and procedures,
which must be freely available to employees and is usually known as the safety
manual.’

 These regulations also place a duty on the employee to:

‘Look after the health, safety and welfare of themselves and others they may
be working with and to make full and proper use of any control measure,
personal protective equipment or other thing or facility provided pursuant to
these regulations and if they discover a defect therein, they shall report it
forthwith to their employer.’

 Under the Electricity at Work Regulations, Regulation 3 (‘Persons on whom duties are
imposed and levels of duty’) states that:

‘It is the duty of every employer and self-employed person to comply with the
provisions of these Regulations in so far as they relate to matters which are
within their control.

It is the duty of every employee while at work:

 To co-operate with his employer so far as is necessary to enable any duty placed
on that employer by the provisions of these Regulations to be complied with; and

 To comply with the provision of these Regulations in so far as they relate to

matters which are within their control.

All duties are to be considered as absolute unless described as “so far as is

reasonably practicable”.

The defence in any proceedings is defined in Regulation 29 as “… for any

person to prove that they took all reasonable steps and exercised all due
diligence to avoid the commission of that offence.”’

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  Regulation 16 of the Electricity at Work Regulations (‘Persons to be competent to prevent
danger and injury’) defines the need for competent personnel when carrying out
maintenance activities. It states that:

‘No person shall be engaged in any work activity where technical knowledge or
experience is necessary to prevent danger or, where appropriate, injury, unless
they possess such knowledge or experience, or are under such degree of
supervision as may be appropriate having regard to the nature of the work.’

 Personnel requirements in Norway are defined by the Norwegian Oil Industry Association
(OLF) who issue guidelines on safety issues
 The purpose of the guidelines is to establish a common norm in planning, conducting and
verifying operations involving the use of ROV services
 Personnel involved in maintenance and repair of a High Voltage (1000V+) system shall as
a minimum be qualified as follows:
o Certified ships electrician, or certified electrician group L, or equivalent
o Additional recognised courses regarding High Voltage systems maintenance and
repair
o Courses held by the ROV equipment manufacturer.

Key personnel roles in the offshore workplace include:

o Those responsible for offshore activities
o Individual employees
o Safety representatives, health and safety advisors.
 The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) is the professional agency that carried out
the day-to-day supervision of safety activities offshore on behalf of the Norwegian
government. The role has now been taken over by the PSA.
o Adopting safe working practices is critical to minimising risk and injury
o PPE must be made readily available to all employees and contractors. The
following guidelines apply to the use of PPE:
 Employees must look after PPE and report any defect in the item(s)
immediately
 PPE must not be altered or redesigned
 Non-standard PPE is not recommended. Always check the certification
stamp on the item(s) where applicable
 Ensure PPE is in date where applicable – e.g. High Voltage safety gloves.
 The five stages of a risk assessment are:
o Hazard identification
o Who might be harmed?
o Is more needed to control the risk?
o Record your findings
o Review your assessment.
 Risk = Hazard Severity x Likelihood of Occurrence.

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3 HIGH VOLTAGE SYSTEM COMPONENTS

CONTENTS
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Theoretical Concepts Relating to High Voltage Electricity
3.3. Isolation Transformers
3.4. Power Distribution Units
3.5. Contactors, Circuit Breakers and Control Relays
3.6. Monitoring Equipment (Voltmeters, Current Meters, etc.)
3.7. Surface Junction Box
3.8. Slip Rings
3.9. ROV Junction Boxes
3.10. Transformers
3.11. Cables and Glands
3.12. Protection Devices
3.13. Soft Starts
3.14. Summary

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims of the session are to:

 Revise some key theoretical concepts that pertain to High Voltage systems
 Identify the key components in a typical ROV system that relate to the High Voltage
circuitry
 Discuss the operation of components in a typical ROV system that relate to the High
Voltage circuitry
 Outline any operational and maintenance tasks that may be required on High Voltage
system components.

3.1 INTRODUCTION
This session will focus on the main components of an ROV system that are associated with High
Voltage electricity. The session will also cover some basic theoretical concepts about High
Voltage power that will act mainly as a refresher to those who have an electrical background. For
those who specialise in other disciplines, it is advisable that they seek out textbooks, of which
there are many, that provide an excellent introduction to electrical principles.

3.2 THEORETICAL CONCEPTS RELATING TO HIGH VOLTAGE ELECTRICITY

3.2.1 THREE-PHASE SYSTEMS

Three-phase electrical power is used almost exclusively for the transmission of electrical power
throughout the world. The concept was originally conceived by Nikola Tesla and was proven to be
typically 150% more efficient than single-phase in the same power range.

In a single-phase unit, the power falls to zero three times during each cycle; in three-phase it
never drops to zero and the power delivered to the load is the same at any instant. Also, in three-
phase the conductors need only be 75% the size of conductors for single-phase for the same
power output. This has obvious benefits for transmitting power over long line lengths.

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Figures 3.0 and 3.1 show single- and three-phase represented pictorially.

Figure 3.0
Single-phase supply

Figure 3.1
Three-phase supply

The main specifications that we are concerned with for AC power in general are:

3.2.2 VOLTAGE LEVEL

Figures 3.0 and 3.1 illustrate the ‘peak-to-peak’ voltage level. This value is not normally referred
to in practice. The value that is commonly used is the RMS level (root mean square), which can be
calculated as follows:

RMS = peak value [amplitude] x 0.707

The reason for quoting an RMS value is that it allows a direct comparison between DC and AC
circuits to be made. In theory, a DC circuit of 240V will produce the same heating effect as an AC
circuit of 240V RMS.

In practice we always quote HV power in RMS.

Page 29 of 122
3.2.3 CURRENT LEVEL
The current in an AC circuit follows the sinusoidal pattern in the same manner as the voltage. It
will, however, be out of phase with the voltage due to the inductive properties of the AC device.

Inductance can be defined as the opposition to a change in current direction. The inductance
causes the current to lag behind the voltage, as illustrated in Figure 3.2. The lag is quoted in
degrees and can be used to calculate the power factor of an AC component (see later).

Figure 3.2
The effect of inductance on an AC signal

3.2.4 FREQUENCY
The frequency of an AC signal is defined as the number of cycles that occur per second. In the
United Kingdom the frequency of an AC power is normally 50Hz. In Europe and other countries
the frequency may be 60Hz. Most electrical equipment will have the option of operating on 50Hz
or 60Hz.

3.2.5 IDENTIFICATION OF PHASES/PHASE ROTATION

Phase rotation and correct identification of phases is very important when setting up HV power
systems.

The implications of incorrect phase configuration can be quite serious. The most common
symptom is the incorrect rotation of electric motors, which can include hydraulic power unit
motors and electric thruster motors.

It is important to identify and connect phases in the correct manner when installing a system. The
phases are normally colour-coded, numbered or both. In the UK the colour coding is:

Pre April 2006: As from 1 April 2006:

 Red  Brown
 Yellow  Black
 Blue  Grey
 Black (neutral)  Blue (neutral)

Most power distribution systems are equipped with phase monitors and alarms which should be
checked prior to switching the system on. Phase monitors will inhibit equipment from being
switched ‘ON’ if the phase rotation is incorrect.

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3.2.6 STAR AND DELTA CONFIGURATION
AC power systems can be configured either in Star (Y) or Delta (∆) configuration.

It is not the intention of this booklet to go into great detail on the mathematical calculations that
are so often used to describe the two configurations of AC power; the subject is covered more
than adequately in a wide range of textbooks that can be easily obtained. The mathematical
resolution of three-phase will do little to assist the technician in the workplace and is therefore
considered inappropriate for this course.

Both systems are illustrated in Figure 3.3:

Figure 3.3
Delta and Star three-phase systems

Some key facts about three-phase power are listed below:

 Delta provides lower voltage but more current

 Star provides a higher voltage but less current
 All work-class ROV systems make use of three-phase
 Three-phase power is typically 150% more efficient than single-phase in the same power
range
 Three-phase conductors need only be 75% the size of conductors for single-phase for the
same power output.

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3.2.7 POWER IN A THREE-PHASE SYSTEM
In general, the power dissipated by a component is expressed in watts and is derived from the
following equation:

Power = I2 x R

It can be seen that this is related directly to a signal in a purely resistive component in which
voltage and current are in phase. In reality, the windings of a transformer or an electric motor will
not be purely resistive; they will also have inductive and capacitive properties. This will have a
bearing on the phase relationship that exists between the voltage and current components of the
AC signal. Figure 3.4 illustrates the phase difference between voltage and current in an inductive
circuit. It can be seen that the current lags the voltage by a phase angle (Φ).

In this case, voltage and current do not peak at the same time and the power will be less than if
voltage and current were in phase.

The angle Φ is between 0 and 90 degrees, the cosine of which is known as the ‘power factor’. The
value of the power factor therefore will be between 0 and 1.

The power of a transformer in watts can now be expressed as follows:

Power (watts) = I(RMS) x V(RMS) x power factor

Figure 3.4
Phase relationship between voltage and current

Obviously it is not always practicable to determine the power factor of a transformer, and for this
reason the expression VA or kVA is used. This means that if the supply voltage is given then the
current can be easily calculated.

For example, the High Voltage transformer unit for a typical work-class ROV contains a step-up
transformer rated at 150kVA; the output of the transformer is related at 3300 volts. The line
current in the umbilical can be found as follows:

I(RMS) = VA/V(RMS) = 150kVA/3300

The line current is approximately 45A

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3.2.8 STAR/DELTA CONFIGURATIONS
Three-phase power systems may be configured in either Star or Delta configuration, as was
illustrated in Figure 3.3. During initial application of power to a motor, the windings are
stationary and the only factors that determine the current taken by the motor are the supply
voltage (V) and the impedance of each winding (Z). The example below illustrates the starting
current when connected in Star and Delta configuration.

Star Configuration Delta Configuration

VL = Line Voltage In Delta, the phase voltage is the same as the

Vph = Phase Voltage line voltage.
Impedance of each winding Z = 40
Assuming the line and phase voltage is 415V
(approx.)
and the impedance of the winding is 40W,
To calculate the phase voltage, assuming the the phase current (Iph) is therefore:
line voltage is 415VAC:
𝑉𝑝ℎ 415
𝐼𝑝ℎ − = = 10.3 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑠
415 𝑍𝑝ℎ 40
Vph =
√3

Vph = 240V

Line current drawn from supply (IL):

𝑉𝑝ℎ 240
𝐼𝐿 − = = 6 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑠
𝑍 40

It can be seen that the starting current of a Delta connected motor can be reduced by
approximately one-third if the motor is Star-connected during start-up. It follows, however, that
the torque will also be reduced during the start-up period.

During the initial start-up of a three-phase motor it is possible for the motor to draw excessive
current, which could lead to overheating and possible damage. This can be overcome by
configuring the power distribution system in such a way that the electrical properties of the
transformer windings are changed from Star to Delta by a soft start system.

On start-up the power is applied to the motor via a transformer configured in Star. This will have
the effect of reducing the current until the motor has run up to speed. Once normal running
speed has been achieved, the distribution system will be configured in Delta within a set time by
the soft start unit. This allows the motor to draw more current and develop optimum torque.

Soft start systems are discussed in more detail at the end of this session.

3.3 ISOLATING TRANSFORMERS

Insulation should be further improved by supplying the load via an isolating transformer.

This electrical device isolates the supply current from the load. The whole of the electrical
system, including the transformer secondary winding and all the subsea appliances, are thus
isolated from vessel supply. This means that any ground faults in the ROV system should not
effect the vessel monitoring system.

It should be noted, however, that items such as LARS Deck Power packs and ROV Charge Carts
may be supplied from a 440V branch circuit of the PDU and therefore not protected by the
isolation transformer.

Page 33 of 122
ACTIVITY 3.1
Allow 20 minutes

Refer to the system manuals for your ROV system and identify the following information:

1. System voltage (TMS)

2. Power rating of system motors
3. Calculate the maximum theoretical current level of the ROV HPU system

Page 34 of 122
3.4 POWER DISTRIBUTION UNITS
Figures 3.5 and 3.6 illustrate a typical power distribution unit (PDU)_for use on an ROV system:

Figures 3.5 and 3.6

Power distribution system

The system consists of a series of ‘branch circuits’, with each branch switching the power to a
specific unit on the submersible system. The subsea units typically consist of HPUs, instruments,
Tether Management Systems, tooling skids, etc.

The PDU contains a series of contactors that switch the low voltage power (440V) to the primary
windings of the ROV High Voltage transformers. The contactors are controlled by low-voltage
relays that are energised when the operator switches on the power at the ROV console.

The power distribution unit contains a range of monitoring equipment such as voltmeters, current
meters and circuit protection which will be discussed in more detail in this section of this course.

Typical voltages found in the PDU include:

 440VAC: vessel or rig supply which will be subsequently stepped up to HV system voltage
 110VAC: this voltage is derived from a step-down transformer and is used to energise the
main contactors
 24VDC: this voltage is derived from a DC power supply and is used to energise the control
relays.

3.5 CONTACTORS, CIRCUIT BREAKERS AND CONTROL RELAYS

The switching circuit inside the ROV power distribution unit is made up of contactors, circuit
breakers and control relays:

3.5.1 CONTACTORS
A contactor can be defined as an operating device which connects or disconnects a device such as
an electric motor from the power supply. The power poles within the contactor are operated by
an electromagnetic circuit through the use of a coil and magnetic armature frame.

Page 35 of 122
 Figure 3.7
440V – contactors

The terms ‘contactor’ and ‘breaker’ are sometimes misused when referring to the manually
operated switches that switch power to the PDU.

The electromagnetic circuit within the contactor is energised by a low-voltage supply, typically
110VAC. This voltage is supplied via control circuitry that consists of a series of relays, energised
by a low-voltage signal that is switched at the ROV control console.

3.5.2 CIRCUIT BREAKERS

The function of a circuit breaker is to provide a means shutting off the supply to a circuit when a
fault condition occurs that could make the system hazardous to personnel. There are several
different types of circuit breaker in use; the type and design of the breaker will depend on the
application that it is to be used in.

For example, the breaker may be automatic and will trip if a fault condition is detected by some
form of monitoring device. Alternatively, the breaker may be manually operated and tripping will
be achieved when the operator switches off the breaker.

A typical ROV power distribution unit will combine both an automatic breaker (to ensure safety if
a fault occurs) and a manual breaker (which will incorporate a locking mechanism that allows the
circuit to be isolated for maintenance purposes).

Circuit breakers can be further classified by the way in which they interrupt the flow of electricity
when shutting off current to a circuit. By far the most common type of circuit breakers employed
in the ROV field are miniature circuit breakers and moulded case circuit breakers.

Figure 3.8
Moulded case circuit breaker in PDU

Page 36 of 122
Automatic circuit breakers operate using one or both of two principles. They are:

 Thermal operation relies on the extra heat produced by the high current warming a
bimetal strip, which bends to trip the operating contacts
 Magnetic operation is due to the magnetic field set up by a coil carrying the current,
which attracts an iron part to trip the breaker when the current becomes large enough.

Thermal operation is slow, so it is not suitable for the speedy disconnection required to clear
harmful fault currents. However, it is ideal in the event of a small but prolonged overload current
which may occur during the start-up cycle of a large electric motor. Thermal operation forms the
first characteristic of a Moulded Case Circuit Breaker.

Magnetic operation can be very fast and so it is used for breaking fault currents; in many cases,
both thermal and magnetic operation are combined to make the circuit breaker more suitable for
both overload and fault protection. It must be remembered that the mechanical operation of
opening the contacts takes a definite minimum time – typically 20ms – so there can never be the
possibility of truly instantaneous operation.

This type of operating technique is used in motor protection devices used for safeguarding HPU
motors.

Figure 3.9
Combined thermal/magnetic breaker

All circuit breakers must have an indication of their current rating and the level at which they will
trip.

Miniature circuit breakers have fixed ratings, but moulded case types can be adjusted. Such
adjustments must require the use of a key or a tool so that the rating is unlikely to be altered
except by a skilled or instructed person.

Typical adjustments performed include tripping current and time delay. These characteristics
defines the short-circuit protection of the MCB, which is intended to protect against heavy faults
which maybe in the thousands of amps as a direct result of short-circuit conditions. The capability
of an MCB to operate under these conditions gives its short-circuit rating in kiloamps (KA).

There are many types and ratings of moulded case circuit breakers, and if they are used,
reference should be made to supplier’s literature for their characteristics. Miniature circuit
breakers are manufactured in fixed ratings from 5A to 100A. Short-circuit ratings for the newer
types of breaker will be a minimum of 3kA and may be as high as 25kA – the older types had
short-circuit ratings that were rarely higher than 9kA.

Page 37 of 122
Circuit breakers can be fitted with a variety of different accessories, including:

 Auxiliary contacts
 Tripping mechanisms
 Different types of handle
 Interlocks.

Interlocks are devices that will prevent, for example, a cabinet door being opened whilst power is
still applied.

Terminal shrouds are fitted to help prevent accidental contact with the conductors connected to
the circuit breaker. Manufactures will supply terminal shrouds for circuit breakers which in
general will allow a test probe to make contact with the conductor but will prevent a hand or
finger coming into accidental contact with the conductor. Terminal shrouds should only be
removed when the circuit has been proven dead and isolated.

To ensure safety of personnel and compliance with safety legislation, all HV circuit breakers
should have a means of locking the handle of the breaker in the open position. This is generally
achieved by the use of multiple padlocks and is recommended when there are several different
teams working on the same system. It will help to ensure that no power is applied to the system
until all work has been completed on it.

Isolation and locking-off is discussed in more detail in Session 5 of this course.

Most ROV systems will have a requirement for the remote operation of a circuit breaker; this is
achieved by addition of a motor unit to the device, allowing it to be opened, closed and reset
from a remote location via a series of control relays.

3.5.3 CONTROL RELAYS

A relay is a simple electromechanical switch made up of an electromagnet and a set of contacts.
The most common application of relays in ROV power systems is as part of the control circuitry for
switching larger breakers, as already mentioned. The relays switch lower voltages to the
contactor coils, thus energising and de-energising the system.

Typical specifications of relays include:

 The voltage and current that is needed to activate the armature

 The maximum voltage and current that can run through the armature and the armature
contacts
 The number of armatures (generally one or two)
 The number of contacts for the armature (generally one or two)
 Whether the contact (if only one contact is provided) is normally open (NO) or normally
closed (NC).

Figure 3.10
Typical relay

Page 38 of 122
 Figure 3.11
Relays in PDU

Emergency stop relays, limit switches and manual emergency stop push buttons are used widely
within modern ROV systems. Their function is to render the system safe by switching off power if
a dangerous condition arises. Examples of these conditions include:

 The opening of an enclosure

 The removal of a fixed barrier
 Detection of a fault condition.

They are also used in hazardous areas to prevent the opening of explosion-proof enclosures or
containers when there is a potentially explosive atmosphere present. A typical system will consist
of one or more manual push buttons (located at key positions on the equipment or system
concerned and by exit and entry points to compartments) and several limit switches.

Manual switches and limit switches are connected into an emergency stop relay, which will then
operate one or more contactors to de-energise the system.

Figure 3.12
Emergency stop relays
Figure 3.13
Safety limit switch on an
ROV HV transformer
enclosure

3.6 MONITORING EQUIPMENT (VOLTMETERS, CURRENT METERS, ETC.)

The High Voltage system has a range of devices that allow the operator to monitor its condition.
Although the devices are physically mounted on the HV systems, the information will normally be
displayed ‘graphically’ on instrument computer screens at the pilot console.

Page 39 of 122
ACTIVITY 3.2
Allow 1 hour

Locate the system drawing for your ROV system that refers to the power distribution system. If
possible, photocopy the drawings in order that you can make notes on them during this exercise.

Firstly, identify the following components on the drawing and note the specification of each:

1. Main breaker/breakers used for isolation

2. Contactors for each branch circuit
3. Control relays

Secondly, describe or sketch the circuit action that occurs when the system is:

a. Powered up at the console

b. Powered down at the console

You may scan drawings or save any notes electronically to support this exercise should you so
wish.

Page 40 of 122
Page 41 of 122
3.6.1 VOLTMETERS
Voltmeters form an important part of the power distribution system as they allow the voltage
being sent through the umbilical to the motors to be monitored. The voltage that is measured at
the surface will not be an accurate representation of the voltage level at the motors/instruments.
This is due to the fact that there will be a voltage drop across the umbilical due to the
reactive/impedance properties of the power conductors. In order to determine the actual voltage
at the subsea component it is first necessary to obtain data relating to the line losses in the
umbilical. This can be found in most ROV manuals or by contacting the ROV manufacturer.

The voltmeters are located on the PDU or High Voltage instrument panel, as illustrated in Figure
3.14.

Figure 3.14
Volt and current meters on a PDU

The PDU will have a meter dedicated to each branch circuit; for example:

 HPU
 Instruments
 Tether Management (TMS) HPU
 TMS instruments.

Any tooling packages supplied on a separate PDU circuit will also be monitored by a voltmeter.

Voltmeters are supplied with mains power that has been reduced to a safe level by a step-down
voltage transformer (VT). For example, a voltmeter that monitors vessel supply to the ROV
system will be supplied via a 440VAC/30VAC VT transformer.

The ratio specified on a VT details its input and output voltages; e.g. 3kV/110V is used on a 3kV
mains circuit and steps the voltage down to 110V. The associated instrument will have its scale
calibrated 0–3kV and will be marked ‘3kV/110V VT ratio’.

Page 42 of 122
ACTIVITY 3.3
Allow 20 minutes

List the monitoring equipment available on your ROV PDU and briefly indicate the purpose of this
equipment.

Page 43 of 122
3.6.2 CURRENT METERS
Current meters (ammeters) are used to monitor the current being drawn by the system
components. The meters are driven by current transformers (CTs) with a standardised 5A or 1A
supply.

Figure 3.15
Current transformers

The ratio specified on a current transformer details its input and output currents, e.g. a 150/5A
transformer is used on a 150A mains circuit and steps the current down to 5A. The associated
instrument will have its scale calibrated ‘0–150A’ and will be marked ‘150/5A CT ratio’.

The use of VTs and CTs allows standardised instruments and relays to be used. They also improve
safety by providing low-voltage and low-current isolated supplies for instruments and relays.

It should be noted that when testing a voltage transformer, the test should be conducted on the
secondary side only for reasons of safety.

The use of instrument transformers does not eliminate danger to operators. The 110V output
from a VT will apply a severe, possibly lethal shock to unsuspecting fingers! The secondary circuit
of a current transformer must never be opened while mains primary current is flowing. If it were
to be opened, excessive heating will have developed in the open circuit transformer, resulting in
an extremely high voltage arising at the open circuit terminals. If an ammeter is to be removed
from circuit, the transformer secondary output terminal must first be short-circuited, with the
primary circuit switched off. The secondary short circuit will not damage the CT when the primary
current is switched on.

Page 44 of 122
3.6.3 LAMPS AND LED INDICATORS
The majority of High Voltage power distribution systems have some form of LED indicators, for
example:

 On/off power indicators

 Alarm conditions
 Phase configuration.

The lamps are normally powered via small voltage transformers, as indicated in Figure 3.16:
440V
LAMP FITTING

FUSES

12V

Figure 3.16
Lamp transformer

Other types of indication lamps that may be found within a PDU are incandescent lamps or light-
emitting diodes (LED). They will all be used to provide a visual indication of the current status of
the PDU and its dependent systems. Before powering up a ROV system the various indications on
the PDU panel should be checked for correct operation by means of the lamp test facility.

3.6.4 OTHER MONITORING DEVICES

In addition to voltage and current meters, other monitoring devices that may be found on an ROV
system include:

 Phase rotation monitors

 Over/under voltage and voltage guards
 Frequency monitors
 Earth continuity meters (ECMs)
 Hours run meters for the electric motors
 Line insulation monitors
 Power supply monitors.

Page 45 of 122
3.7 SURFACE JUNCTION BOX
The ROV surface junction box interfaces the power, control and data cables to the deck umbilical.
Many systems have two junction boxes which allow the High Voltage power conductors to be
kept separate from the data cables and fibre optics. This makes it easier to carry out routine
testing and maintenance on control and video systems.

The High Voltage junction box will be a sealed unit and may contain protective ‘interlock’ devices
such as ‘micro switches’ that prevent the unit being opened whilst power is on. The unit will be
fitted with HV warning notices and will require a full isolation to be carried out prior to being
opened.

NOTE: Some surface junction boxes may not have safety interlocks and it is therefore not
recommended to rely on these as the only form of protection. Isolations must always be carried
out prior to opening such enclosures.

The High Voltage junction box is often used as a test point when proving an ROV system dead.
Figure 3.17 illustrates the inside of a junction box which has the conductors tied to earth with an
earthing spider.

Figure 3.17
High Voltage junction box

3.8 SLIP RINGS

There are many different models of slip rings in use on ROV systems and they can be broken down
into two main types:

 Electrical slip rings

 Combined electro-optical slip ring units.

Dependent on the model and manufacturer, the slip rings may be certified for use in hazardous
areas – typically EEx d IIB T5 (Zone 1).

Figure 3.18
Electro-optical slip rings on a TMS and during maintenance

Page 46 of 122
In general, slip ring assemblies should not require any preventative maintenance and should be
classed as repairable but not field serviceable. If the slip ring assembly fails or suffers a significant
deterioration in performance it should be returned to the manufacturer for refurbishment and
repair.

With the increased use of fibre optic umbilicals, the use of combined electro-optical slip rings is
becoming increasingly common. This type of slip ring assembly consists of two main sections: the
electrical slip ring assembly and the fibre optic rotary joint assembly (FORJ).

The FORJ assembly is typically filled with an optically clear, non-toxic fluorocarbon fluid. This fluid
is contained entirely within the FORJ and cannot be replaced in the field – in contrast to the
electrical slip ring assembly, which is if required normally field-filled.

Slip ring assemblies which are to be used on a TMS should be fluid-filled and pressure-
compensated. However, it should be noted that the electrical rating of the slip ring assembly is
normally quoted on the assumption that the slip ring assembly is air-isolated. A wide variety of
fluids may be used in slip ring assemblies, including electrical insulating oil, hydraulic oil and even
vegetable oils. Any fluid used should have the following properties:

 A higher dielectric strength than air

 Low viscosity over the operating temperature range (high viscosities may result in the loss
of contact with the slip rings
 Low compressibility to minimise compensator size
 Be compatible with Zytel (nylon), acetal copolymers (Delrin) and glass phenolics
 Be compatible with wire insulation materials (typically PVC, PE, PP, TFE)
 Does not react with copper or copper alloys or tin/lead solder
 Is clean and dry, preferably from an un-opened container.

Obviously, the final selection of fluid will be based on the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Fluids that have been successfully used include Shell Diala, Esso VoltEsso or their equivalent
electrical insulating oils, canola oil and Dow Corning 561 Silicone Transformer Fluid. Tellus
hydraulic oils have also been used successfully.

Caution should be exercised if hydraulic oils are to be used since some hydraulic oils will become
viscous enough at low temperatures that they will cause open circuits with rotation. For slip rings
with silver rings and/or brushes, the sulphur in some hydraulic oils will react adversely with the
silver. Some fluids may also have an adverse affect on the wire insulation as they may tend to
draw the plasticisers out of the plastic insulators and make them stiff. This does not, however,
seem to affect the electrical insulation properties.

A common problem with slip ring units is that as the slip rings/brushes wear, the debris from this
process is seen to be deposited onto the insulated spacers in fluid-filled slip ring assemblies,
leading to surface tracking and premature failure. The use of silicon transformer fluid has been
shown to significantly reduce this problem; the long-term use of silicon fluids has, however, not
been assessed so they must be used with great caution. Silicon fluids also have an extremely high
coefficient of thermal expansion which is approximately 20% higher than with mineral oils.

Before any maintenance or work on a slip ring assembly commences, the High Voltage supply
must be switched off and isolated in accordance with all local and national policies and
procedures. Great care must be taken to avoid contamination of the slip ring unit during removal,
replacement and re-filling operations.

Page 47 of 122
3.9 ROV JUNCTION BOXES
There are several junction boxes to be found on an ROV system. The most common include:

 Umbilical termination (JB1)

 Camera junction box
 Light junction box
 Survey junction box
 Sensor junction box.

All junction boxes provide an interface, for power and data, between a series of components and
the control pod. They are often numbered and referred to with the prefix JB – this being
particularly pertinent to the umbilical termination box, which is often referred to as JB1.

The majority of junction boxes are oil-filled to provide compensation, electrical insulation and to
prevent the ingress of sea water.

Although not strictly a junction box, the ROV may have another oil-filled enclosure that contains a
step-down transformer. This transformer steps down the main supply voltage (e.g. 3.3kV) to a
suitable level for the ROV instrumentation (e.g. 110V). It follows therefore that the umbilical
termination, step-down transformer and electric motor enclosure all contain High Voltage. Any
maintenance on these enclosures must only be carried out after a full electrical isolation has
taken place.

Figure 3.19
ROV junction box JB1(Umbilical Termination)

3.10 TRANSFORMERS
A transformer is defined as a ‘device for changing electrical energy from one voltage level to
another’.

One of the main advantages of AC transmission and distribution is the ease with which an
alternating voltage can be increased or reduced. For instance, electricity is generated at 440V,
and then stepped up only by transformers for transmission. At suitable points, other
transformers are installed to step down the voltage for final distribution and use.

Page 48 of 122
3.10.1 COMPOSITION
The essential parts of a transformer are as follows:

 Primary winding - The winding to which the supply voltage is applied.

 Secondary winding - This is the winding to which voltage is induced electro-magnetically
as a result of the magnetic flux generated by the primary winding.

Apart from electrical and thermal consideration, both windings must have sufficient
mechanical strength to be able to withstand the high stress to which they may be
subjected under short-circuit conditions.
 The core - The magnetic circuit usually made of laminated silicon steel, which couples the
primary and secondary windings.

Two general types of construction of transformers are used by manufacturers, which,

although similar in operation, differ in appearance. They are known as ‘core type’ and
‘shell type’. In core type, the core forms a rectangular frame. The windings are wound on
the legs or limbs of the core. The top and bottom members of the core are referred to as
the ‘yokes’. In shell type, the windings are flat, circular or rectangular coils interleaved
with each other. The core is usually divided and built around the coils on either side,
giving the impression that the core has been built around the coils.

Figure 3.20
Shell type (left) and core type (right) transformer

Page 49 of 122
3.10.2 RATING AND LOSSES
Well-designed power transformers are very efficient devices but still incur power losses,
appearing as heat. The continuous rating of a transformer is determined by the value of the
voltage and current that can flow without exceeding the maximum safe working temperature for
the class of insulation used. Losses may be divided into two:

 Iron losses
 Copper losses

Iron losses are losses which occur as a result of magnetising the core. They are in turn caused by
two factors – namely eddy currents and hysteresis loss. Eddy currents are due to the presence of
circulating currents set up in the iron; hysteresis loss is caused by the reluctance of the core
material to change its magnetic polarity.

Copper loss is the loss of power caused by the resistance of the windings. As the load current
increases, so too will the losses.

Tests are carried out to measure these losses and thereby calculate the transformer efficiency.

3.10.3 METHODS OF COOLING

Due to losses, the transformer temperature will rise, until the rate at which the heat is dissipated
equals the rate at which it is produced. Heat losses are proportional to the volume of the
transformer and cooling is governed by its surface area. The ratio of surface area to volume
increases as transformer size is reduced. This means that small transformers may be naturally
cooled, but large transformers may need forced cooling. Methods of cooling include:

 Air cooling (natural)

 Oil cooling (natural)
 Air blast cooling
 Oil circulation cooling

Nearly all ROV transformers are naturally air-cooled.

Figure 3.21
ROV High Voltage transformer

Page 50 of 122
3.10.4 TRANSFORMER TAP CHANGING
Almost all transformers are fitted with tap-changing facilities, usually by links. This allows the
voltage of the distribution unit to be adjusted to suit load requirements. A typical arrangement
for HV connections is given below, but individual transformer connections should always be
checked.

Supply voltage Taps Output voltage Taps

480 1 3200 A
Umbilical Secondary Secondary Secondary Secondary
460 2 3150 B
length (m) O/P O/P O/P O/P
440 3 3100 C
3000V 3100V 3150V 3200V
420 4 3050 D
0–500
380 5 3000 E

2600 F 500–1800

2550 G
1800–2700
2500 H

2450 I 2700+

2400 J

Figure 3.22
Transformer tappings for different umbilical lengths

3.10.5 TRANSFORMER CLEANING

Transformers are static components and should be periodically cleaned to prevent the build-up of
dust. Dust can reduce the cooling properties of the transformer, and, in some instances create a
conductive path which can lead to the occurrence of stray currents. Both these factors can
ultimately reduce the efficiency of the transformer.

Prior to cleaning, the system must undergo a full isolation and will require ‘permit to work’ and
isolation control certificates to be completed.

3.11 CABLES AND GLANDS

The cables and glands used on ROV systems have to withstand a wide variety of environmental
considerations; including:

 Extremes of temperature
 Humidity
 Salinity of atmosphere.

Improved materials have led to cables of a fairly standard design that are safe, durable and
efficient under all conditions.

The normal voltage on supply power is 440V and cables for use at this voltage are designed for
600/1000V – 600V to earth or 1000V between conductors.

Higher voltages require cables rated at 1900/3300V for three-phase earthed neutral systems and
3300/3300V for three-phase insulated neutral systems.

Page 51 of 122
Cables are constructed of several basic parts:

Figure 3.23
Cable parts

3.11.1 CONDUCTORS
Conductors are made of annealed stranded copper, which may be circular or shaped. Cables with
shaped conductors and cores are usually smaller and lighter than cables with circular cores of the
same cross-sectional area.

3.11.2 CABLE INSULATION

Cable insulation has a thickness appropriate to the cable voltage rating. Insulation materials are
generally organic plastic compounds. Butyl rubber has good heat, ozone and moisture resistance;
it is also tough and resilient. These properties enable butyl rubber to replace natural rubber as an
insulator. However, butyl rubber has now been largely superseded by ethylene propylene rubber
(EPR) insulation. EPR has similar electrical and physical properties to butyl but with better
resistance to moisture and ozone. It should not, however, be exposed to oils and greases. Cross-
linked polyethylene (XLPE) is also used as an insulator but has inferior mechanical and thermal
properties when compared to EPR. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is not generally used for ships’ cables,
even though it is very common ashore. PVC tends to soften and flow at high temperatures (melts
-
Even at normal temperatures, PVC tends to flow and become distorted under mechanical stress –
for example, necking occurs at cable glands, causing the gland to lose its watertight properties.

Multicore cables have the cores identified by either colour or printed numbers

Polychloroprene (PCP or Neoprene) is a common sheath material but has been largely superseded
by chlorosulphonated polyethylene (CSP or Hypalon). CSP HOFR sheathing compound is well
suited to shipboard conditions. It offers good resistance to cuts and abrasions, resists weather
and ozone, acid fumes and alkalis and is flexible.

3.11.3 ARMOURED CABLE

Deck cables are covered with basket-woven wire braid of either galvanised steel or tinned
phosphor bronze that provides extra mechanical protection. The non-magnetic properties of
phosphor bronze are preferred for single-core cables. A protective outer sheath of CSP
compound covers the wire braid. The wire braiding also acts as a screen to reduce interference
(caused by magnetic fields) in communication and instrumentation circuits.

MIMS – mineral insulated, metal sheathed cables are very useful in high-temperature fire-risk
areas and are used in fire alarm circuits. These cables have a magnesium oxide powder as
insulation with a copper sheath (MICC – mineral insulated, copper covered), which is further
covered with PVC for weatherproofing where necessary.

Page 52 of 122
3.11.4 CABLE RATINGS
The current rating of a cable is the current the cable can carry continuously without the conductor

reduced (de- re bunched

together or enclosed in a pipe or trunking, which reduces effective cooling.

types of cable, the size of conductors required for a particular installation is estimated from
standard rating tables.

The volt drop in cables from the main ship supply to the ROV PDU must not exceed 6% (in practice
it is about 2%). The cables installed must comply with both the current rating and the volt-drop
limitation. Cable volt drop only becomes a problem in very long cables.

3.12 PROTECTION DEVICES

This section discusses the ‘active’ protection devices that monitor the High Voltage system for
faults that occur due to electrical leakage between conductors in the system. Any form of current
leakage in a High Voltage system can lead to lethal voltages being present on areas that are
accessible by personnel. This may include the ROV frame, junction boxes, umbilicals, etc. These
types of faults are normally referred to as ‘ground’ or ‘earth’ faults as they are concerned with the
leakage of current between a High Voltage component and an earth point. The protection
devices must therefore monitor the insulation between High Voltage conductors and earth, and
also between adjacent conductors. Ground faults occur on ROV systems typically due to the
following reasons:

 Water ingress in High Voltage enclosures

 Breakdown of conductors within umbilicals
 Water ingress or damage to cables and connectors
 Severed cables or umbilicals

There are two active protection devices used on ROV systems to monitor for fault conditions.
They are:

 Line insulation monitors (LIMs) – for ground faults between High Voltage supplies and
earth
 Residual current devices (RCDs) – for faults that occur between conductors that are not
necessarily earthed, and on domestic supplies between ‘live’ and neutral conductors.

Some manufacturers make reference to ground fault detectors (GFDs), which are essentially the
same as LIMs. There is, however, a subtle difference in that a GFD only detects the fault and
disables the system. The LIM, on the other hand, provides an additional continual display of
insulation readings between the HV system and earth. Nevertheless, the systems operate on
exactly the same principle and both terms are used throughout the industry.

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ACTIVITY 3.4
Allow 15 minutes

Consider your ROV system or perhaps a system you have worked with in the past.

Think about an occasion when an alarm has been activated on the power distribution system.
What was your response to this alarm and what caused it to be activated? Your answer should
include any safety considerations that were taken into account.

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3.12.1 LINE INSULATION MONITORS
A line insulation monitor (LIM) unit is used to monitor the insulation level between cables,
conductors, insulating oils and earth points as used on an ROV system. The LIM unit monitors the
insulation level of the system and will detect any electrical leakage to earth.

Figure 3.24 illustrates how the LIM operates.

Figure 3.24
LIM operation

The LIM is a measuring device that places a DC voltage (approx. 40V) onto the High Voltage supply
via a special coupling that blocks AC but passes DC. An example of this connection can be seen in
Figure 3.25.

Figure 3.25
LIM connection to HV circuit

Under normal conditions the insulation will be extremely high and the current flowing in the DC
circuit will be virtually zero.

I = V/R, where resistance (R) is inversely proportional to the current (I)

Under fault conditions the insulation starts to fall and the current will increase. The LIM unit
contains two relays that constitute a two-stage alarm, with the first warning alarm set to
approximately 8MΩ, and a second (danger) alarm set to initiate at 1MΩ). The fault current will
cause the first relay to energise and activate the warning alarm. If the fault persists and the

Page 55 of 122
insulation continues to fall, the second (trip) relay will energise and interrupt the control voltage
to the main breaker and shut the system down.

The LIM unit provides a visual indication of the insulation level and also low insulation level
alarms. It should be stressed that should a LIM warning alarm be encountered, or any drop in
insulation resistance occur, the cause of this must be IMMEDIATELY investigated and the fault
rectified as soon as possible.

LIMs are particularly useful as water ingress can often be detected at an early stage before
damage or an emergency equipment shutdown is required. If the sub-system can be isolated at
this stage, a total system failure may be avoided.

Under exceptional circumstances the LIM may be overridden by operation of a key switch. This
effectively overrides the LIM’s ability to trip the supply to the ROV if a drop or failure in the
insulation resistance of the umbilical occurs. The implications of overriding the LIM must be
carefully evaluated. The trade association, IMCA, provides guidance as to when a LIM may be
overridden. It states that when operating ROVs in the vicinity of divers, the LIM override should
only be operated by the dive supervisor if they consider the danger to the diver as a result of loss
of power to be greater than the possible electrical hazards.

Figure 3.26
Ground fault monitor/detector

3.12.2 RESIDUAL CURRENT DEVICES

RCDs detect any out-of-balance current flowing in the circuit and trip the supply off when the
current reaches the rated residual operating current of the device. They are selected to ensure
that any person receiving an electric shock is protected.

They are predominantly found in a domestic supply, monitoring for imbalance in the current
flowing in the live and neutral lines. They must have a rated residual operating current:

 Not exceeding 30mA, operating within 200ms

or
 Not exceeding 150mA, operating in not more than 40ms

Commonly-used RCDs have a typical operating time of 15–25ms. The trip currents of RCDs should
be selected to be as low as possible, consistent with freedom from accidental tripping which is
inconvenient and can be dangerous. A trip current of 30mA at 20ms has been found to be
suitable.

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Any imbalance in the currents flowing in the positive and neutral windings trips the breaker. The
breaker is held ‘on’ by magnetic forces. The magnetic circuit is designed so that only a small
current is needed to divert the flux to an alternative path and release the armature.

3.12.3 FUSES
A fuse is a device that is designed to protect equipment from damage when a fault condition
causes excess current to flow.

There are several types of fuse in use offshore today:

 Semi-enclosed fuses, often referred to as ‘re-wirable’, conforming to BS3036

 Cylindrical fuses (cartridge), conforming to IEC 269
 High breaking capacity fuses (HBC), conforming to BS88
 D/DO-type fuses (European bottle fuse), conforming to DIN 49365/49360 & VDE 0635
 NH (blade-type) fuses, conforming to IEC 269.

Some blade-type fuses contain a replaceable element containing a metallic strip or element which
is designed to fail when its rating is exceeded.

3.12.3.1 FUSE CHARACTERISTICS

Under a fault condition, a much larger current than normal will flow in a circuit and associated
cabling. This will cause damage that occurs in two stages:

 The excess current will generate a large amount of heat

 Current flowing through adjacent conductors will set up mechanical forces; these forces
may be large enough to disrupt the cable.

For these reasons, the fuse must be capable of interrupting extremely large prospective fault
currents before they ever reach their first maximum value. The fuse must begin to melt during
the first quarter cycle of fault conditions and so prevent the full prospective fault conditions being
realised.

Manufactures will normally quote I2t data, which is a calculation of energy that is controlled or
cut off through the fuse link. By convention, this energy is sometimes referred to as the ‘Joule-
integral’. The calculation of this current is, however, more commonly referred to as the ‘I2t
formula’ (current let through by the fuse link, squared then multiplied by the time in seconds for
which the current flows).

The amount of power that is allowed through a fuse link is particularly important when semi-
conductor devices such as thyristors are employed in circuits. These devices are capable of
carrying extremely high currents but are physically very small. As a consequence, the amount of
energy required to destroy them is quite small. To provide these devices with the required
degree of protection, fuse manufactures have had to develop a range of fuses which are more
sensitive to overloads and which will operate quicker than the conventional industrial fuse. These
fuses are known by various names such as ‘fast-acting’, ‘high-speed’ or ‘for semi-conductor use’
since there is no universally recognised term.

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3.12.4 SEMI-ENCLOSED FUSES
A semi-enclosed or re-wirable fuse has the following advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages: Disadvantages:

 No mechanical moving parts  Potential danger if inserting fuse

 Cheap initial cost with a fault on the circuit
 Simple to observe whether element  Can be wired with the incorrect size
has melted of fuse wire
 Low cost of replacement elements.  Element cannot be replaced quickly
 Deterioration with age
 Lack of discrimination
 Can cause damage in conditions of
severe short circuit.

The use of this type of fuse is now becoming increasingly rare in offshore installations.

3.12.5 CYLINDRICAL (CARTRIDGE) FUSES

These fuses have cylindrical bodies and ferrule end-caps are widely used for both industrial and
domestic applications. They are available with ratings up to 125A when used in circuits where the
voltage does not exceed 500V; they are becoming increasingly common in industrial applications
where they are now being used to replace ‘D’ and ‘DO’-type fuses. They are also now being used
to replace the BS88 small-dimension fuses with bladed tags up to ratings of 63A. The body of the
fuse can either be ceramic (low-grade) or glass with metal end-caps (ferrules) to which the fuse
element is connected. The fuse may sometimes be filled with silica sand.

Advantages: Disadvantages:

 Small physical size  More expensive to replace than re-

 No mechanical moving parts wirable fuse elements
 Accurate current rating  Can be replaced with the incorrect
 Not liable to deterioration. rating
 Not suitable when extremely high
fault currents may develop
 Can be shorted out by the use of
silver foil.

3.12.6 HIGH BREAKING CAPACITY (HBC) FUSES

HBC fuses come in a range of several sizes and are designed to interrupt large fault currents. The
fuse consists of a cylindrical ceramic body to which are attached brass or copper end-caps. The
fusible element (usually silver) connects to the end-caps. Fuses with a low capacity may only have
one thin fusible element, whilst high-capacity fuses may have several thicker elements. The body
of the fuse is tightly packed with fine grains of quartz.

When normal load currents flow, the elements can get quite hot, but the quartz sand and the
metal connections at either end of the fuse carry this heat away so that the elements do not
reach their melting temperature. However, if the current flow rises above the rated current of
the fuse link, the elements get much hotter and the excess heat cannot be carried away quickly
enough. The element therefore reaches its melting temperature and breaks, interrupting the
current flow. The fusible elements in HBC fuses are manufactured to specific parameters with
restrictions being configured with the aid of computer programmes to provide the required
operating characteristics. To enhance the fuse’s ability to control small overload conditions,
special alloys are melted onto the elements.

Page 58 of 122
 Figure 3.27
HBC fuses in a PDU

3.12.7 NH (BLADE-TYPE) FUSE SYSTEMS

The NH fuse link design (blade-type) is often used in power distribution cabinets, where their
compact design can be an advantage. NH fuses (low voltage, high breaking capacity) are
manufactured to DIN standards (German Industry Norm) and to the IEC 269 standard
(International Electrotechnical Commission). They also incorporate indicators, which will show
the status of the fuse – a feature not commonly found on fuses manufactured to British
Standards.

Figure 3.28
NH (blade-type) fuses

3.12.8 D/DO (EUROPEAN BOTTLE FUSE) FUSES

These are an old type of fuse, often referred to as a ‘bottle fuse’ because of the characteristic
shape of the fuse link. There are two designs of bottle fuse: the ‘D’ (Diazed) and the ‘DO’
(Neozed). The ‘D’-type fuses are manufactured to DIN specification 49365 and 49360 and have
delayed, quick-acting or ultra quick-acting characteristics. They conform to VDE regulations 0635
for line fuse fittings with totally enclosed fuse links rated 500V, and are normally available in
ratings ranging from 2–100A. The ‘D’ and ‘DO’-type fuse are fitted with operation indicators
which generally take the form of a button head which is pushed out through the end contact by a
weak spring when the fuse link operates.

‘DO’-type fuse links have an advanced compact design with features such as a cooler running fuse
link; this gives advantages such as space-saving and increased performance and reliability, making
them a viable successor to the ‘D’-type. ‘DO’-type fuse links are suitable for 440V AC with a 10%
excess capability. They are tested to the IEC 269 standard and are normally available in ratings
from 2–63A.

Figure 3.29
Bottle-type fuse

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3.13 SOFT STARTS
On initial start-up, the HPU motors will take a short time before they achieve their maximum
running speed. This is more pronounced when the hydraulic oil is cold and consequently rather
sluggish. During this time the motors will draw more current, resulting in a significant voltage
drop across a long umbilical. In extreme conditions, this may result in system shut-down. This
problem is overcome by incorporating a ‘soft start’ into the PDU circuitry.

Figure 3.30
Soft start system located in a PDU

In its simplest form, a soft start can be considered to be like an electronic contactor. It is a voltage
phase controlling device and consists of six thyristors configured in back-to-back pairs in each
phase. These function like electronic switches which let through a percentage of the mains cycle
as determined by the control card. Typically they start at 40% of mains voltage and increase to
the 440V over an adjustable time, e.g. 10 seconds, as programmed in the ‘ramp-up’ adjustment.

The main advantage of the electronic soft start is that it is now possible to accelerate a motor to
full speed in the least amount of time with the least amount of current. There is a drastic
reduction in electrical supply disturbance due to in-rush currents during motor start-up.

Electronic soft starts have the following advantages:

 Mechanical – the soft start menu is designed to severely limit the in-rush current, which
means that the ‘shock’ loading on motor rotors and transmission components is
minimised. This equates to longer life for mechanical moving parts. Also, the current
monitoring within the soft starter ensures a close watch over possible overload problems
and will provide a quick turn-off and eliminate lengthy and expensive down time.
 Energy saving – there is no longer a great surge of current drawn every time a motor is
started
 Mechanical life – there is no torque kick which reduces the life of bearings and gears, etc.
 Maintenance costs are reduced – due to the gentle treatment of electrical and
mechanical systems being controlled
 Simple installation – only three wires in and three wires out, plus control wiring, are
required. This saves on glands and cabling.

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3.14 SUMMARY
In this session we have introduced the theoretical concepts that relate to the transmission of High
Voltage power to an ROV system. This has included AC power, three-phase systems and the
different configurations available. We have also discussed how power is determined in a three-
phase system and how the current levels can be calculated from knowing the kVA value. It is
important to appreciate the level of current in an AC system as it can, when in excess, be the
cause overheating and result in components becoming damaged.

This session has also discussed the key components in an ROV High Voltage system, identified the
function of each and outlined some maintenance activities that may be required once the system
has been isolated.

Finally, we have discussed the different types of protection available on an ROV system.
Protection generally falls into two categories; that is protection offered to personnel, such as
LIMs, RCDs and soft starts, and protection offered to equipment such as fuses and breakers.

You should now be able to:

 Appreciate some theoretical concepts that relate to High Voltage systems, such as
voltage, current and power
 Describe the main components in an ROV High Voltage system
 Outline some typical maintenance activities that may be carried out on the High Voltage
system after it has been isolated and made safe
 Describe how protection is provided on a High Voltage system for both personnel and
equipment.

Key Points
 The main specifications that we are concerned with for AC power in general are:
o Voltage level
o Current level
o Frequency
o Phase rotation
o Power
 Three-phase electrical power is used almost exclusively for the transmission of electrical
power throughout the world
 The phases are normally colour-coded, numbered or both. In the UK, the colour coding is:
o Red
o Yellow
o Blue
o Black (neutral)
 Phase power systems can be either in ‘Star’ (Y) or Delta (∆) configuration
 Some key facts about three-phase power are listed below:
o Delta provides lower voltage but more current
o Star provides a higher voltage but less current
o All work-class ROV systems make use of three-phase
o Three-phase power is typically 150% more efficient than single-phase in the same
power range
o Conductors need only be 75% the size of those for single-phase for the same
power output
 The power of a single-phase transformer in watts can be expressed as follows:
Power (watts) = I(RMS) x V(RMS) x power factor

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 It is not always practicable to determine the power factor of a transformer; for this reason
the expression VA or kVA is used
 Insulation should be further improved by supplying the load via an isolating transformer
 The power distribution system consists of a series of ‘branch circuits’, with each branch
switching the power to a specific unit on the submersible system. The subsea units
typically consist of HPUs, instruments, tether management systems, tooling skids, etc.
 Typical voltages found in the PDU include:
o 440VAC, which is vessel or rig supply and will be subsequently stepped up to HV
system voltage
o 110VAC – this voltage is derived from a step-down transformer and is used to
energise the main contactors
o 24VDC – this voltage is derived from a DC power supply and is used to energise
the control relays
 The switching circuit inside the ROV power distribution unit is made up of contactors,
circuit breakers and control relays
 A contactor can be defined as an operating device which connects or disconnects a device
such as an electric motor from the power supply
 The function of a circuit breaker is to provide a means of shutting off the supply to a
circuit when a fault condition occurs that could make the system hazardous to personnel
 Automatic circuit breakers operate using one or both of two principles. They are:
o Thermal operation relies on the extra heat produced by the high current warming
a bimetal strip, which bends to trip the operating contacts
o Magnetic operation is due to the magnetic field set up by a coil carrying the
current, which attracts an iron part to trip the breaker when the current becomes
large enough
 All circuit breakers must have an indication of their current rating and the level at which
they will trip
 Circuit breakers can be fitted with a variety of different accessories, including:
o Auxiliary contacts
o Tripping mechanisms
o Different types of handle
o Interlocks
 A relay is a simple electromechanical switch made up of an electromagnet and a set of
contacts
 Typical specifications of relays include:
o The voltage and current that is needed to activate the armature
o The maximum voltage and current that can run through the armature and the
armature contacts
o The number of armatures (generally one or two)
o The number of contacts for the armature (generally one or two)
o Whether the contact (if only one contact is provided) is normally open (NO) or
normally closed (NC)
o Changeover contacts
 Emergency stop relays, limit switches and manual emergency stop push buttons are used
widely within modern ROV systems
 The High Voltage system has a range of devices that allow the operator to monitor its
condition. They include:
o Voltmeters
o Current meters
o Lamps and LED indicators
o Phase rotation monitors
o Over/under voltage and voltage guards

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 o Frequency monitors
o Earth continuity meters (ECMs)
o Hours run meters for the electric motors
o Line insulation monitors (LIMs)
 The ROV surface junction box interfaces the power, control and data cables to the deck
umbilical
 There are many different models of slip rings in use on ROV systems and they can be
broken down into two main types:
o Electrical slip rings
o Combined electro-optical slip ring units
 There are several junction boxes to be found on an ROV system; the most common
include:
o Umbilical termination (JB1)
o Camera junction box
o Light junction box
o Survey junction box
o Sensor junction box
 All junction boxes provide an interface, for power and data, between a series of
components and the control pod
 A transformer is defined as a ‘device for changing electrical energy from one voltage level
to another’
 The essential parts of a transformer are as follows:
o Primary winding
o Secondary winding
o The core
 Losses may be divided into two:
o Iron losses
o Copper losses
 Methods of cooling include:
o Air cooling (natural)
o Oil cooling (natural)
o Air blast cooling
o Oil circulation cooling
 Almost all transformers are fitted with tap changing facilities, usually by links. This allows
the voltage of the distribution unit to be adjusted to suit load requirements
 The cables used on ROV systems have to withstand a wide variety of environmental
considerations, including:
o Extremes of temperature
o Humidity
o Salinity of atmosphere
 Conductors are made of annealed stranded copper, which may be circular or shaped
 Cable insulation has a thickness appropriate to the cable voltage rating. Insulation
materials are generally organic plastic compounds
 Deck cables are covered with basket-woven wire braid of either galvanised steel or tinned
phosphor bronze that provides extra mechanical protection
 The current rating of a cable is the current the cable can carry continuously without the
conductor exceeding 80°C with an ambient air temperature of 45°C (i.e. a 35°C rise)
 Ground faults occur on ROV systems typically due to the following reasons:
o Water ingress in High Voltage enclosures
o Breakdown of conductors within umbilicals
o Water ingress or damage to cables and connectors
o Severed cables or umbilicals

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 There are two active protection devices used on ROV systems to monitor for fault
conditions. They are:
o Line insulation monitors (LIMs) – for ground faults between High Voltage supplies
and earth
o Residual current devices (RCDs) – for faults that occur between conductors that
are not necessarily earthed, and on domestic supplies between ‘live’ and neutral
conductors
 A line insulation monitor (LIM) unit is used to monitor the insulation level between cables,
conductors, insulating oils and earth points as used on an ROV system
 Residual current devices (RCDs) detect any out-of-balance current flowing in the circuit
and trip the supply off when the current reaches the rated residual operating current of
the device
 RCDs must have a rated residual operating current:
o Not exceeding 30mA, operating within 200ms
or
o Not exceeding 150mA, operating in not more than 40ms
 A fuse is a device that is designed to protect equipment from damage when a fault
condition causes excess current to flow
 There are several types of fuse in use offshore today:
o Semi-enclosed fuses, often referred to as ‘re-wirable’, conforming to BS3036
o Cylindrical fuses (cartridge), conforming to IEC 269
o High breaking capacity fuses (HBC), conforming to BS88
o D/DO-type fuses (European bottle fuse), conforming to DIN 49365/49360 & VDE
0635
o NH (blade-type) fuses, conforming to IEC 269
 Under a fault condition a much larger current than normal will flow in a circuit and
associated cabling. This will cause damage that occurs in two stages:
o The excess current will generate a large amount of heat
o Current flowing through adjacent conductors will set up mechanical forces; these
forces may be large enough to disrupt the cable
 HBC fuses come in a range of sizes and are designed to interrupt large fault currents
 The NH (blade-type) fuse link design is often used in power distribution cabinets, where
their compact design can be an advantage
 On initial start-up, the HPU motors will take a short time before they achieve their
maximum running speed
 Due to the surge current that can occur during start-up, a soft start is used
 In its simplest form, a soft start can be considered to be like an electronic contactor. It is
a voltage phase controlling device and consists of six thyristors configured in back-to-back
pairs in each phase.

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4 RISK AND INJURY

CONTENTS
4.1. Introduction
4.2. The Effects of Electric Current on the Human Body
4.3. The Body as a Conductor
4.4. Electrical Hazards to the Human Body
4.5. Burns Caused by Electricity
4.6. Overview of First Aid Actions and Treatment of Electric Shock
4.7. Summary

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims of this session are to:

 Explain how the human body is affected by electricity

 Explain how electrical burns originate
 Provide an overview of the first aid techniques for the treatment of injuries caused by
electricity

4.1 INTRODUCTION
This session discusses how electricity can cause harm and possibly death to individuals who fail to
take necessary precautions when carrying out maintenance activities.

It explains the reasons why electricity causes harm by looking at the body as a ‘conductor’, and
discusses how, under certain circumstances, the body becomes a good conductor of electricity.

Electrocution is the result of electricity disrupting the nervous system and leading to a state of
‘ventricular fibrillation’ which can ultimately lead to death.

As well as causing electrocution, electricity can also lead to victims receiving serious burns,
typically caused by arcing. Injury and death caused by High Voltage is often as a result of the
extreme heat generated when the electricity passes through the body.

Personnel are required to have an appreciation of the treatment that should be administered to
people who have received an electric shock, and must be aware of their own limitations when
performing first aid techniques.

It should be noted that this course does not replace the formal first aid courses that are carried
out as part of the offshore survival courses. This course merely provides an overview of first aid
techniques; further guidance should be sought from qualified medical personnel.

YOU ARE NOT DEEMED A COMPETENT FIRST AIDER AS A RESULT OF TAKING THIS COURSE!

4.2 THE EFFECTS OF ELECTRIC CURRENT ON THE HUMAN BODY

The size of the current associated with an electrical potential has a direct bearing on the level of
shock it will produce. Most people will be aware of the presence of a potential large enough to
produce a sensation when a current of 1mA flows. However, if the current is raised to 50mA the
resulting shock might prove fatal assuming the current can take a direct path across the heart.

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The following list gives general results, which will vary across the population depending on body
(mostly skin) resistance and moisture levels. Hand-to-hand currents at 50Hz are shown:

0.9–1.2mA Current just perceptible

1.2–1.5mA Tickling sensation in hands

1.6–2.2mA Same sensation also perceptible in the wrist

2.8–3.5mA Slight stiffening of the hand

3.4–4.5mA Considerable stiffening of the hand, the lower arm growing tired=

4.0–5.0mA Feeling cramp and slight trembling in the hands

4.5–5.0mA Cramp in the lower arm

5.0–7.0mA Slight unpleasant cramp in the upper arm

6.0mA Weaker people can just break this contact

9.0mA Stronger people can just break this contact

15.0–20.0mA Release impossible, cannot be tolerated over 15 minutes

20.0–40.0mA Serious and very painful contraction of the muscles; breathing stops but is
normally resumed if current is interrupted within 5 seconds

50.0–100.0mA Ventricular fibrillation, a state of the heart leading directly to death

High Voltage in excess of 1kV can, in some instances, throw the victim from the source and
prevent electrocution. The victim will, however, be likely to sustain severe burns and blinding
flashes.

At the lower voltages, the chances are that the muscular contractions will be such as to prevent
release from the contact (hold on), and time becomes a significant factor. Death can occur at
relatively low currents if these are maintained for long periods. The factors that determine the
level of injury are referred to as shock factors. They are:

 Magnitude
 Duration
 Shock path
 Heart cycle
 Supply frequency.

It should be noted that the majority of safe working practices and safety devices are devised to
eliminate or reduce one or more of the shock factors.

The heart beats when electrical signals in the nervous system move through it. Ventricular
fibrillation is a condition in which the heart’s electrical activity becomes disordered, and the
pumping chambers contract in a rapid and unsynchronized manner. The ventricles ‘flutter’ rather
than beat, and the heart pumps little or no blood.

The supply frequency of the electricity is also considered to be a shock factor because it acts on
the body’s nervous system and can, under certain conditions, maintain a muscle contracted. This
is why victims sometimes grip the High Voltage source when suffering electrocution.

The ripple on a direct current is caused by a varying peak voltage, which may also be dangerous.

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4.3 THE BODY AS A CONDUCTOR
Our skin offers the most resistance to electric current, as opposed to the rest of our body which is
made up largely of a saline solution. It follows therefore that once the resistive layer of skin
breaks down, due to burning, the body offers little resistance to the current. The graph in Figure
4.1 (from British Standard PD6519 Part 1) illustrates this fact. Notice how the body impedance,
for the majority of people, reduces significantly once the applied voltage rises above 200V.

In dry, cool conditions, no precautions are usually required to prevent contact, so long as the
potential does not exceed 25VAC or 60V (ripple-free) DC. This would not be the case if the
environment was highly conducting – e.g. damp, wet or containing a high proportion of metal. It
follows therefore that it makes sense to keep voltages as low as possible – e.g. hand tools to be
used on deck are safer operating from 110VAC than 240VAC, although neither can be considered
safe. The wearing of rubber or dry leather gloves and rubber-soled boots significantly improves
safety and these should be worn at all practicable times when working around electricity.

Earth leakage circuit breakers (ELCBs or RCCBs) should trip in 50ms or less with a fault current of
30mA. At 50ms it would take approximately 400mA to cause heart stoppage; hence their use is to
be recommended, especially with hand tools using domestic supply voltages.

Figure 4.1
Body impedances

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4.4 ELECTRICAL HAZARDS TO THE HUMAN BODY
Although we have already stated that High Voltage is classed as 1kV, we must remember that
much lower potentials used on an ROV system can present a hazard under certain conditions.

Circuits operating at a potential of 50VAC or 120VDC are comparatively safe; however,

environments that favour the conduction of electricity – e.g. wet, damp or those containing a high
proportion of metal – might make even these ‘safe’ potentials dangerous.

In summary, injury or death can result from one or more of the following situations:

Electric shock: this is due to the effect current has on the nervous system which can lead to a
state of ventricular fibrillation.

Electric burn and electric arcing: high potentials cause the electricity to ‘jump’ across an air gap to
reach a path to earth. This path may be through a person in the vicinity of the High Voltage
source.

Fires of electrical origin: fires are normally caused by the immense heat that is produced due to
the excessive current flow under a fault condition. This tends to be common in domestic
electrical systems, although fires could obviously arise offshore when an electrical fault occurs.

Explosions initiated or caused by electricity: explosions are caused by fault conditions. In High
Voltage systems this may be due to a direct short circuit applied, by accident, to High Voltage
source.

4.4.1 ELECTRIC SHOCK

An ‘electric shock’ is a common expression used when a person comes into contact with a source
of electricity, e.g. a bare wire. This is direct contact, however in the case of high voltages,
electricity can ‘jump’ across the distance separating the victim and the conductor, depending
upon a number of factors including voltage, distance, shape of conductor and humidity.

Indirect contact can occur when a conductive material that a person is in contact with – e.g. a
watch – comes into contact with a source of electricity.

In both cases the victim is simultaneously in contact with another conductor, which is at a
different potential.

The effects of electric shock are more pronounced when:

a. The potential difference between the victim and the electrical conductor is higher
b. The person’s resistance to the current is low.

Both of these factors can be illustrated by considering Ohm’s law:

𝑉
𝑉=𝐼𝑥𝑅 or 𝐼= 𝑅

i.e. The voltage is directly proportional to the current (ref: point ‘a’); or the current is inversely
proportional to the resistance (ref: point ‘b’).

In practice, this can be illustrated by the effect an electric shock can have on a person standing on
a wet floor. The presence of dampness lowers the resistance and the shock can be more severe
than if the person was in a dry environment.

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4.5 BURNS CAUSED BY ELECTRICITY
There are two kinds of burns that can result from coming into contact with electricity; they are
electrothermal and arc burns.

Electrothermal burns are caused by the passing of current through the body. They can happen at
the point where the electricity enters the body, and also along the path of the current through the
body. In some cases, burns can occur at the point where the electricity exits the body.

Arc burns are due to fierce heat given out when the insulation of the air between the conductive
material and the victim breaks down. Arc burns are normally associated with high voltage
electricity. Bare parts of the body are normally affected the most, but depending on the size and
energy in the arc, clothing can also be set on fire.

Combined electrothermal and arc burns do happen but are quite rare. Where they do occur, they
are predominantly the result of high voltage incidents.

Arc burns are often accompanied by flashes that can damage and even permanently blind the
eyes.

Figure 4.2 illustrates a burn that has occurred due to electricity passing through a victim’s arm.

Figure 4.2
Burn caused by electricity

4.6 OVERVIEW OF FIRST AID ACTIONS AND TREATMENT OF ELECTRIC SHOCK

Your response to Activity 4.1 should take into account your own safety as well as that of the
victim.

Prior to commencing any first aid, you should first momentarily assess the risks that may be
present and could lead to you becoming harmed. The term ‘risk assessment’ is perhaps a little
formal; however, it is important that you assess any possible risks that may be present and could
ultimately lead to you becoming a casualty also.

These may include:

 Electrical hazards
 Fire or possible explosions
 Hazardous atmospheres.

After this initial response, you should immediately summon help from a professional and qualified
medic. In an offshore environment this should be a relatively simple task as most installations
and vessels will have a person who is more suitably apt to administer treatment than you. You
will, however, be required to tend to the victim for the short duration before help arrives. This is
effectively first aid in its true context.

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Removing the Casualty from the Electrical Source
It is important that the casualty is removed from the electrical source before any first aid can be
administered. This may be done by either:

 Striking an emergency stop button – all systems will be equipped with an emergency stop
button which when activated will shut down the power
or
 Removing the casualty with an insulated stick – this method ensures that you do not
come into contact with the casualty, and become a victim also.

Both methods have their limitations and you must be certain that the casualty is removed from
the electrical source prior to touching them.

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ACTIVITY 4.1
Allow 20 minutes

Consider a situation where you find a person receiving an electric shock in an ROV control
van/workshop.

What action would you immediately take, and how would you assist the victim prior to the arrival
of a professional medic? You should also consider your own safety in situations like this!

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4.6.2 ASSESSING THE CONDITION OF THE CASUALTY
Prior to commencing CPR, it is important to determine if the casualty is conscious. The easiest
way to do this is by talking to them, perhaps calling their name.

Their response will determine if they have suffered a cardiac arrest and dictate the treatment
they will require. During cardiac arrest, the heart stops pumping blood, and the blood pressure
will fall to zero. Within about 10 seconds of cardiac arrest the person loses consciousness and
becomes unresponsive. If you shake or shout at the victim, there will be no response.

Sometimes a person who has suffered a cardiac arrest may make grunting, gasping or snoring-
type breathing sounds which can last for a couple of minutes. It is important not to confuse this
abnormal type of breathing with the breathing of a conscious person.

If the person is unconscious you then need to determine if their airway is clear and if they are
breathing.

4.6.3 CLEARING THE AIRWAY

Prior to assisting the casualty with breathing, it is important to determine if the airway is clear and
free from any obstruction. Typical blockages may include vomit, false teeth or perhaps the
tongue which has fallen back into the throat due to the unconscious state.

It is important that you consider your own safety when clearing blockages from the mouth or
throat. Most fist aid kits contain surgical gloves which prevent the first-aider from coming into
contact with harmful bodily fluids, or pathogens as they are known.

Figure 4.3
First aid kit

4.6.4 CHECKING FOR BREATHING

In order to check if the casualty is breathing, tilt the head back and listen for breaths. If they are
not breathing normally, pinch their nose and cover their mouth with yours and blow until you see
the chest rise. Give two breaths; each one should last approximately two seconds.

Remember that your own safety is important. You should make use of the dedicated mouthpiece,
included in most first aid kits, that prevent you from coming into contact with the casualty.

As mentioned, a person in cardiac arrest may have abnormal breathing for a couple of minutes.
This abnormal breathing is called ‘agonal respiration’ and is the result of the brain’s breathing
centre sending out signals even though circulation has ceased. The key point is that the abnormal
breathing may sound like grunting, gasping or snoring and will disappear within 2–3 minutes.

When suffering from abnormal breathing the person desperately needs air and only you can
provide it.

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4.6.5 CHECKING FOR CIRCULATION
After you have provided the casualty with air you then need to determine if the heart is beating
and pumping oxygenated blood to the brain. If the heart is not beating then the brain will not
receive oxygen and the casualty will suffer brain damage and eventual death. It is therefore
important to assess the condition of the circulation immediately after you have provided the
initial breaths.

The normal method for determining if there is circulation is to feel for a pulse in the main artery in
the neck. This can prove difficult – especially if the pulse is weak – and there is some debate as to
whether the ‘pulse check’ is expected of inexperienced first-aiders.

It is not the intention of this session to debate this point but merely to point out that it is important
to ensure the circulation is restored as soon as possible, and that you may be faced with no
alternative but to take this course of action.

IT IS WORTH SEEKING GUIDANCE FROM YOUR EMPLOYER, OR THE VESSEL/INSTALLATION ON

WHICH YOU WORK, ON THE LEVEL OF FIRST AID THAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO ADMINISTER.

Figure 4.4
Chest compressions

If there is no circulation then it is necessary to begin chest compressions. This is achieved by

pressing down 30 times on the chest, between the nipples, at the approximate rate of
100/minute. In general, the chest should be pushed down 1½ to 2 inches. Sometimes a cracking
sound may be heard, which is caused by cartilage or ribs cracking. Even if this occurs, the damage
is not normally serious and the risk of delaying CPR or not doing CPR is far greater than the risk of
a broken rib.

The combination of breathing and compressions should be continued at a rate of two breaths and
30 pumps until help arrives.

NOTE: This ratio is the same for one-person and two-person CPR. In two-person CPR the person
pumping the chest stops while the other gives mouth-to-mouth breathing.

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4.6.6 THE RECOVERY POSITION
As mentioned, it is only likely that you will be required to provide first aid for a very short period
of time prior to the arrival of a qualified medic.

If the casualty regains consciousness then you must ensure that they are constantly monitored
and placed in what is known as the ‘recovery position’.

Figure 4.5
The recovery position

The recovery position ensures that the casualty is secure and cannot fall into a position which
could lead to choking or other injuries. When in this position it is important to continually talk to
the casualty and reassure them whilst monitoring for the symptoms of shock that can occur after
a person has suffered a serious injury.

4.6.7 TREATMENT OF BURNS

As well as receiving an electric shock, it is also possible that the casualty may have received a burn
due to arcing. The following treatments are carried out for such injuries:

 Burns should be cooled with cold water, if available. Use plenty of water as cooling can
take some time. Frozen food products can cause secondary burning and should be
avoided where cold water is available
 Cover with a clean (preferably sterile) dressing and bandage, lightly placed.

Remember: never attempt to remove burnt clothing as it may be fused to the body and could
make the injury worse!

4.6.8 OTHER INJURIES

It is possible that the casualty has also suffered other injuries that may result in bleeding.
Bleeding can be controlled by:

 Applying pressure firmly to the wound

 Covering the wound with a clean dressing and bandage, firmly placed
 If bleeding continues, add further dressings on top of the first and increase the pressure
by bandaging firmly in place
 Raise the effected limb to reduce blood pressure at the wound.

4.6.9 DEFIBRILLATORS
Defibrillators are common to all workplaces and offshore.

The most common type is the Automatic External Defibrillator (AED). The AED requires little skill
to use, allowing immediate first aid to take place on casualties, who may be experiencing
potentially fatal cardiac arrest. The device analyses the heart rhythm via the chest, and if
necessary applies an electric shock to restore the chaotic rhythm to normal.

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The use of AED has superseded CPR, the success of which is estimated less than 5 % for serious
cardiac arrest. If however CPR is combined with the use of an AED, within the first 5 minutes of
arrest then the chances of survival can increase to typically 75%.

Figure 4.6
Typical AED

4.7 SUMMARY
This session has provided an overview of how electricity can cause harm to personnel. It should
reinforce the methods of safe working practice that are discussed throughout the course and
provide a better understanding of why certain precautions are deemed necessary.

Although not intended to provide specific first aid training, the session should have provided you
with an overview of the techniques used and how they can be administered.

It should be noted that first aid techniques are continually being updated and guidance should be
sought on a frequent basis as to which is the most appropriate method to use.

As well as treating unconscious victims, it is possible that you may be faced with a casualty that
has received a burn caused by arcing. The session has also provided a short summary of the
methods used to treat burns.

It is important to remember at all times that your own safety is paramount. You must therefore
briefly but effectively assess the situation and any risks that may pose a threat to you prior to
attending to the casualty. Most fist aid kits come with special protective equipment that should
be worn when administering first aid.

Key Points
 The size of the current associated with an electrical potential has a direct bearing on the
level of shock it will produce
 The factors that determine the level of injury are referred to as shock factors. They are:
o Magnitude
o Duration
o Shock path
o Heart cycle
o Supply frequency
 Ventricular fibrillation is a condition in which the heart’s electrical activity becomes
disordered, and the pumping chambers contract in a rapid and unsynchronized manner
 The ripple on a direct current is caused by a varying peak voltage, which may also be
dangerous

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 The body impedance, for the majority of people, reduces significantly once the applied
voltage rises above 200V
 Lower potentials used on an ROV system can present a hazard under certain conditions,
such as wet or damp environments or where there is a high proportion of metal
 In summary, injury or death can result from one or more of the following situations:
o Electric shock
o Electric burn and electric arcing
o Fires of electrical origin
 An electric shock is a common expression used when a person comes into contact with a
source of electricity, e.g. a bare wire
 The effects of electric shock are more pronounced when:
o The potential difference between the victim and the electrical conductor is higher
o The person’s resistance to the current is low
 There are two kinds of burns that can result from coming into contact with electricity;
they are electrothermal and arc burns
 Arc burns are often accompanied by flashes that can damage and even permanently blind
the eyes
 Hazards that you as a first-aider may be faced with include:
o Electrical hazards
o Fire or possible explosions
o Hazardous atmospheres
 The steps you should follow when treating someone who has received an electric shock
include:
o Removing the casualty from the electrical source
o Assessing the condition of the casualty
o Clearing the airway
o Checking for breathing
o Checking for circulation
o Placing in the recovery position
 The following treatments are carried out for injuries resulting from burns:
o Burns should be cooled with cold water, if available. Use plenty of water as
cooling can take some time. Frozen food products can cause secondary burning
and should be avoided where cold water is available
o Cover with a clean (preferably sterile) dressing and bandage, lightly placed.

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5 RISK AND INJURY

CONTENTS
5.1. Introduction
5.2. Protection Against Electric Shock
5.3. Safe Working Practices and Procedures
5.4. Personal Protective Equipment
5.5. Insulation, Earthing and Bonding
5.6. Passive Protection
5.7. Use of Test Equipment
5.8. Performing an Isolation
5.9. Summary

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims of this session are to:

 Examine the key concepts that must be considered to protect us from electric shock
 Identify what is considered to be ‘safe working practice’ when working with electrical
systems
 Identify the key steps to follow when carrying out the isolation of High Voltage equipment
prior to performing maintenance activities.

5.1 INTRODUCTION
This session discusses the concepts that must be addressed prior to carrying out any maintenance
work on equipment that is normally powered by High Voltage electricity. It is not considered
acceptable, under any circumstances, to work on live High Voltage equipment. We must
therefore have a process and procedure in place that details what steps must be taken to ensure
the equipment is safe to work on. Your organisation will have such a procedure and it would be
useful to have this to hand when working through this session.

The session discusses concepts that are ‘standard practice’ in industry and may be likely to form
part the Electricity at Work Regulations. When studying these concepts, you will be required to
apply them to your own work environment and the ROV system that you operate and maintain.
The ‘activity sessions’ are intended to help you achieve this.

Your course includes contains an example of how a typical isolation should be carried out on an
ROV system. It also contains some ‘self test’ questions which will help prepare you for your final
exam.

5.2 PROTECTION AGAINST ELECTRIC SHOCK

There are considered to be four key requirements for protecting personnel (and equipment) from
being injured/damaged by High Voltage electricity. They are:

 Safe working practices and procedures

 Personal protective equipment (PPE)
 Insulation
 Earthing and bonding

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The technician or engineer must ensure each requirement is taken into consideration prior to
carrying out any maintenance on High Voltage equipment. Most organisations will have a High
Voltage policy and procedure which will have these key factors incorporated into it as a matter of
course.

The following sections examine each point in more detail.

5.3 SAFE WORKING PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES

The following precautions should be adhered to whenever any electrical work is being carried out,
regardless of whether it is on Low or High Voltage systems. The list is not exhaustive and a risk
assessment of the specific task should be carried out prior to undertaking all electrical
maintenance activities. You will notice that this list applies to Low Voltage equipment as well as
High Voltage:

1. Only work on electric systems if you are sure you know what you are doing. Personnel
should also have a relevant electrical background and experience of the equipment/job in
hand
2. Only work on High Voltage systems in pairs
3. Follow all written instructions/procedures
4. Gain permit to work where required
5. Always prove systems are dead before commencing work; ensure isolation procedures
are followed and locks and caution notices are installed
6. Be absolutely sure that the ground connection is made through the umbilical to the ROV –
i.e. that the ROV frame is earthed before working on the ROV
7. Connect an additional external ground strap when the ROV is on deck during maintenance
8. Wear rubber gloves if handling the umbilical or ROV frame when power is on during
operations and remove all items of jewellery
9. Make sure that inexperienced personnel stand well clear during operational and
maintenance procedures, and that areas where danger may be present are cordoned off
with relevant safety notices posted
10. Do not allow personnel and tools to become disorganised during maintenance activities,
and resist the temptation to take shortcuts due to operational pressures
11. Stand on a rubber mat when working in the vicinity of High Voltages, and when testing
keep one hand behind your back; or better still, connect the meter to test points and
stand clear before applying power
12. Know the first aid for shock treatment and medical evacuation procedures of the vessel,
and have this information available in a convenient location
13. All meters must be suitably rated – e.g. 1000VAC or 5000VAC as required – and tested
immediately prior to and following testing. They must then be stored in safe, dry
conditions
14. Know where mains isolating switches are and that they are correctly identified. Ensure
that LIMs and RCDs are operational when operating testing equipment.

5.4 PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

It is the duty of the employer to provide employees and contractors with personal protective
equipment (PPE) under the Health & Safety at Work Act. It follows that it is also the duty of the
employee to make full and proper use of any such equipment and report any defects found in
them.

PPE is often referred to as ‘primary protection’ as it the first type of protection that the technician
should consider prior to carrying out any maintenance activities.

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ACTIVITY 5.1
Allow 20 minutes

Think back to an electrical maintenance task you have recently carried out on an ROV system.
What safety precaution did you follow when doing this task? From what we have discussed so
far, what could you now do to improve on safety when repeating the maintenance task?

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There has been some debate in industry as to when and where PPE is used in High Voltage
maintenance activities. Most of the controversy arises from the fact that ‘we must not work live’
and consequently should not need any PPE as the equipment will be ‘dead’. This is true to a
point; however, it must be remembered that there will be a finite time when the equipment has
not been proved dead and could therefore be ‘live’. It is advised to take the view that PPE is an
additional precaution and is absolutely necessary when carrying out High Voltage isolations.

Primary protection is given by the use of the following three items:

1. Rubber gloves
2. Rubber boots or mats, depending on company procedures
3. Eye shields.

Gloves, boots and mats are rated to be used at the voltage specified by the manufacturer. These
methods of protection can be used on any voltages, including High Voltage, but are subject to the
safe working rated value. In addition, work in High Voltage systems must be accompanied by a
written procedure for making safe that includes items of test gear – e.g. High Voltage proving unit
or meter, earth clamp, earth leads, caution notices, safety locks and permits to work.

Another form of protection against electric shock is the use of extra low voltage supplies.

Extra low voltage is defined as voltages not exceeding 50VAC or 120V ripple-free DC between any
point.

Low voltage is defined as not exceeding 1000VAC or 1500VDC between conductors, or 600VAC or
900VDC between conductors and earth.

Figure 5.1

Personal protective equipment

5.5 INSULATION, EARTHING AND BONDING

An insulating material is defined as a material which does not conduct electricity.

Protection when using voltages defined as low voltage is achieved by double insulation, which
comprises basic insulation and supplementary insulation or automatic disconnection of supply
within a short enough timescale as to limit the danger. This method is achieved by the use of low-
resistance earthing of metal or conductive parts.

In summary, insulation alone does not offer full protection from High Voltage.

Protection from High Voltage requires a combination of the following three items:

1. Insulation
2. Earthing
3. Personal protective equipment.

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5.5.1 EARTHING
Electrical earth is defined as a common mass of material that dissipates the electrical energy. The
earth is sometimes referred to as ‘ground’; however, there is a subtle difference in its definition.

The ground is considered a medium for completing an electric circuit, whether intentional or
accidental, between an electrical circuit or equipment and the earth, or to some conducting body
that serves in place of the earth.

There are probably several versions of this definition, but it is important that the engineer is fully
aware of how critical a good earth is for both normal operations and maintenance of HV systems.

Figure 5.2
Earth point on an ROV PDU

All electrical equipment onboard a vessel will have an earth connection. The prime function of
this connection is to dissipate any electrical energy that reaches accessible parts of the equipment
under fault conditions. In practice, earths are attached to the casing, cabling or similar parts of
the equipment.

Figure 5.3 illustrates the effect of a fault current passing through a victim due to the absence of a
suitable earth:

11000v
Y
Earth Fault
11000v Load
B

Path to
earth
through
the
body

Figure 5.3
The effect of a fault current when there is no suitable earth in place

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Figure 5.4 illustrates the same fault occurring when suitable earthing is in place:

Fuse will rupture

R under fault
conditions

11000v
Y
Earth Fault

11000v Load
B

Voltage to
earth =0v
Neutral

Protective
Conductor

Figure 5.4
The effect of a fault current when there is a suitable earth in place

There are other devices, incorporated into equipment, that prevent any lethal voltages from
reaching the operator. However, the earth connection will more than likely have to be present
for these devices to operate. Examples of these devices include GFDs or LIMs and RCDs.

It follows that the integrity of the earth connections is paramount. Attention must be given to the
following:

1. Earth connections and cables/leads are in good condition at all times and inspected on a
regular basis
2. Earth monitoring systems are checked on a regular basis
3. Earth connections are inspected for damage and corrosion on a regular basis.

5.5.2 ADDITIONAL EARTHS

Additional earths are attached to equipment during maintenance. This is normally done as part of
the isolation and will be an additional precaution to prevent equipment being inadvertently re-
energised.

An additional earth is also used on the ROV system when it comes on deck. This is normally
permanently attached to the steel deck and is clipped to the frame whenever the vehicle is on
deck.

The following precautions must be taken when using additional earths:

 Cables and connectors must be inspected before use for integrity and cleanliness
 Earth leads must be continuity tested prior to use
 The earth attachment points must be clean and free from grease
 The earth leads and associated components must be robust enough to hold maximum
fault current that could flow prior to the fuses blowing, or other protective devices
activating
 PPE must always be worn when attaching additional earth leads
 Suitable connectors should be used to prevent the earth leads working loose during
maintenance. Crocodile clips with locking nuts are most suitable, or even connectors that
can be bolted to the equipment
 Ensure any earth leads are removed prior to re-energising High Voltage supply.

Personal safety equipment must always be worn when applying any testing or earthing
procedures and must be in good condition at all times and inspected before use.

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5.5.3 BONDING
Bonding is similar to earthing; however, it refers to the connecting of two or more components to
a common earth point. On ROV systems these components are junction boxes, valve packs,
enclosures, etc. that are bonded to the vehicle frame.

Figure 5.5
Bonding cable on ROV pressure vessel

In addition to this, the enclosures will also be bonded to the umbilical earth which is in turn
bonded through the deck equipment to the deck of the vessel/installation.

Bonding leads must be inspected and tested in a similar way to additional earth leads. It must be
remembered that bonding connections are permanent fixtures, and are therefore subject to
corrosion and other environmental factors that can impair their integrity.

5.6 PASSIVE PROTECTION

The expression ‘passive protection’ is sometimes used for protective devices that require no
external power to operate. This would include:

 Personal protective equipment

 Isolation transformers
 Fixed barriers
 Insulation
 Shielding
 Earthing.

The expression ‘passive protection’ provides a clear distinction between the methods of
protection already discussed and ‘active protection’ which includes:

 Ground fault detectors

 RCDs
 Motor protection devices.

Active protection devices are discussed in Section 3 of this course.

5.7 USE OF TEST EQUIPMENT

The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 makes the following statement that relates to all
electrical equipment, including test equipment:

‘Equipment should be, so far as is reasonably practicable, constructed,

maintained and used in a way to prevent danger.’

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ACTIVITY 5.2
Allow 15 minutes

Briefly explain/sketch how your ROV system is earthed onboard your vessel/installation. You may
need to consult your technical manual to help you with this.

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The above statement has direct implications on the technician, who must ensure that the test
equipment is:

 Inspected prior to use

 Fit for purpose
 Calibrated where necessary
 Used in the correct manner.

It is important to note that in accordance with IMCA guidelines, a test should only be carried out
on an ROV High Voltage system in order to prove that the system is dead. Without exception, live
working is not permitted.

Work must be carried out in a safe manner. Factors to consider when developing safe working
practices include:

 Control of risks while working

 Control of test areas
 Use of suitable insulated barriers
 Adequate information
 Adequate accompaniment
 Adequate space, access and lighting.

People at work must:

 Prevent danger and injury

 Have adequate training, skill and experience
 Have adequate supervision where appropriate.

5.7.1 RISKS WHEN USING TEST EQUIPMENT ON ‘LOW VOLTAGE’ AND ‘EXTRA
LOW VOLTAGE’ SYSTEMS
Unsatisfactory test equipment can cause serious accidents. Arcing or ‘flashover’ caused by poor
test probes results in more injuries than electric shocks in electrical testing. Arcs ionise
surrounding air and cause further ‘flashovers’ which can rapidly engulf the working area before
anyone can escape. Such accidents can be fatal.

Systems where voltages are below 50VAC or 120VDC (extra low voltage) reduce the risk of electric
shock to a low level. If system energy levels are low, arcing is unlikely to cause burns. Where
possible, it is recommended that tests are carried out at reduced voltages, which will usually
reduce the risk of injury. Equipment should be constructed with suitable insulated and shrouded
terminals to minimise the risk of short circuits, which could be dangerous. For example, batteries
can cause a high-energy flashover when short-circuited.

Other risks to consider include chemical burns – for example from battery acid – and falls from
ladders or platforms when testing.

Possible causes of accidents include unsuitable test probes, leads, lamps, voltage indicators and
multimeters. These can cause arcs due to inadequately insulated test probes accidentally bridging
a live conductor and adjacent earthed metalwork. Arcs can also be caused by excessive current
drawn through test probes, leads and measuring instruments. This happens when a multimeter is
set to the wrong function, e.g. if set on a current or resistance range when measuring voltage.

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Other causes of accidents which could lead to electric shock are:

1. Inadequate insulation of test leads and probes

2. Exposed live terminations at instruments and indicators
3. A lead falling off one of the terminals of a meter and either the meter terminal or the lead
terminal remaining live
4. Incorrect use of test equipment, e.g. a multimeter applied to conductors at a voltage
which exceeds the maximum working voltage to the instrument
5. Use of poorly constructed makeshift test equipment, e.g. a test lamp consisting of a
combination of a bayonet lamp holder, bulb and two single insulated conductors with
bared ends
6. The use of long intertwined leads which are not easily distinguished, resulting in one lead
being connected across the instrument and the other short-circuiting the live conductor
under test.

5.7.2 TEST PROBES AND LEADS

There has been some debate over the years as to which type of High Voltage probe is suitable for
the ROV industry. One of the factors that prompted the debate was the testing method used to
prove the system dead. It was suggested that the test could take place between phases and
earth, or alternatively between phases. It is now generally accepted that the tester illustrated in
Figure 5.6 is the most suitable and allows us to make the test both between phases and phase to
earth.

Figure 5.6
High Voltage test probes

5.7.3 THEORY OF OPERATION

The tester illustrated above consists of two probes connected by a common lead. The probes are
essentially voltage dividers which reduce the system voltage to a safe level. One of the probes
contains an LED which will illuminate should a voltage be present.

The probe must be ‘proved’ prior to use using the proving unit that comes as part of the kit. The
proving unit produces a High Voltage source which gives rise to the LED illuminating when the
probe is tested. The proving unit also contains an LED which illuminates to confirm it too is
operating correctly. If this LED fails to light then the internal batteries in the proving unit may
need replacing.

The video which accompanies this course provides a demonstration of how the probe is used to
prove a High Voltage system is dead.

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5.7.4 SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
Only personnel who are fully trained in the use of a High Voltage test probe should use the
equipment.

The following safety considerations must be taken into account:

 Before using the tester and any accessories that are required, ensure that they are free
from cracks or deep scores, and are properly secured together
 Always work in pairs
 Ensure that the tester is correctly rated for the system voltage under test
 Prove correct operation of the tester complete with accessories immediately before and
after each test operation
 Do not allow a potentially live conductor to come into contact with the tester below any
warning or limit markings
 The tester must never be used without a handle fitted
 Safe working distances must always be observed
 Ensure the earth that you use during the test is satisfactory. A simple continuity test
between the earth point and deck of the vessel will confirm this.

5.7.5 PROBE MAINTENANCE

If damage or defects arise, probes should be replaced.

The following points provide some general advice for taking HV measurements:

1. Always check the tester according to the recommended procedure

2. Always think about what you are doing; never adopt a casual attitude
3. Never carry out HV measurements or checks alone. Apart from this being good advice, it
may contravene safety legislation to work alone with HV.

5.7.6 PRECAUTIONS TO TAKE WHILE TESTING

Precautions must be taken both before and during testing.

Before testing, it is essential to check that the test equipment (including leads, probes,
connectors, etc.) are suitably rated for the voltages and currents which may be present in the
circuit or system under test. The equipment or system to be tested must be safe for the intended
tests, and it should be ensured that the working environment does not present additional dangers
such as inadequate space to work safely, insecure footing, insufficient light, potentially flammable
atmosphere or explosive or conductive dusts.

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5.7.7 METHOD FOR USING A HIGH VOLTAGE TESTER
The following procedure should always be followed:

1. Check probe suitability and for damage

2. Prove the tester immediately before operating using the proving unit supplied with the
probe
3. Operate the tester
4. Prove the tester immediately after operating with the proving unit supplied with the
probe.

These steps should be carried out in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

Figure 5.7

Proving the test probe with a dedicated proving unit

5.8 PERFORMING AN ISOLATION

The video which accompanies this course contains an example of an isolation being carried out.

The following steps are considered to be ‘best practice’ in industry in general and are therefore
recommended when carrying out isolations on ROV systems.

5.8.1 IDENTIFICATION
The first step in the isolation process is to identify where lethal voltages may be present on the
system. This information is typically provided by:

 Warning labels
 Circuit drawings.

For most circuits and equipment correct labelling is important, but it is stressed that it must never
be assumed that labelling is correct and that work can be started without having first proved that
the equipment or circuit is dead.

5.8.2 DISCONNECTION
Disconnect the equipment from every source of electrical energy before working on, or near, any
part which has been live or is likely to be live (EAW Regulation 12).

In practice, disconnection will involve shutting the ROV system computers down and, if possible,
the shutting down of generators. Breakers on power distribution systems will also be switched to
the ‘Off’ position.

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5.8.3 ISOLATION
Isolation is defined as ‘preventing a system from being re-energised’. It follows that disconnecting
will not achieve this and some form of locking-off system is required.

All High Voltage equipment must have a means of locking off (EAW Regulation 13) which
eliminates the risk of the system being inadvertently re-energised during maintenance.

Typical locking-off devices include:

 Padlocks
 Purpose-designed lockable contactors
 Castell keys.

In many cases, multiple locks are used and keys are held by the Supervisor and Sub-Engineer, for
example. This further reduces the risk of the equipment being re-energised.

In some cases, fuses may be removed as an extra precaution. Fuse removal alone does not
strictly constitute a satisfactory isolation.

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ACTIVITY 5.3
Allow 30 minutes

Locate the HV test probe used on your system. List the items you would inspect on the probe and
summarise the calibration/proving procedure you would follow prior to using this probe to prove
a system dead. Practise this on your test probe.

Page 90 of 122
 Figure 5.8
Locking off PDU with padlocks and lockout hasps

It is important that proper care is taken with the keys during an isolation. Procedures will vary
between organisations, but the general rules for looking after keys are as follows:

 Never leave the keys unattended at the worksite

 Make use of a ‘key safe’ if available
 Leave keys in the care of at least two responsible individuals; e.g. Chief Engineer,
Supervisor, Sub-Engineer, Chief Electrician
 One key must be held by the person in charge of the work and the person carrying out the
work if possible.

Figure 5.9
Keys being handed to person in charge and secured in a key safe

5.8.4 POST NOTICES

Warning notices must be placed at appropriate points around the system, including where the
isolations are, and at the worksite. The tagging-out system which accompanies the isolation will
require labels to be attached to the locking points.

Notices are required to serve the following purposes:

 Act as a warning to non-essential personnel to stay clear of the worksite

 Remind members of the ROV team that the system is not safe to energise
 Tag-outs will record the names of relevant personnel involved in the maintenance and
who are also ‘key holders’.

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Other forms of warning personnel that maintenance work is being carried out include tannoy
announcements, barrier tape and cordoned-off areas.

Figure 5.10
High Voltage warning notices

5.8.5 PROVING DEAD

Having isolated the circuit or equipment, it is now necessary to prove the system is dead using the
High Voltage test probe.

It is important to identify suitable test points on the system prior to carrying out the isolation,
which must include the point where the work is to take place.

The ROV High Voltage system incorporates conductors within the umbilical which can store
charge after the system has been isolated. This charge is potentially lethal and correct procedures
must be adopted to ensure the energy is properly discharged. The most common method of
removing stored charge in umbilicals is by the use of a ‘discharge probe’. The discharge probe
consists of an earth lead which is first connected to a suitable earth point. The probe also
contains a low resistance, through which any stored energy may conduct when the probe tip
makes contact with the umbilical terminal.

Figure 5.11
Proving the system dead using HV probes

When proving dead, the test should normally take place at the primary terminals of the High
Voltage transformer, followed by the secondary terminals. As the secondary terminals are
connected to the umbilical, it is here that more stored charge may be present. For example,
during a re-termination the secondary test point will be at the ROV termination box.

It is important to continue wearing PPE during this test as the system has not been fully proved
dead until the test is complete.

5.8.6 EARTHING
Additional earth leads are connected to the system during the isolation. The leads are connected
between the High Voltage points and a suitable earth point (e.g. the deck of a vessel) in order
that, should power be inadvertently restored, then the system breakers will activate and shut the
system down.

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A device known as an ‘earthing spider’ is becoming widely used in the industry. Simple to
construct, it consists of a number of robust earth leads connected at a central point. Each lead
has a secure clamp which is attached to the terminals in a junction box. One of the leads must be
long enough to extend to an external earth point outside the junction box.

The external connection must be made first, followed by the internal leads connected
sequentially to the High Voltage terminals within the HV enclosure. Any redundant leads must be
coiled and connected to a suitable earth point inside the enclosure. The junction box or enclosure
must be left open throughout the isolation and maintenance in order to eliminate any confusion
that may lead operators to believe the system is safe to re-energise.

Figure 5.12
An ‘earthing spider’ attached in an ROV HV junction box

It must be appreciated that earths are an additional precaution and must only be connected once
a High Voltage point has been proved dead. The earths will be connected between the High
Voltage transformer primaries and earth, and the secondary windings and earth.

Some points to remember regarding additional earths include:

 Ensure the earth cables and connectors are adequate to handle the fault current
 Inspect the earth leads prior to use
 Use lockable crocodile clips, or similar, as connectors to ensure the earths do not fall off
 Continue to use PPE whilst fitting the earths as the isolation procedure is not strictly
complete until permits have been signed
 Ensure the earths are removed as part of the restoration procedure.

5.8.7 ADJACENT PARTS

EAW Regulation 14 makes reference to the hazards posed by adjacent parts that may still be
energised. This is not normally the case when carrying out a ROV isolation as the whole system is
dead.

The technician should, however, be aware of any other hazards that may be present during the
isolation. These may include overhead objects, confined spaces, moving equipment,
environmental conditions, etc.

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5.8.8 ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES
All isolations will normally be accompanied by a permit to work form. Although the permit has
only been referred to at the end of this isolation procedure, in reality the document must be
obtained prior to the isolation commencing and referred to throughout the isolation.

There is often confusion around the purpose of a permit to work – predominantly around who
signs what and why. There are many different permits in industry, but they all fundamentally try
and achieve the same outcome, which is:

To ensure that personnel involved in the isolation and maintenance are made aware of the safety
requirements for isolating High Voltage equipment and will confirm by signature that the isolation
has been carried out in accordance with company procedures.

Figure 5.13
Completing the permit to work

The function of the permit is therefore to ensure the following:

 Maintenance work is carried out in a controlled manner

 All key safety aspects of the isolation are documented and personnel are made aware of
them
 The person responsible for doing the work and the person in charge of the work are
required to sign to say the system is safe to work on
 A third party outside the ROV team (e.g. Chief Engineer) is also requested to sign that the
system has been made safe in accordance with vessel/installation requirements.

The permit to work will require more than one person’s signature to ensure the isolation is
completed in the correct manner. The people involved will typically include:

Issuing authority: the issuing authority will typically be a Chief Engineer, who ensures all
maintenance activities carried out onboard the vessel/installation are carried out in a safe and
reliable manner.

Person in charge of work: this may typically be the Supervisor or perhaps Sub-Engineer. They will
be a senior member of the team and competent to carry out the isolation.

Person carrying out the work (normally the competent person): in practice, the person in charge
and the person carrying out the work may be of similar experience and could take on either role.
It is, however, important from a safety point of view that two people are involved, at all times, in
the isolation. This minimises mistakes and ensures no one works alone.

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ACTIVITY 5.4
Allow 45 minutes

Consider your own ROV system. Whilst referring to the information discussed in this session,
compile a system of work for isolating your system prior to carrying out maintenance on HV
systems. Be sure to include each point discussed in Section 5.8 and make reference to specific
components on your system. Once you have completed this task, locate your company procedure
manual and compare your procedure to the official company procedure. Make constructive
comments on the effectiveness of both.

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5.9 SUMMARY
In this session we have examined the factors that relate directly to safe working practice when
making High Voltage equipment safe to work on. We have also referred to ‘low voltage’ and
highlighted that equipment that falls into this category must also be treated with care.

We have discussed the theoretical concepts that relate to working safely with electricity.

Finally, we looked at a standard isolation procedure for making a High Voltage system safe to
work on. This also focused on how to use test equipment to prove the system dead and the
documentation (permit to work) that forms part of the isolation.

You should now be able to:

 Identify what is meant by safe working practice and list several key points that apply to
maintenance activities carried out on your ROV system
 Explain the theoretical concepts that form the basis of safe working practices; for
example, passive protection, insulation, earthing, bonding, PPE
 Produce an isolation plan for your ROV system which should include all procedures laid
down in your company HV isolation procedure
 Explain how High Voltage testers are used to prove a system is dead after being isolated
 Explain the purpose of a ‘permit to work’ and how it is used within your organisation
during High Voltage isolations.

Key Points
 There are considered to be four key requirements for protecting personnel (and
equipment) from being injured/damaged by High Voltage electricity. They are:
o Safe working practices and procedures
o Personal protective equipment
o Insulation
o Earthing and bonding
 Safe working practices include:
o Only work on electric systems if you are sure you know what you are doing. High
Voltage courses are available to ensure competence with safety procedures.
Personnel should also have a relevant electrical background and experience of the
equipment/job in hand
o Only work on High Voltage systems in pairs
o Follow all written instructions/procedures
o Gain permit to work where required
o Always prove systems are dead before commencing work; ensure isolation
procedures are followed and locks and caution notices are installed
o Be absolutely sure that the ground connection is made through the umbilical to
the ROV – i.e. the ROV frame is earthed – before working on the ROV
o Connect an additional external ground strap when the ROV is on deck during
maintenance
o Wear rubber gloves if handling the umbilical or ROV frame when power is on
during operations and remove all items of jewellery
o Make sure that inexperienced personnel stand well clear during operational and
maintenance procedures, and that those areas where danger may be present are
cordoned off with relevant safety notices posted
o Do not allow personnel and tools to become disorganised during maintenance
and don’t take shortcuts due to operational pressures. Keep control

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 o Stand on a rubber mat when working in the vicinity of High Voltages, and when
testing keep one hand behind your back; or better still, connect the meter to test
points and stand clear before applying power
o Know the first aid for shock treatment and medical evacuation procedures of the
vessel, and have this information available in a convenient location
o All meters must be suitably rated – e.g. 1000VAC or 5000VAC, as required – and
tested immediately prior to and following testing. They must then be stored in
safe, dry conditions
o Know where mains isolating switches are and that they are correctly identified.
Ensure that LIMs and RCDs are operational when operating testing equipment
 Primary protection is given by the use of the following three items:
o Rubber gloves
o Rubber boots or mats, depending on company procedures
o Eye shields
 An insulating material is defined as a material which does not conduct electricity
 Protection from High Voltage requires a combination of the following three items:
o Insulation
o Earthing
o Personal protective equipment
 An electrical earth is defined as a common mass of material that dissipates the electrical
energy
 Good earth connections are paramount. Attention must be given to the following:
o Earth connections and cables/leads are in good condition at all times and
inspected on a regular basis
o Earth monitoring systems are checked on a regular basis
o Earth connections are inspected for damage and corrosion on a regular basis
 The following precautions must be taken when using additional earths:
o Cables and connectors must be inspected before use for integrity and cleanliness
o Earth leads must be continuity tested prior to use
o The earth attachment points must be clean and free from grease
o The earth leads and associated components must be robust enough to hold
maximum fault current that could flow prior to the fuses blowing, or other
protective devices activating
o PPE must always be worn when attaching additional earth leads
o Suitable connectors should be used to prevent the earth leads working loose
during maintenance. Crocodile clips with locking nuts are most suitable, or even
connectors that can be bolted to the equipment
o Ensure any earth leads are removed prior to re-energising High Voltage supply
 Bonding is similar to earthing; however, it refers to the connecting of two or more
components to a common earth point
 The expression ‘passive protection’ is sometimes used for protective devices that require
no external power to operate. This would include:
o Personal protective equipment
o Isolation transformers
o Fixed barriers
o Insulation
o Shielding
o Earthing

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 The technician must ensure that test equipment is:
o Inspected prior to use
o Fit for purpose
o Calibrated where necessary
o Used in the correct manner
 The following is some general advice for taking HV measurements:
o Always check the tester according to the recommended procedure
o Always think about what you are doing; never adopt a casual attitude
o Never carry out HV measurements or checks alone. Apart from this being good
advice, it may contravene safety legislation to work alone with HV
 The following procedure should always be followed when using a HV tester:
o Check probe suitability and for damage
o Prove the tester immediately before operating using the proving unit supplied
with the probe
o Operate the tester
o Prove the tester immediately after operating using the proving unit supplied with
the probe
o These steps should be carried out in accordance with the manufacturer’s
instructions.
 The following steps must be followed when carrying out a High Voltage isolation on an
ROV system:
o Disconnection
o Isolation
o Post notices
o Proving dead
o Earthing adjacent parts
o Additional procedures.

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6 HAZARDOUS AREAS

CONTENTS
6.1. Introduction
6.2. What Constitutes a Hazardous and Safe Area?
6.3. How the Zoning System Applies to the ROV Industry
6.4. Overview of the ATEX Directive
6.5. The Types of ‘Ex’ Protection
6.6. Equipment Used in Hazardous Areas
6.7. The Principles of Intrinsic Safety and the Meaning of ‘ia’ and ‘ib’
6.8. The Meaning of Temperature Ratings, and IP Classification
6.9. The Labelling of ‘Ex’ Equipment
6.10. Summary

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims of the session are to:

 Identify what a hazardous area is and how it can affect ROV operating and maintenance
procedures
 Introduce the types of protection available for equipment used in hazardous areas
 Discuss how equipment is labelled for use in hazardous areas.

6.1 INTRODUCTION
This session introduces the ‘hazardous area’ and discusses how equipment must be designed in
such a way as to eliminate the risk of fire or explosion.

A hazardous area is an area that contains an explosive atmosphere – typically gas as a product of
drilling operations. The atmosphere poses an extremely high risk to the installation, and strict
measures are adopted when work is carried out in such environments.

As an ROV operator you will not normally be exposed to such atmospheres other than in
emergency situations. For this reason, the equipment used in the ROV industry is designed in
such away as to support life by eliminating fire and explosion and providing a safe, breathable
atmosphere. It follows that all equipment used on deck must be designed in such away as to
eliminate the risk of fire and, where applicable, exclude hazardous atmospheres from areas where
personnel operate. This equipment includes control cabins, winches, cranes and A-frames.
Additional items such as cables, cable glands and even greases must also comply with the safety
requirements for operating in a hazardous atmosphere.

The most important point to bear in mind is that this equipment supports life and should not be
maintained or tampered with other than by trained and competent personnel.

NOTE: THIS COURE IS NOT INTENDED TO TRAIN PEOPLE TO BECOME COMPETENT TO TEST AND
MAINTAIN EQUIPMENT USED IN HAZARDOUS AREAS.

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6.2 WHAT CONSTITUTES A HAZARDOUS AND SAFE AREA?
Regulation 6 of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 – ‘Adverse of Hazardous Environments’ –
draws attention to those conditions where danger could arise if equipment is not constructed and
protected in order to withstand certain exposure. These adverse conditions include those such as
temperature or pressure, wet, dirt, dusty or corrosive environments and flammable or explosive
dusts, vapours or gases. The installation of electrical equipment is well covered by national and
international standards – for example, BS EN 60079 Series, IEC79, BS EN 50014, ATEX Directive.

A safe area is an area that is not exposed to any form of the above-mentioned hazards. This
typically includes accommodation modules.

6.2.1 CLASSIFICATION OF HAZARDOUS AREAS

The BS EN 60079 series of standards are used for determining the area extent and classification of
hazardous areas with reference to the differing degrees of probability with which explosive
concentrations of flammable gases, vapours or dusts may arise, in terms of both their frequency
of occurrence and probable duration.

The ATEX 137 Directive was produced by the European Commission as directive 99/92/EC. It has
been implemented in the United Kingdom as the Dangerous Substances and Explosive
Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR). This represents a new European approach to potentially
explosive atmospheres and covers:

 The health and safety protection of workers

 The placing of duties on employers, to take all reasonable measures to prevent the
formation of explosive atmospheres in the workplace.

Measures must be taken to avoid the ignition of any potentially explosive atmosphere which may
be formed in the workplace. Furthermore, the effects of any explosion must be minimised in such
a way that workers are not put at risk. Any measures that are taken must be reviewed regularly,
particularly when any significant changes have been made.

The ATEX directive applies to all locations, not just offshore installations, and requires that all
hazardous areas be marked with the symbol as shown in Figure 6.1. The directive is intended to
ensure that all workers receive a minimum level of protection throughout all European member
states.

Figure 6.1
Hazardous area symbols

The ATEX directive came into force on 30 June 2003; any new installations after this date must
adhere to the new ATEX requirements, while existing installations were given until 2006 to
comply.

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6.3 HOW THE ZONING SYSTEM APPLIES TO THE ROV INDUSTRY
Areas onboard are classified into two main categories, as regards risk of explosion. These
categories are as follows:

1. Hazardous areas
These are divided into three zones:
For hazardous areas, zones are determined as the basis for the choice of electrical
equipment. Zoning is the part of area classification where the likelihood of a flammable
atmosphere being present is assessed. The zone is unaffected by the actual presence of a
flammable atmosphere but is only influenced by the statistical risk of it being present.

Zones are determined on the basis of the probability of the presence of explosive
mixtures, as described below:

 Zone 0
An area in which an explosive mixture of flammable gases or vapours with air is
continuously present or present for long periods of time. (Greater than
1000hrs/year.) This includes areas such as:
o The inside of storage tanks
o The inside of pipes containing active drilling mud or gas and oil products.
(Active drilling mud in the system between the drilling hole and the final
degassing process.)
 Zone 1
An area in which an explosive mixture of flammable gases or vapours with air is likely
to occur during normal operation, e.g. vent, open-line ends, cellar decks of semi-
submersibles, etc. (Less than 1000, but greater than 10hrs/year.) This includes the
following areas:
o Enclosed spaces or semi-enclosed locations containing open parts of the
drilling mud system where active mud may be present
o Enclosed spaces or semi-enclosed locations that are below the drill floor and
contain a possible source of release (such as the top of the drilling nipple)
o Enclosed spaces or semi-enclosed locations that are on the drill floor and
which are not separated by a solid floor from the spaces described in the
previous description
o In outdoor locations, an area within 1.5m from the boundaries of any opening
to equipment which is a part of the drilling mud system where active mud
may be present
o In outdoor locations, an area within 1.5m from the boundaries of any
ventilation outlets from Zone 1 spaces or any door, windows, etc. leading to a
Zone 1 space
o Spaces, pits, ducts or similar in locations which otherwise would be Zone 2
but which are so arranged that dispersion of gas may not easily occur
o Enclosed spaces or semi-enclosed locations with doors or other access to a
Zone 1 space.
 Zone 2
A Zone 2 area is defined as an area in which an explosive mixture of flammable gases
or vapours or dusts with air is not likely to occur and if it occurs will only exist for a
short period of time (less than 10hrs/year). For example: gas locks.

2. Safe areas
This is an area which is not classified as a hazardous area.

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 Figure 6.2
Typical platform zoning

6.4 OVERVIEW OF THE ATEX DIRECTIVE

The supply and use of equipment intended for use in potentially hazardous areas within the
European Economic area is now covered by the European Directive 94/92/EC – the ‘ATEX 95
Directive’. ATEX 95 requires the manufacturer to ensure that their product meets the essential
health and safety requirements of the directive. The equipment must undergo the appropriate
conformity assessment procedure by an appropriate notified body. The manufacturer then
affixes the CE marking, the Greek ЄX (or ЄЄX if applied to the IEC 79 standards). Conforming with
the ATEX 95 directive means that the equipment can be sold anywhere in the European Economic
area.

Although the ATEX 95 directive was adopted in March 1994, it came into force in 2003 and
allowed the following transitional arrangements until achievement of full compliance in 2006:

 Manufacturers had the option of complying with the new directive or with existing
national legislation up to 30 June 2003
 After this date, all new equipment for use within the European Economic area had to
comply with the requirements of the ATEX 95 Directive
 Equipment in service had to comply with ATEX 95 by 2006.

The ATEX 95 directive has been implemented within the United Kingdom by the Equipment and
Protective Systems Intended for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 1996 (SI No
192: 1996).

It differs from previous directives and legislation in that it applies to all equipment, both electrical
and mechanical, whereas previous directives only applied to electrical equipment intended for
use in potentially explosive atmospheres.

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The directive classifies equipment into two groups:

 Group I – includes equipment intended for underground work in mines and parts of their
surface installations
 Group II – includes the equipment used in all other locations.

Group II

Category 1 Category 2 Category 3

Equipment designed to Equipment designed to Equipment designed to

ensure a very high level of ensure a high level of ensure a normal level of
protection protection protection

Equipment intended for an Equipment intended for an Equipment intended for an

environment in which environment in which environment in which
explosive atmospheres explosive atmospheres explosive atmospheres
caused by mixtures of air and caused by mixtures of air and caused by mixtures of air
gases, vapours or mists or by gases, vapours or mists or by and gases, vapours or mists
air/dust mixtures are present air/dust mixtures are likely to or by air/dust mixtures are
continuously, for long occur unlikely to occur or, if they
periods or frequently do occur, are likely to do so
only infrequently and for
short periods only

Equipment in this category Equipment in this category Equipment in this category

must ensure the requisite should ensure the requisite ensures the requisite level of
level of protection even in level of protection even in protection during normal
the event of rare incidents the event of frequently operation
relating to the equipment occurring disturbances or
such that in the event of one equipment faults which
failure of one means of normally have to be taken
protection, at least an into account
independent second means
provides the requisite level
of protection or the requisite
level of protection is assured
in the event of two faults
occurring independently of
each other

Figure 6.3
Principles of explosion protection

6.5 THE TYPES OF ‘EX’ PROTECTION

The definition of explosion protection (‘Ex’) is as follows:

‘Electrical apparatus designated with specific safety measures to prevent

ignition of a surrounding gas or vapour during normal operation; it is therefore
ex protected to a recognised international or national standard and certified as
such by a recognised test authority.’

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To avoid any confusion, the term ‘explosion protection’ does not mean that the apparatus is
protected against an external explosion; it means that it will not create or transmit an external
ignition source either by spark or hot surfaces.

There are various explosion protection concepts designed for specific hazardous area
applications. Each of the concepts has a long history of reliability and safety and, if correctly
selected, installed and maintained, will be safe in normal operation. The explosion protection
concepts can be achieved by:

 Circuit design – e.g. intrinsic safety with energy limitation via barrier devices
 Enclosures such as flameproof apparatus.

Explosion protection can also be achieved by the ‘increased safety concept’, which:

 Precludes sparking devices and limits any temperature rise

or
 Prevents the explosive mixture from reaching the electrical components that might spark
or produce excessive heat.

The prefix ‘Ex’ stands for explosion protection (‘EEx’ when applied to European IEC standards),
and it is followed by a letter or letters denoting the specific type of protection.

There are various recognised ways in which electrical equipment is prevented from being a source
of ignition in flammable atmospheres. The ‘fire triangle’ is a useful device with which to explore
the various protection concepts and highlight the fact that fuel, oxygen and a source of ignition
must all be present for ignition to occur.

Conversely, the exclusion of one or more sides of the triangle could produce an acceptable
method of protection.

Figure 6.4
The fire triangle

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6.5.1 EXCLUSION OF THE FUEL ELEMENT
Methods of protection that exclude the fuel are:

 Ex p: purging and pressuring is a protection concept that can be effective by ensuring any
fuel trapped within an enclosure is first purged before pressuring and finally permitting
the contents to be energised. With this type of protection, oxygen and a source of
ignition can be present whilst the fuel is absent. This type of protection is used on ROV
A60 control vans.
 Ex o: oil filling, powder filling (Ex q), and encapsulation (Ex s) all exclude fuel and air from
the source of ignition whether this be an incendive spark or a hot surface. All of these
methods of protection can reduce the temperature of any enclosed hot surface by
conducting the heat to a larger outer surface which more effectively dissipates the heat.
 Ex q: Powder Filling. Typically used for small transformers, capacitors on electrical
componets that have no moving parts. The protection normally consists of a sealed
enclosure filled with quartz sand or glass beads. The enclosure will normally have some
form of small vent to release build up of pressure
 Ex m: Encapsulation. Type m protection is used for components in which the internal
parts could ignite an explosive atmosphere. The encapsulation normally takes the form of
an epoxy resin to form a sealed unit. A thermal fuse may be embeded in the unit to
prevent internal components overheating.
 Ex s: Special Protection. For devices which do not comply with a type of protection but
assure comparable safety
 Ex n: Refers to non incendive protection. The most common is referred to as restricted
breathing. This uses a protection concept restricted to Zone 2 and the protection of hot
surfaces. The concept is typically used to permit the use of lamps with hot envelopes to
be used safely in luminaries. The restricted breathing restricts the ingress of gas to the
enclosure for the short period that the enclosure is considered to be surrounded by a
flammable gas or vapour. It is argued the gas-air mixture within the enclosure will not
reach the lower explosive limit before dilution can occur when gas no longer surrounds
the enclosure. It should be remembered that Ex n is a non-sparking concept.
 Exn C is also a type of non-incendive protection whereby cavities are fully enclosed. It is
similar to encapsulation

Figure 6.5
Exclusion of Fuel Element

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6.5.2 EXCLUSION OF OXYGEN
Methods of protection that exclude the oxygen are:

 Ex o
 Ex q
 Ex s
 Ex p.

There are occasions when the gas-air mixture within an enclosure cannot be kept below the lower
explosive limit. When this occurs, the exclusion of oxygen from the enclosure should be
considered by purging and pressuring with an inert gas such as nitrogen. Thus, the sides of the
fire triangle representing fuel and an ignition source will be present but the oxygen side will be
absent. The protection concepts Ex o, Ex q and Ex s will exclude air and oxygen as effectively as
they did when considered above.

Figure 6.6
Exclusion of Oxygen

6.5.3 EXCLUSION OF IGNITION SOURCE

Generally speaking, all protection concepts are prevented from producing a source of ignition.
There are, however, four concepts that do not fall into any of the above categories and are
expected to be surrounded by a flammable atmosphere in normal operation. These concepts are:

 Ex i – intrinsic safety
 Ex d – flameproof
 Ex e – increased safety
 Ex n – non-incendive in normal operation (Zone 2 only).

Intrinsic safety is a protection concept offering the highest integrity, and hence it is the only
method of protection permitted in Zone 0 (other than specially certified Ex s). Incendive energy is
seldom stored, and when it is, steps are taken to ensure no rapid discharge is possible. That
possibility of hot surfaces is prevented and hence the coincidence of a source of ignition in the
presence of a flammable atmosphere, which can be continuously present in Zone 0, is statistically
acceptable.

The flameproof method of protection is where ignition is permitted to occur, albeit within a
strong enclosure. The enclosure contains the explosion and hence does not act as a source of
ignition to any surrounding gas-air mixture.

The increased safety concept is a non-sparking concept and depends on improved design and
elimination of inferior materials to prevent sparking. As flammable gas-air mixtures are expected

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to envelope Ex e apparatus in normal operation, attention to the elimination of hot surfaces is
equally important.

Ex n is also a non-sparking and temperature-controlled concept, similar to Ex e. The integrity of

Ex n apparatus is not so high as Ex e apparatus, and hence the concept is restricted to Zone 2.

Figure 6.7
Exclusion of Ignition Source

6.6 EQUIPMENT USED IN HAZARDOUS AREAS

In summary, the equipment falls into the categories listed in Figure 6.8:

Zone 0 If possible, all electrical equipment is

excluded, otherwise:

Intrinsically safe Ex ia

Special protection Ex s (certified for use in Zone 0

Zone 1 Any type of protection suitable for Zone 0

and:

Flameproof Ex d

Intrinsically safe Ex ib

Pressurisation or Ex p
purged

Increased safety Ex e

Special protection Ex s

Encapsulated Ex m

Zone 2 Any type of protection suitable for Zone 0 and Zone 1

Figure 6.8
Summary of equipment in hazardous areas

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Intrinsic safety ‘i’
A circuit designed in such a way as to restrict the electrical energy within the apparatus so that no
spark or any thermal effect produced under prescribed test conditions (which include normal and
specified fault conditions) is capable of causing ignition of a given explosive atmosphere.

Category ‘ia’
Electrical apparatus of ‘ia’ category is incapable of causing ignition in normal operation and is suitable
for use in all zones.

Category ‘ib’
Electrical apparatus of ‘ib’ category is incapable of causing ignition in normal operation and is suitable
for use in Zone 1 and less hazardous areas.

Special protection ‘s’

This is equipment certified by a testing house to have been verified as suitable for Zone 0 to 1 by virtue
of their inspection and testing.

Flameproof enclosure ‘d’

A type of protection in which the components capable of igniting an explosive atmosphere are placed
in an enclosure which can withstand the pressure developed by an internal explosion of an explosive
mixture, and which prevents the transmission of that explosion to the explosive atmosphere
surrounding the enclosure.

Increased safety ‘e’

A type of protection in which additional measures are applied to give extra security so as to prevent
the possibility of excessive temperatures and the occurrence of arcs or sparks in the interior and on
the external parts of electrical apparatus which does not produce them in normal service.

Oil immersion ‘o’

A type of protection in which the electrical apparatus or parts of the electrical apparatus are immersed
in oil in such a way that an explosive atmosphere, which may be above oil or outside the enclosure,
cannot be ignited.

Pressurised apparatus ‘p’

A type of protection by which the entry of an external atmosphere into the enclosure of the electrical
apparatus is prevented by maintaining, inside the enclosure, a protective gas at a higher pressure than
that of the surrounding atmosphere.

Sand or powder filling ‘q’

A type of protection in which the enclosure of electrical apparatus is filled with material in a finely
granulated state so that, in the intended conditions of service, any arc occurring within the enclosure
of the electrical apparatus will not ignite the surrounding atmosphere. No ignition shall be caused by
flame or by excessive temperature of the surfaces of the enclosure.

Non-incendive ‘n’
A type of protection applied to electrical apparatus such that, in normal operation, it is not capable of
igniting a surrounding explosive atmosphere and a fault capable of causing ignition is not likely to
occur.

Special protection ‘s’

Special electrical apparatus which is certified for use in explosive gas atmosphere but which does not
conform to any of the standard techniques of protection as specified in existing standards.

In general, Ex ia and Ex s would be suitable for Zone 0; these plus Ex d, Ex ib, Ex p, Ex e would be
suitable for Zone 1; and these plus Ex n, Ex o and Ex q would be suitable for Zone 2 protection. In all
cases, the supervisor must ensure that all equipment to be operated in these zones (including such
peripherals as communications sets) must be certified as suitable for operation within that zone.

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6.6.1 ROV CONTROL VANS FOR HAZARDOUS AREAS
The most common type of protection used for ROV control vans is the Ex p purging system,
commonly in the form of the A60 control van. This method of protection is also used on winch
system junction boxes where a danger of sparking may occur. We will now consider this method
of protection in more detail.

A60 Zone 2 control vans allow subsea operations to continue in a hazardous or potentially
hazardous area such as drilling rig or production platform where the risk of toxic or explosive gas
is present.

Construction can be to A60 Zone 1 standard, but certification is to A60 Zone 2.

The internal structures are insulated and lined with heat- and fire-retarding materials to A60 and
SOLAS standard. Walls and ceilings are lined with non-combustible wall board. The floor is
covered with DOT-approved fire-retarding Altro non-slip vinyl.

Pressurisation/ventilation inlet normally uses a pneumatic damper at the air lock end. The
exhaust outlet is via a pressure-maintaining gravity damper and a pneumatic damper. An external
grille is fitted with a transit blanking plate that must be removed before operating the cabin.

Figure 6.9
Typical zone 2-rated ROV container

6.6.2 PURGING SYSTEMS

A control panel for a purge system incorporates smoke, gas and pressure monitoring equipment,
as well as audible and visual alarms, to warn of pressurisation loss, smoke and gas. The devices
monitor the conditions in pressurised modules used in areas made potentially hazardous by the
presence of flammable liquids, gases or vapours. Most panels are capable of monitoring signals
from a single fire channel, and up to three gas channels simultaneously.

Figure 6.10
ROV purge panel

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Alarm functions on a live control panel typically include the following:

1. Pressure loss is alarmed after 30 seconds; emergency shut-down (ESD) follows after a
further 30 seconds. Reinstatement of pressure during the two 30-second periods will
reset and cancel the alarm state
2. Smoke detection or ‘call point’ operation causes immediate ESD
3. Gas detected at 20% LEL and above sounds the alarm; at 40% LEL and above ESD is
actuated.

POWER SUPPLY TO CONTROL VANS

Cabins are wired and designed to operate from a three-phase and earth supply (no neutral), 380–
440V 50Hz and 415–480V 60Hz.

Figure 6.11
Typical fire and gas panel

6.6.3 PRE-STARTUP CHECKS OF A60 CONTROL VANS

1. Ensure cabin is level and if on a vessel, fully secured against movement
2. Determine the supply voltage. Pre-set the purge, fire and gas panel transformer and
cabin transformers accordingly. The cabin requires 380–460VAC three-phase and earth.
Neutral is not used
3. Ensure that the cabin is bonded to earth
4. Ensure that the cabin has been correctly connected by a qualified electrician to a suitably
rated supply
5. Connect pneumatic supply to purge damper solenoid.

6.6.4 STARTUP PROCEDURE WITH PURGE, FIRE AND GAS CONTROL PANEL
1. Turn on the power supply to the cabin. Shut cabin doors to maintain fan pressure
2. Switch on purge panel isolator. The gas and fire detection system and volt-free alarm to
rig contacts are now operational
3. Observe gas and fire status display through the port window. Press ‘Lamp test’ to confirm
all LEDs are functional. Release and press ‘Reset’ for 1 second, confirm no alarm lamps lit.
If alarm persists, observe gas LEL % display and check fire call points, and/or seek help
4. Pressure ‘Fan Start’. Observe audible clang of the damper opening, confirm airflow
through inlet grill. Confirm cabin pressure gauge indicates a minimum of 0.25 to operate
pressure and flow switches. After approximately 40 seconds, the ‘Purge’ lamp will
illuminate. Purging will take approx. 9 minutes
(Note: loss of air pressure/flow will reset the purge timer.)
5. Purging completed is indicated by the purge lamp going off. Provided pressure/flow, fire
and gas status are maintained healthy, power to the non-Ex equipment may now be
switched on by pressing the ‘Main Start’ button.

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The cabin may now be operated as required. Gas, fire, pressure and air flow will be continuously
monitored and actioned accordingly.

6.6.5 EMERGENCY SHUT-DOWN OF A60 CONTROL VANS

The table below illustrates the ‘shut-down’ configurations that are available in a typical F&G
control panel. Note that all emergency Ex circuits remain active due to the fact that they supply
life-supporting services.

Main stop Shut-down of all non-Ex circuits

Pressurisation fan and duct damper solenoid
Note: the ‘Main Stop’ button is latching type and must be pressed a second
time to release
Fire alarm Alarm sounds
Shut-down of all non-Ex circuits
Pressurisation fan and duct damper solenoid
Low-level gas
Alarm sounder activated
(20% LEL)
High-level gas Shut-down of all non-Ex circuits
(40% LEL) Pressurisation fan and duct damper solenoid
Loss of air After 30 seconds, alarm sound activated
pressure flow After 60 seconds, shut-down of all non-Ex circuits
Reinstatement of air pressure/flow during 60-second period will cancel
alarm and reset timer
Emergency The cabin emergency light is positioned to provide illumination to the fire,
lighting gas, purge control panel and escape routes

6.6.6 FLAMEPROOF ENCLOSURES

Flameproof enclosures provide a type of protection for electrical equipment in which the
enclosure will withstand an internal explosion of a flammable mixture which has penetrated into
the interior. The equipment will not cause damage or cause ignition to external atmospheres,
through joints or structural openings of the enclosure.

The equipment incorporates what is referred to as a ‘flameproof joint’, which is effectively where
the surfaces of the enclosure come together. A ‘gap’, which is strictly defined, will exist between
these surfaces and helps relieve the pressure caused by an internal explosion. Experimental
testing is used to establish the ‘maximum experimental safe gap’ for different gases and gas
mixtures.

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6.6.7 TYPES OF FLAMEPROOF JOINTS

Glass-to-metal joints
Glass-to-metal joints occur where there is an inspection window or a lamp cover on a luminaire.
If the glass is found to be damaged, the complete glass/metal assembly obtained from the
manufacturer is replaced. If the glass-to-metal seal is worn or damaged, then the complete
assembly again should also be changed. It is possible to repair the sealing material under the
instructions of the apparatus manufacturer, but this would be regarded as a last resort; the
quality of the repair would be doubtful.

The sealing materials should not cause corrosion to the glass or metal, and should be stable under
the temperatures and conditions the assembly will be subjected to. In the older assemblies, the
sealant would probably be a calcium sulphate (gypsum) cement, such as ‘Herculite EN’ or
‘Herculite EA’. For modern assemblies, the sealant is probably an epoxy resin.

It should be noted that the sealant is only for sealing and that the mechanical strength of this joint
does not depend only on the sealing material.

Gaskets
The purpose of a gasket is to give the enclosure some protection against the weather; to keep the
inside of the enclosure clean and dry; and depending on its position, to help keep the flame path
in good condition.

Gaskets are compressible, being made of cork or one of the modified rubber compounds, such as
neoprene.

If a gasket has lost its flexibility and is damaged, it should be replaced by a part supplied by the
equipment manufacturer.

Flameproof enclosures are used for a variety of applications offshore and are controlled by
several standards pertaining to their construction. Construction standards refer to:

 Minimum surface roughness (machined surfaces)

 Inspection access to measure the gap between flanged joints – usually with feeler gauges
 Holes in joint surfaces
 Joints, including class of fit, pitch, minimum number of threads engaged
 Gaskets and ‘o’-rings
 Operating rods and spindles
 Shafts and bearings
 Breathing and draining devices
 Fasteners – especially the requirement that all holes must be blind holes, so that if a bolt
is removed there will not be direct access into the flameproof enclosure
 Mechanical strength
 Cable glands and cable connection techniques.

Figure 6.12
‘Ex’ safe box inside ROV container

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6.6.8 TERMINALS
Care must be taken to terminate all cables correctly, for example with a saddle clamp as shown in
Figure 6.13.

Figure 6.13
Typical saddle clamp type ‘e’ terminal

6.6.9 GREASES
Joints should not be treated with substances which harden in use. One of the best ways to
protect any joint against corrosion is to give the faces of the joint a very thin coating or smear of
grease. In selecting which grease to use, the grease should not, in protecting the faces, create
another problem. A grease could cause corrosion by chemical attack if the enclosure material is a
light alloy. Silicon grease will poison electrocatalytic-type gas detectors.

Any good-quality light petroleum grease is usually satisfactory.

On opening a flameproof enclosure, the old grease should be cleaned off the faces and any blind
holes cleaned out. New grease should be applied before refitting the covers, and only a very light
smear is required.

6.6.10 TYPE ‘N’ EQUIPMENT

Type ‘N’ equipment (Ex n) typically refers to equipment that is non-incendive and includes
emergency lighting, switches, etc. There are 2 sub divisions of Type N equipment that include Exn
C and Exn R.

Exn C: Is similar to encapsulation and is applied to devices containing contacts that may cause
ignition as they open and close. The contact mechanism or enclosure is designed in such a way
that ignition of gasses in the surrounding environment is prevents

Exn R: Refers to ‘Restricted Breathing’ whereby the enclosure is sealed so tight that no gas or
combustible dust can enter. The surface temperature of the equipment is also limited.

Type N equipment may incorporate many different safety concepts; for example, a lighting unit
with restricted breathing will have the features listed below:

 Strong casing cover, cable attachment and mounting attachments

 Choke which does not overheat if tube fails
 Enclosure sealed to restrict rate at which explosive gas can enter
 Gas-proof seals
 Non-sparking lamp holders
 External surfaces which do not get hot enough to ignite explosive gasses
 Materials used in construction and insulation which withstand industrial solvents.

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Cable glands also fall into this category and are typically used where cables enter junction boxes.

Care must be taken to use the correct glands for the application. The material can also be
important to prevent localised heating of cable due to induction. An example of cable gland is
shown in Figure 6.14.

Figure 6.14
Cable gland

Installation Practice
To maintain the integrity of all forms of protection, portable and fixed electrical equipment should
be regularly inspected by competent staff. Only such staff should carry out installation or
rewiring, and any temporary electrical equipment used should be to industry standards.
Contractors responsible for underwater electrical equipment should authorise staff in writing as
being competent for specific functions. Competent staff should be familiar with proper
installation procedures and be aware of the hazards and problems particular to underwater work.
Frequent inspections should be made for signs of mechanical damage on cables and for any
general deterioration of equipment. These inspections can be incorporated with the six-monthly
insulation test of the umbilical which is usually completed to fulfil insurance requirements.

6.7 THE PRINCIPLES OF INTRINSIC SAFETY AND THE MEANING OF ‘IA’ AND ‘IB’
‘Intrinsic safety’ is a low-voltage, low-current protection concept for instrumentation in hazardous
areas. Unlike other techniques, it does not rely on an enclosure for its integrity but on the
assured limitation of voltage and current to a level that is non-incendive. It is the only method of
protection permitted in Zone 0 (except Ex s specially certified for Zone 0), and relies on electrical
techniques to achieve its high degree of protection. It is because of this high degree of protection
that adjustment and maintenance of an intrinsically safe (IS) system whilst still energised is
permitted.

Intrinsically safe apparatus falls essentially into three categories:

1. Portable apparatus, which is usually battery-powered and by its nature is free to move
into hazardous areas permitted by its certification
2. Fixed apparatus in the hazardous area, typically connected by cable to intrinsically safe
apparatus in the safe area
3. Associated safe area electrical apparatus, which is normally certified because the
conductors connected to it have direct access to the hazardous area and hazardous area
apparatus.

Like all protection concepts, intrinsic safety accepts that at some time a flammable atmosphere
can envelope the hazardous area instrumentation and hence concentrates on eliminating any
source of ignition. As stated above, this requires that there are no incendive sparks or hot
surfaces, not only in normal operation, but also with certain specified faults. Zone 0 requires

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intrinsically safe equipment to be safe with two faults (Ex ia), whilst Zone 1 accepts equipment
that is safe with one fault (Ex ib).

Hot surfaces that could be produced, even by the limited energy available, must be controlled to
prevent them from being a source of ignition.

Haz area Safe area

Intrinsically Associated
safe electrical electrical Mains
apparatus apparatus 240V
50Hz

Intrinsically
safe
energy

Figure 6.15
Intrinsically safe equipment

The ability to carry out live maintenance in a hazardous area without the need to obtain gas
clearance certificates is a major advantage of using the intrinsically safe method of protection.
However, permits to work should always be used to ensure that operators and other interested
parties are kept informed.

The standard EN50 020 defines an intrinsically safe circuit as:

‘A circuit in which no spark or any thermal effect produced in the test

conditions prescribed in this standard (which includes normal operation and
specified fault conditions), is capable of causing ignition of a given explosive
atmosphere.’

The electrical energy considered is that produced by:

1. A purely resistive circuit

2. An induction circuit and the current that flows in it
3. A capacitive circuit and the voltage to which it is exposed.

A circuit that does not spark under normal conditions could produce an incendive spark when
fault conditions are considered, for example short circuits between conductors. The intrinsically
safe circuit obtains its high degree of integrity by preventing incendive sparks even when such
short circuits occur. It is for this reason that Ex ia with two faults considered is permitted in Zone
0, whilst Ex ib with only one fault considered is restricted to Zone 1 and, of course, lower risk
zones.

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6.8 THE MEANING OF TEMPERATURE RATINGS, AND IP CLASSIFICATION
The possibility that a mixture of vapour and air can be ignited by coming into contact with a hot
surface must be considered when selecting apparatus. Apparatus for use in hazardous areas will
be marked with a ‘T’ classification to indicate the surface temperature:

BS EN 50014/IEC79-8 Max surface

temperature class temperature
T1 450°C
T2 300°C
T3 200°C
T4 135°C
T5 100°C
T6 85°C

In the UK, the degree of protection provided by enclosures classified by the International
Protection (IP) code is detailed in BS EN60529 1992.

BS EN 60529 describes a system for classifying degrees of protection provided by enclosures

principally for electrical equipment.

Degrees of protection are classified into three general categories:

1. Protection of persons against access to hazardous parts within the enclosure. This is
intended to cover the protection of persons against accidental contact with live electrical
conductors or mechanical parts contained within an enclosure, e.g. switch mechanisms,
etc.
2. The classification also includes the protection of equipment inside the enclosure against
the ingress of solid foreign objects. This is intended to cover the protection of equipment
mounted inside an enclosure against tools and/or strands of wire and/or the harmful
ingress of dust particles
3. Protection of the equipment inside the enclosure against the harmful ingress of water.
This is intended to cover the protection of equipment from the harmful effects due to
dripping, spraying, splashing, hosing or total immersion in water. NOTE: this does not
include a strict classification for weather resistance, corrosion protection, or other
physically hazardous condition.

Clause 2 within BS EN 6059 states that measures to protect against the following are not
considered by the IP rating:

 Mechanical impact
 Corrosion
 Corrosive solvents
 Fungus
 Vermin
 Solar radiation
 Icing
 Moisture (condensation)
 Explosive atmospheres
 Contact with moving parts external to the enclosure.

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Designations
The degree of protection provided by an enclosure is indicated by the IP code in the following
manner:

IPXX, where X represents a number between 0 and 6, or 0 and 8 in the case of the second
numeral.

IP is the code letter and refers to the International Protection standards.

The first numeral, 0–6: protection of persons by prevention or limiting ingress of parts of the
human body or solid objects, where 0 offers no protection and 6 offers complete protection.

The second numeral, 0–8: resistance to ingress of water, where 0 is no protection and 8 offers full
protection against the indefinite immersion in water under a specified pressure.

Some IP classifications contain an additional letter and a supplementary letter which refer to
‘enhanced personnel protection’ and ‘specific applications’ respectively.

Enhanced personnel protection is designated by the letters A to D, as follows:

A. Up to the guard/stop face of a 50mm sphere

B. Up to the guard/stop face of test finger
C. Up to the guard/stop face of 2.5mm X 100mm probe
D. Up to the guard/stop face of 1mm X 100mm probe.

Specific applications are designated by the letters H, M and W, as follows:

H. High Voltage equipment

M. Moving or rotating equipment (tested whilst in motion)
W. Weather conditions (agreed between manufacturer and the user).

6.9 THE LABELLING OF ‘EX’ EQUIPMENT

Prior to 30 June 2003, the approach would be that a manufacturer would contract a recognised
test house such as BASEEFA in the UK, NEMKO in Norway or CNELEC as a European standard. The
test house would test a sample of the device against a number of recognised standards as
required, typically as outlined in EN 50014, and issue a certificate of compliance. In addition, the
piece of equipment must meet the EMC regulations whereby the European Community trading
mark will appear on apparatus certified to CENELEC standards by an approved certifying
authority.

The certificate would carry a code allowing an installer to identify the zone, temperature
classification, etc.

For example, a piece of equipment labelled:

 EEx de IIB + H2 T6
 E = European Certificate (CENELEC)
 Ex = explosion-protected equipment
 d = flameproof protection (sparking parts)
 e = increased safety protection (non-sparking parts)
 II = gas group II (surface)
 B = gas group B
 H2 = hydrogen
 T6 = temperature class T6 (85˚C max surface
temp under fault conditions)

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 Figure 6.16
The distinctive Community mark

Figure 6.17
The BASEEFA mark

Figure 6.18
Marking required by the BS 4683 1971 and SFA 3012

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6.9.1 THE ATEX APPROACH TO LABELLING EQUIPMENT
All equipment and protective systems must be marked legibly and indelibly with the following
minimum particulars:

• Name and address of the manufacturer

• CE marking

• Designation of series or type

• Serial number, if any

• Year of construction

The specific marking of explosion protection

EX – followed by the symbol of the equipment group and category:

 for equipment group II, the letter ‘G’ (concerning explosive atmospheres caused by gases,
vapours or mists)
 and/or the letter ‘D’ (concerning explosive atmospheres caused by dust).

Furthermore, where necessary, they must also be marked with all information essential to their
safe use.

6.10 SUMMARY
In this session, we have defined what is meant by a hazardous area and discussed how equipment
must be designed in order to minimise fire or explosion in such areas.

ROV operations are rarely exposed to hazardous environments other than in an emergency
situation. For this reason, the surface systems must be designed in such a way as to operate in
these conditions and support life until personnel can be evacuated. The equipment must be
designed in such a way as to eliminate the possibility of causing ignition to the surrounding
atmosphere during the emergency situation. The equipment includes ROV containers, junction
boxes on LARS systems, cables and connectors.

Protection is normally achieved by eliminating one ‘side’ of the fire triangle; i.e. ignition, fuel or
heat. Some forms of protection use a combination of techniques. Intrinsically safe equipment,
which is only suitable for Zone 0, is incapable of causing ignition due to the power being kept to a
minimum by unique circuit design.

We also introduced the European directive known as the ‘ATEX Directive’, which affects all
workplaces that may be exposed to hazardous atmospheres. A key point with this directive is that
it includes dust as well as explosive atmospheres. All organisations were required to comply with
the directive by 2006.

All equipment designed to operate in a hazardous area must be labelled in accordance with
national/European guidelines. The information on the label refers to the type of protection
offered, the type of gas the equipment is protecting from, the temperature classification, the
protection offered to personnel from internal components, and the amount of protection the
equipment has from the ingress of materials. The label will also indicate the certifying authority
of the equipment. All explosion-proof equipment will bear the prefix ‘Ex’ (or ‘EEx’ when applied
to European IEC standards), which denotes it is protected equipment.

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Any repair and maintenance activities on explosion-proof equipment must only be carried out by
suitably trained and competent personnel. It is generally accepted that ROV personnel will NOT
be qualified to carry out such activities.

You should now be able to:

 Describe what is meant by a hazardous area and define the categories that apply to the
offshore industry
 Identify what type of protection is used on your ROV surface system
 Explain what information is contained on the labels placed on explosion-proof equipment
 Describe what type of protection is provided in an A60 ROV control van
 Briefly describe what is meant by the ‘ATEX Directive’.

Key Points
 A hazardous area makes reference to the differing degrees of probability with which
explosive concentrations of flammable gases, vapours or dusts may arise, in terms of both
their frequency of occurrence and probable duration
 These are divided into three zones:
o Zone 0
o Zone 1
o Zone 2
 A safe area is an area that is not classified as a hazardous area and typically includes
accommodation modules
 The ATEX Directive represents a the European approach to potentially explosive
atmospheres and covers:
o The health and safety protection of workers
o The placing of duties on employers to take all reasonable measures to prevent the
formation of explosive atmospheres in the workplace
 Although the ATEX 95 directive was adopted in March 1994, it came into force in 2003
and allowed transitional arrangements until achievement of full compliance in 2006
 The directive represents a the European approach to potentially explosive atmospheres,
and it classifies equipment into two groups:
o Group 1 – includes equipment intended for underground work in mines and parts
of their surface installations
o Group II – includes the equipment used in all other locations
 Explosion protection (‘Ex’) is defined as ‘Electrical apparatus designated with specific
safety measures to prevent ignition of a surrounding gas or vapour during normal
operation; it is therefore Ex protected to a recognised international or national standard
and certified as such by a recognised test authority.’
 Ex protection concepts can be achieved by:
o Circuit design, e.g. intrinsic safety with energy limitation via barrier devices
o Enclosures such as flameproof apparatus
 Ex protection can also be achieved by the ‘increased safety concept’, which:
o Precludes sparking devices and limits any temperature rise
or
o Prevents the explosive mixture from reaching the electrical components that
might spark or produce excessive heat
 Conversely, the exclusion of one or more sides of the fire triangle could produce an
acceptable method of protection
 Methods of protection that exclude the fuel are:
o Ex p, Ex o, Ex q, Ex m, Ex s, Ex n

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  Methods of protection that exclude the oxygen are:
o Ex o, Ex q, Ex s ,Ex p
 Methods of protection that exclude the ignition source are:
o Ex d, Ex i, Ex e, Ex n
 The most common type of protection used for ROV control vans is the Ex p purging
system, commonly in the form of the A60 control van
 A control panel for a purge system incorporates smoke, gas and pressure monitoring
equipment, as well as audible and visual alarms, to warn of pressurisation loss, smoke and
gas
 Flameproof enclosures provide a type of protection for electrical equipment in which the
enclosure will withstand an internal explosion of a flammable mixture which has
penetrated into the interior. The equipment will not cause damage or cause ignition to
external atmospheres, through joints or structural openings of the enclosure
 Types of flameproof joints include:
o Glass-to-metal joints
o Gaskets
 One of the best ways to protect any joint against corrosion is to give the faces of the joint
a very thin coating or smear of grease
 Type ‘N’ equipment (Ex n) typically refers to equipment that is non-incendive and includes
emergency lighting, switches etc.
 Type ‘N’ equipment may incorporate many different safety concepts; for example, a
lighting unit with restricted breathing will have the features listed below:
o Strong casing cover, cable attachment and mounting attachments
o Choke which does not overheat if tube fails
o Enclosure sealed to restrict rate at which explosive gas can enter
o Gas-proof seals
o Non-sparking lamp holders
o External surfaces which do not get hot enough to ignite explosive gasses
o Materials used in construction and insulation which withstand industrial solvents.
 ‘Intrinsic safety’ is a low-voltage, low-current protection concept for instrumentation in
hazardous areas. Unlike other techniques, it does not rely on an enclosure for its integrity
but on the assured limitation of voltage and current to a level that is non-incendive
 Intrinsic safety is the only method of protection permitted in Zone 0 (except Ex s specially
certified for Zone 0), and relies on electrical techniques to achieve its high degree of
protection
 The possibility that a mixture of vapour and air can be ignited by coming into contact with
a hot surface must be considered when selecting apparatus. Apparatus for use in
hazardous areas will be marked with a ‘T’ classification to indicate the surface
temperature
 The degree of protection provided by an enclosure is indicated by the IP code in the
following manner:
o IPXX, where ‘X’ represents a number between 0 and 6, or 0 and 8 in the case of
the second numeral
o IP is the code letter and refers to the International Protection standards
o First numeral, 0–6: protection of persons by prevention or limiting ingress of parts
of the human body or solid objects, where 0 offers no protection and 6 offers
complete protection
o Second numeral, 0–8: resistance to ingress of water, where 0 is no protection and
8 offers full protection against the indefinite immersion in water under a specified
pressure

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 Prior to 30 June 2003, the approach would be that a manufacturer would contract a
recognised test house such as BASEEFA in the UK, NEMKO in Norway or CNELEC as a
European standard
 All equipment and protective systems must be marked legibly and indelibly with the
following minimum particulars:
o Name and address of the manufacturer
o CE marking
o Designation of series or type
o Serial number, if any
o Year of construction
o The specific marking of explosion protection

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