Effectively maintaining highvoltage switchgear

Properly and expertly maintaining high voltage switchgear is vital not only key to the uninterrupted operation of hospitals and other healthcare facilities, but also to the safety of any personnel working in proximity to it. Glyn Jones, group managing director of Sterling Power Group, and Professor Leslie Falkingham, MD of Vacuum Interrupters, who has spent the past 30 years in the high voltage electrical supply sector, and is a former technology director for GEC, offer advice on how to keep such equipment in an optimal condition

Due to their high power demand, most hospitals are supplied from the high voltage network, and this brings specific concerns and requirements for the operators. Ageing infrastructure needs to be properly maintained, and high voltage electrical equipment requires particular attention, as the failure of any such equipment could result in serious, potentially disastrous consequences to both the operation of the hospital, and to any hospital personnel in the vicinity of any catastrophic high voltage equipment failure. 

Because of the special nature of high voltage equipment, there are two specific publications of which you should be aware. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) issues specific guidance on keeping electrical switchgear safe, entitled Keeping Electrical Switchgear Safe (HSG 230). Within this document the HSE states that users must maintain switchgear, and do this at regular intervals. It also stipulates that they should carry out maintenance, particularly in the case of oil-filled circuit-breakers, immediately after they have operated to switch off an electrical fault in the network. Certain types of switchgear (such as that using sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and vacuum) are sometimes designated or described as ‘low maintenance’, but this does not mean that no maintenance is required.