Oct 5th, 2021
3 mins
This HSE document is aimed it all duty-holders with responsibilities for operation and maintenance of High Voltage (HV) and Low Voltage (LV) circuit breakers (excluding LV MCCB’s and MCB’s), including:
- agriculture
- ceramics
- chemical processing and production
- engineering
- entertainment and leisure
- food and drink manufacture
- gas
- health services
- metals and minerals processing and production
- manufacturing (general)
- mining
- nuclear
- offshore
- ports
- quarries
- retail.
The issues relate to incorrect use and application of lubrication on HV and LV circuit breakers resulting in mal-operation and increased risk of catastrophic failure and downstream fire. Duty-holders and Specialist Electrical Contractors are advised to ensure that their maintenance procedures associated with cleaning and lubrication of HV and LV circuit breakers meet with the requirements defined in the HSE guidance:
- HSG 230 Keeping Electrical Switchgear Safe
- BS 6423 Code of Practice for Maintenance of Low-voltage Switchgear and Controlgear
- BS 6626 Maintenance of Electrical Switchgear and Controlgear for Voltages above 1 kV and up to and Including 36 kV
- BS 6867 Maintenance of Electrical Switchgear and Controlgear for Voltages above 36 kV. Code of Practice.
And as prescribed in the manufacturer’s instructions. In particular, the maintenance procedure should ensure that the manufacturer instructions on cleaning and lubrication of the circuit breaker mechanism are followed at appropriate intervals, including the selection and application of the correctly specified lubricants (products) for the task.
