Clearance Procedures for District Employees

(Includes all Mutual Aid Crews, Line Contract Crews & Tree Contract Crews Working for the District)

Clearance Procedures

These are the methods to obtain a clearance at the District:

• Issued through a System Operator (above 601 volts A/C). See Exceptions
• See Generation Facilities Section
• Field Clearance (See Field Clearance Section)

The System Operator shall issue a clearance before work can begin on a de-energized line, cable, station, or piece of equipment that is under their control. This shall include clearance points needed on District lines, cables, or pieces of equipment under ECC authority to allow a District employee/worker to establish a clearance.

Clearance points must provide a visual open and be rendered inoperable if applicable. Examples of acceptable clearance points are manually operated switches, racked-out circuit breakers and elbows on stand-offs, etc.

Emergency or Major Outage Events

When Mutual Aid/Contract crews work on a line, cable, station, or equipment on the District’s electric system during emergencies (such as storms or other disaster damage restoration), they shall be assigned a District Crew Guide who shall remain at the job site throughout the entire period of the work. The Crew Guide or other District employee/worker shall provide radio contact with the Energy Control Center so clearances can be issued directly to the employee/worker performing the work. This clearance shall be issued in accordance with District Procedure.

When District crews work on a line, cable, station, or equipment of a foreign utility they shall receive a clearance in accordance with the foreign utility’s procedure.

Clearance and Hot Line Hold Requests with Foreign Utilities (i.e. PSE, BPA, SCL, etc.)

Requirements

• 48 hour notice is required for Hot Line Hold requests
• For all transmission and distribution requests see Section A

Interconnections cleared for work performed by an employee/worker of foreign utility or District Generation Facility shall be tagged with a Master Safety Card at the District’s clearance terminal point(s) for the foreign utility’s System Operator or District Generation LO/TO Coordinator.

Similarly, when an interconnection is cleared for work to be done by a District employee/worker other than District Generation employee/workers, the foreign terminal shall be tagged for the District’s System Operator and the District’s clearance point(s) shall be tagged for the District employee/worker requesting the clearance.

ECC will arrange with line construction for a District clearance holder. Clearance points will be tagged with a Master Safety Card for the District’s clearance holder requesting the clearance.

Any work required on the District system will be done by the District. The District’s clearance holder will offer to meet on site with the foreign utility's employee worker to review the limits of the clearance. The District’s clearance holder will be on site while work is being performed that could impact the section under clearance.

ECC will arrange to have the necessary device(s) tagged with a Hot Line Hold card for the foreign utility dispatcher making the request. The ECD would then issue the Hot Line Hold to the foreign utility dispatcher. Their dispatcher would then issue Hot Line Hold to their employee/worker. Weather and other external conditions may influence the ability to issue clearance and/or Hot Line Hold on the District’s electric system.

Disclaimer: This does not include crews from other utilities working for the District.

Conditions and Requirements for Working Under a Clearance

The System Operator shall record all switching steps pertaining to the clearance before issuing the clearance to the employee/worker.

The System Operator shall not issue clearances on lines, cables, stations, and equipment until satisfactory communications have been established. The employee/worker who shall do the switching and receive the clearance shall establish communications with the System Operator either by radio or designated telephone lines. The radio shall serve as the principal communication media for all clearances and switching. The telephone shall be used only as a backup system when the radio is not working at the job site. Both the radio and telephone used for this purpose shall be recorded.

At the beginning of the work, the System Operator shall order all appropriate devices opened and tagged with a Master Safety Card. Group or gang operated switch(es) shall also be locked open if lockable or rendered inoperative unless it doesn’t so permit.

Whenever a line or equipment is de-energized for safety, no employee/worker shall proceed to work until the employee/worker in charge of the work has identified, isolated, and obtained a clearance from the System Operator having jurisdiction (Exception: See Field Clearance Section). All lines and equipment shall be considered energized unless tested and grounded. See WAC 296-45-345 and 355. At the clearance points, all switching devices shall be rendered inoperative unless its design does not permit.

If, while executing a Switching Order to obtain a clearance, the System Operator or Employee/Worker has reason to believe that any further switching would be improper, the System Operator shall, at that point, stop the switching, resolve the issue and/or report the event(s) to the immediate supervisor/lead, if necessary.

When executing a Switching Order to obtain a clearance, if a switch is found to be in a position other than that specified in the order, the switching shall stop and no further switching shall be done until the System Operator approves the continuation of the Switching Order.

Conditions and Requirements for Releasing a Clearance

The System Operator shall not accept the release of a clearance from anyone but the employee/worker who received the clearance, except as stated below.

When the work is completed, the grounds shall be removed and the line(s), cable(s), station(s), and equipment should be returned to the original status, prior to releasing the clearance. This does not include clearance point(s). The employee/worker holding the clearance shall notify the System Operator that all the workers are clear of line(s), cable(s), station(s), or equipment; all ground connections have been removed, and shall report the status of any additions or changes that would affect the operation of the system. This act shall be known as “releasing the clearance” to the System Operator.

If the employee/worker who received the clearance must leave the job for another employee/worker to complete, the employee/worker leaving shall explain the circumstances and current job status in detail to the System Operator and release their clearance. The employee/worker who continues the work shall secure a clearance from the System Operator in their own name before work is resumed. See WAC 296-45-335 (9).

Exception: When it is determined by the ECD that a clearance needs to be released and the employee/worker holding the clearance is not at work, that clearance may be released under the following conditions:

The System Operator or the employee’s supervisor shall attempt to contact the clearance holder. If contact is made and the clearance holder is able, they shall be requested to report to work and take the necessary steps to release the clearance.

If the clearance holder is contacted, but is unable to report to work, the System Operator shall be able to issue a new clearance to another employee/worker, if grounds are still in place or if additional work would be required to release the clearance.

If the grounds are removed and no additional work is required to release the clearance, the clearance holder shall inform the System Operator of the required information to release their clearance and then release their clearance over the recorded ECC phone line from home.

If the clearance holder cannot be contacted, the next available qualified supervisor who is familiar with the work can release the clearance over the District radio after going on site to visually verify that all work is completed, all personnel are in the clear, all grounds have been removed and is ready to be energized. The supervisor would also need to know if any changes have been made that would impact the system and report any changes to the System Operator when releasing the clearance. If the supervisor is not electrically qualified, they will be required to attain an electrically qualified worker to do an assessment of the site to visually verify that all work is completed, all personnel are in the clear, all grounds have been removed and is ready to be energized.

If the qualified supervisor determines that grounds are in place or work must be done before the clearance can be released, the qualified supervisor shall work with the System Operator to get the necessary personnel to conduct the work. The System Operator shall issue a new clearance to the new clearance holder who shall perform the work. The supervisor can then release the original clearance to the System Operator over the District radio.

The supervisor is also required to ensure that the original clearance holder is informed, upon return, that their clearance was released.

Multiple Clearances

If it becomes necessary for two or more crews to work independently on the same line section or equipment, the lead employee/worker on each crew needing to work under a clearance shall take their own clearance. In all cases where multiple clearance holders hold the same clearance points, the System Operator shall attempt to notify each known clearance holder, if conditions permit.

If two or more crews are working together on the same line section or equipment, one of the lead employee/workers can hold the clearance for all crews. The clearance holder shall conduct a single job briefing with all employee/workers involved before starting work. The lead employee/worker holding the clearance shall be on site where and while the work is being performed on the line section or equipment under the clearance.

In the case of multiple clearance holders sharing grounds, if it becomes necessary to release one of the clearances with the common grounds still in place, then the employee/worker releasing their clearance shall report that the common grounds are still in place and being used by other clearance holders. The last employee/worker releasing their clearance shall be on site and verify that all personnel and equipment are in the clear and that the grounds have been removed. See WAC 296-45-335 (10).

Clearances can be issued with a common clearance point, provided that point is not being worked on. A clearance can be issued within a clearance; however, overlapping clearances shall not be permitted at any time.

For the purpose of extending, reducing, or transferring a clearance with grounds in place, the existing clearance shall stay in place until the new clearance is issued. The grounds shall be inside the new clearance. After the new clearance is issued, the old clearance shall then be released. Employee/Workers and equipment shall be in the clear during this process.

Exception:

Multiple clearances shall not be issued on a Snohomish PUD 115kV line when the section of line between personal protective grounds is running parallel (in a transmission corridor) to another utility’s line that is energized at 115kV or above for more than 2,640 feet (1/2 mile).

Multiple clearances shall not be issued on a Snohomish PUD 115kV line when the section of line between personal protective grounds is running parallel (in a transmission corridor) to another Snohomish PUD energized 115kV line for more than 15,840 feet (3 miles).

See Appendix I for detailed information.

Clearance Process

This process describes how to obtain and release a clearance from the Energy Control Center. See WAC 296-45-335 for reference.

For Generation Facilities, see “Clearance Procedures in Generation Facilities” section.

New Construction

New construction shall become part of the electric system and a clearance shall be required when work is completed to a point where cables or lines could become intentionally energized; for example, connected primary neutrals, rolled back jumpers, cutouts, switches, elbows with connected primary neutrals, etc. Elbows without connected primary neutrals are not considered switchable devices.

Grounds may be installed on new construction without a clearance, provided it does not meet any of the above conditions.

Islanding Substations

A substation is considered “islanded” when all lines and cables have been completely removed from the termination point on poles, structures or vaults and no source of energization is present from the electric system (including neutral conductors). When a substation is islanded, it is no longer considered part of the electric system, no clearances are required and grounds may be applied. If energized conductors on poles run above the substation, the substation can still be “islanded” as long as the minimum approach distances from WAC 296-155-428 are maintained for non-electrically qualified workers performing tasks inside the substation fence.

Special Condition Clearance

To be used for unique situations and not during storm restoration. A Special Condition Clearance shall be defined as one that involves a clearance on less than all phases of any line.

1. The employee/worker in charge shall be fully aware of the circuit configuration in the area to be worked and request a clearance from the Energy Control Center.
2. All load shall be transferred from the phases to be worked on; and the employee/worker in charge shall ensure that there are no other possible sources of energization.
3. All employee/workers shall be made fully aware of which line(s) will be worked on and which line(s) will remain energized.
4. The System Operator shall issue the Special Condition Clearance. Tagging of the device(s) shall include the Master Safety Card(s) and an Abnormal Condition Card(s) that clearly details the specific clearance being issued.
5. Both the Master Safety Card(s) and the Abnormal Condition Card(s) shall be placed in such a manner that both are visible at all times.

Clearance Procedures for Line Clearance Tree Trimmers

Tree Trimmers requiring clearances on District lines and equipment shall follow these procedures for work performed in accordance with WAC 296-45-335 and 455.

NOTE: Tree Trimmers shall always treat the conductor or equipment as ENERGIZED unless equal potential grounding is in place or protective equipment is used to insulate the employee/worker. Safe working distances shall be observed in accordance with tables 1, 4,and 5. See WAC 296-45-455.

Clearance Process for Line Clearance Tree Trimmers

This process describes how to obtain and release a clearance for Tree Trimmers.