A shortage of qualified electricians certified as competent exists for the US Gulf of Mexico, according to hazardous area inspection and certification experts.
Ensuring that oil and gas workers employed in hazardous areas are competent to perform electrical work correctly on U.S. Gulf of Mexico offshore rigs, production facilities and vessels – and ensuring that facilities, equipment and products meet electrical standards for the U.S. Gulf – is a critical aspect of the offshore oil and gas industry.
Companies operating oil and gas facilities on the Outer Continental Shelf of the United States are required to develop and implement a Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) program and consequently competency has become an industry imperative . This includes not only the competency of workers, but ensuring that equipment designed and manufactured for use offshore meets the requirements for potentially explosive environments, according to industry experts who specialize in training and certification of electrical workers and equipment for hazardous areas in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
In many countries worldwide, would-be electricians must undergo formal training through programs such as a two-year associates’ degree and an apprenticeship program to ensure that their knowledge and skills meet industry standards. In the United States, in many cases, workers laboring as electricians in the offshore oil and gas industry have learned about being electricians primarily through on-the-job experience, said Yalda Jam, business unit leader for training at OCS Group, in an interview with Rigzone.
Formal training does exist for journeymen electricians, but OCS has found non-formal training to be more common in the United States for electrical workers offshore, Jam noted. Both ATEC Training and Certification Services and OCS Group provide engineering, electrical and safety-related services to the international oil and gas industry and other industrial markets, including commissioning for drilling rigs, floating production storage and offloading vessels, fixed platforms and refineries, hazardous area inspections and personnel competency based training for hazardous areas.
“Workers in the Gulf of Mexico must undergo certifications and training for rescue operations in order to work offshore. However, no government-mandated assessment exists to test the competency of workers who perform electrical work in hazardous areas,” Brian Duffy, general manager with ATEC Training and Certification Services, told Rigzone.
The industry is seeing high demand for qualified electrical workers – from laborers to chief engineers and supervisors running these operations in the Gulf of Mexico – due to the influx of rigs coming to the Gulf. Many of these rigs are constructed in areas outside of the United States, where International Electrical Code standards are followed in construction.
ATEC officials report seeing the need for competent personnel to perform electrical inspections on vessels entering the U.S. Gulf – irrespective of where it was built – and to update electrical wiring and equipment on vessels to ensure they meet U.S. electrical standards.
Rigs and other offshore equipment built in Europe historically have followed IEC standards; these standards have become more universal, while the United States is starting to adopt IEC standards, the process is slow.
“The U.S. Coast Guard recently issued an NPRM [Notice of Proposed Rule Making], which proposed more stringent regulations with regards to the allowable use of IECEx and ATEX certified equipment. Industry has recently responded and the Coast Guard is now reviewing those responses,” said Duffy.
NEC 500, a chapter of the National Electrical Code, breaks down hazardous locations – or sites where fire or explosion hazards may exist due to flammable gases, flammable liquid-produced vapors, combustible liquid produced vapors, dust or ignitable fibers – by classes, groups and divisions.
In 1996, NEC updated the code with NEC 505, intended to serve as a bridge between NEC and IEC standards in terms of harmonizing the terminology used in both. NEC 505 also included standards for hazardous areas and offshore.
Two years ago, one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world approached JT Limited and ATEC about designing a competency course for electrical work in hazardous areas focused on the U.S. standards.
Working closely with JT Limited in the UK (the CompEx scheme owner), an industry working group developed the CompEx NEC 505 Hazardous Area Installation Competency Course and it is currently only available in the United States through ATEC.
The NEC 505 course offers competency-based assessment for explosion principles, gas properties and hazards; standards, certification and marking; protection concepts and installation techniques; wiring systems, enclosure entries, and cable gland selection and installation; sources of ignition; and hands-on installation and inspection.
Students in the CompEx Hazardous Area Course learn about explosion principles, gas properties and hazards; standards, certification and marking; protection concepts and installation techniques; combined types of protection; wiring systems, enclosure entries and cable gland selection and installation; inspection and maintenance of equipment to IEC standards; ignition sources; and hands-on installation and inspection.
In these courses, students are given an overview of CE marking procedures and briefs on the most common Directives, and includes a practical knowledge of explosion principles, zoning practices, equipment markings, and protection schemes for gas and dust environments, as well as a discussion on the relationship between different electrical standards.
Courses are also available in hazardous area design, cable glanding, and general electrical installation practices. These courses offer hands-on training and assessment in a realistic environment.
“At this point, the drive towards competency remains largely optional and not industry mandated,” Duffy commented.
He added that ATEC and OCS are trying to improve operational safety in the industry with their focus on competency. Duffy noted that ATEC has also been asked by some oil and gas companies to assist in designing training programs for electrical work through some universities in Texas.
ATEC is developing an online pre-course for the IEC CompEx and U.S. NEC CompEx courses to provide a basic understanding of electrical work principles in hazardous areas. Industry feedback has been positive about the need and benefits of such a course. Getting companies to understand the need of ensuring the competency of workers and equipment design and manufacturing can be a challenge, ATEC officials noted.
While larger corporations understand and are building such requirements into their documented processes that demonstrates competency of their workers, many smaller companies have not adopted these principles largely because it hasn’t been communicated to them as a requirement. ATEC officials note that they are starting to see students coming through courses to meet contractual requirements with large majors and service companies. Smaller companies wanting to bid on contracts for larger companies are more likely to be selected if they have the documentation showing their workers’ competency has been assessed, Duffy noted.
“It’s important that it’s becoming standardized so everyone has a basic level of competency,” said Jam.
With few training centers for competency in electrical work, OCS and ATEC are seeing a large number of clients sending their workers from other countries to Houston for training.
The shortage of competent electricians who have been properly instructed on working in hazardous areas poses a safety issue offshore, given the potentially explosive areas found on rigs.
“You have to make sure the people you’re working with know what type of equipment is supposed to be in what zones. If equipment is in the wrong place and certain gases are released, everybody is at risk,” Jam noted.
Training in electrical competency can give electrical staff the ability to identify and address the smallest issues by training them how to do installations and inspect equipment.
Competency in training to ensure safety has become even more critical following the 2010 DeepwaterHorizon disaster. The incident prompted the U.S. government and the oil and gas industry to implement new regulations and to push for confirming the competency of workers on offshore facilities, say officials with both companies.
ATEC officials have found workers who come through their courses – in some cases, workers with decades of industry experience – are not aware of their true competency skills to work in or design equipment for hazardous areas. In many cases, when students review the standards, and the requirements they are surprised to find out that what they’ve been doing, sometimes for many years, is wrong, not only in installation work for hazardous areas, but understanding electrical markings on equipment. Without proper training and instruction, looking at markings on electrical equipment can be like trying to decipher hieroglyphics.
“It’s critical for personnel to understand the design, manufacture, procurement, installation and maintenance of electrical equipment in Hazardous Areas. Equipment must also must be designed and manufactured to meet the standards of the areas in which they will operate,” Duffy noted.
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