Definition
A pre-job briefing (sometimes called a “tailgate meeting”) is a meeting which informs all workers of the job requirements. In particular a pre-job briefing is used to alert workers to potential safety hazards. A pre-job briefing need not be a formal gathering; however, it is mandatory that all workers involved attend, and worker attendance should be documented.
What Should Be Included?
OSHA rules require that a pre-job briefing discuss, at a minimum, the following issues:
● Special precautions to be taken
● Hazards associated with the job ● Energy control procedures
● Procedures and Policies ● Personal Protective Equipment
Note that the first letters of each of these bulleted items form the acronym SHEPP, which can be used to help remember the important issues that need to be discussed.
Pre-job briefings should be proactive meetings in which workers are informally quizzed to make certain that they fully understand the safety issues that they will face.
When Should Pre-Job Briefings Be Held?
● At the beginning of each shift
● At the beginning of any new job ● Any time that job conditions change
● When new personnel are introduced to an ongoing job
ENERGIZED OR DE-ENERGIZED?
The Fundamental Rules
All regulatory standards are quite clear in their requirements to de-energize a circuit before employees work on or near it. Stated simply:
All circuits and components to which employees may be exposed should be de- energized before work begins.
3.4 CHAPTER THREE Start 1. 2. 3. Yes Yes Yes Yes NO NO NO NO Will this work expose the worker to
energized part over 50 volts?
Work is de- energized.
Proceed
Circuits of less than 50 volts to ground may generally be considered as de-energized. If the circuit has high arcing potential, answer #1 as “Yes.”
Will additional hazards (see list) be
introduced by de- energizing?
Would the de- energization require a
major shutdown?
Does the nature of the work require energization? (See
examples)
STOP!! The circuits MUST be de-energized for
this work!!! NO NO 4. 5. Yes Can the work be rescheduled to a later
time when it can be performed de-
energized?
Can the work be performed safely using safety-related work
procedures? 6.
STOP!! Schedule the work for later
Yes
Proceed with caution
FIGURE 3.1 Hot-work flow chart.
A few basic points will clarify this requirement:
● Production or loss of production is never an acceptable, sole reason to work on or near
an energized circuit.
● Work that can be rescheduled to be done de-energized, should be rescheduled.
● De-energized troubleshooting is always preferred over energized troubleshooting. ● The qualified employee doing the work, must always make the final decision as to whether
the circuit is to be de-energized. Such a decision must be free of any repercussions from supervision and management.
SAFETY PROCEDURES AND METHODS 3.5
A Hot-Work Decision Tree
Figure 3.1 illustrates a method that may be used to determine the need to work on a circuit when it is energized. The numbers in the following explanation refer to the numbers assigned to each of the decision blocks shown in Fig. 3.1.
1. Work performed on or near circuits of less than 50 V to ground may usually be consid-
ered to be de-energized work. Note that if the circuit has high arcing capability, decision 1 should be answered as a “Yes.”
2. If de-energizing simply changes the hazard from one type to another, or if it actually
increases the degree of hazard. This decision should be answered “Yes.” Table 3.2 lists the types of additional hazards that should be considered in answering this decision.
3. The need to keep production up is common to all industries—manufacturing, petrochem-
ical, mining, steel, aluminum, and electrical power systems. However, many employers abuse the concept that “production must continue.” The following points should clarify when production issues may be allowed to influence the decision to de-energize.
a. Shutdown of a continuous process that will add extraordinary collateral costs may be
a signal to work on the circuit energized. Table 3.3 lists examples of these types of collateral costs.
b. Shutdown of a simple system which does not introduce the types of problems identi-
fied in Table 3.3 should always be undertaken rather than allowing energized work.
4. In some cases, the very nature of the work or the equipment requires that the circuit remain
energized. Table 3.4 shows three of the most common examples of such work. Note, how- ever that this work should still be de-energized if it is possible to do it that way. For exam- ple, troubleshooting a motor starter may be faster with the circuit energized; however, if it can be done de-energized it should be, even at the cost of a little more time.
5. If decisions 2 or 3 lead in the direction of energized work, the next decision should be
rescheduling. If energized work can be done de-energized on a different shift or at a later time, it should be postponed. Many companies miss this elegantly simple alternative to exposing their personnel to hazardous electrical energy.
6. The final, and arguably the most important, decision of all is to determine whether the
work can be done safely. If, in the opinion of the qualified personnel assessing the job, the work is simply too dangerous to do with the circuits energized, then it must be de- energized.
TABLE 3.2 Examples of Additional Hazards • Interruption of life-support systems • Deactivation of emergency alarms
• Shutdown of ventilation to hazardous locations • Removal of illumination from the work area
TABLE 3.3 Examples of Collateral Costs that May Justify Energized Work • Excessive restart times in continuous process systems
• High product loss costs (in polyethylene process, for example, the product has to be physically dug out of process equipment after an unscheduled outage)
3.6 CHAPTER THREE
After the Decision Is Made
If the work must be done energized, all employees who work on or near energized conduc- tors must be qualified to do the work, must use appropriate personal protective equipment, and must use appropriate safety-related work practices.
If the circuits are to be de-energized, the steps listed in Table 3.5 must be followed. Note that proper, safe procedures for each of the items in Table 3.5 are discussed later in this chapter.