1.

Introduction:

Electrical hazards continue to threaten safety of people in the form of shocks,

burns, injury, fire and explosion besides loss of property. With electricity
having become an indispensable part of our life, electrical risks are to be
managed effectively. The importance of giving highest priority on electrical
safety is nevertheless understood by the noble saying that Electricity is a good
slave but a bad master.
One of the important pre-requisite of safe management of electricity is to
ensure that the electrical installations are installed and maintained as per the
mandated by various governing regulatory Acts and Codes besides the
recommended safe engineering practices. The other requisite is to ensure part
that electrically operated gadgets, devices and equipment are connected and
used in a manner they are meant for.
M/s. UCO Bank had desired to have an electrical safety audit carried out at its
zonal office in Chennai. Accordingly it had invited Tebodin Consultants &
Engineers India Pvt Ltd., (hereinafter referred to as TIN) to conduct the
electrical safety audit.
In terms of the work order No. ZO/GAD/SEC/94/2014-15 dated 10/01/2015
placed by M/s. UCO Bank, TIN had carried out the electrical safety audit of the
Zonal office of m/s. UCO bank at Chennai.
This report narrates in brief the electrical safety audit plan, the observations
made at site during the time of electrical safety audit, the measurements that
were carried at site during the conduct of the safety audit and finally the
recommendations for addressing those safety issues.
2.0

Brief Details of audit

Name and Address Date(s)

of the building that which
was

subjected

to electrical

on Name

and Name

of

the Designation of the auditees

person(s) who had carried

the

TIN

who

had

out

the

electrical

safety safety

audit

M/s.

UCO

ZONAL
No.328,

audit represented

UCO electrical

was

bank

during

conducted

audit schedules

the audit

BANK,

Ramesh Narayanan,

Jan Mr.Rama
OFFICE, 14th
Mahendra Rao,
Thambu 2015 and

Chetty

Street,

Chennai 600 001,

safety

Chief Safety
Officer

India

Project Manager &

Lead Auditor
Anandan E, Lead
Auditor
Sridharan L,
Auditor
Auditing support
staff 3 Members
( Lux level
measurement,
Electrician & Helper
)

3.0

Methodology of conduct of Electrical Safety Audit

The audit plan was structured in the following manner

Pre- audit phase
o Pre-Audit Coordination Meeting
o Audit plan
Audit Phase
o
o
o
o

Physical Inspection
Conducting Test and Measurement
Discussion with Safety & Electrical personnel
Examination & Review of Records/ Document

Post Audit Phase

o Electrical Safety Audit Report Submission

o Review Meeting with Management
Pre-audit co-ordination meeting
Prior to the commencement of electrical safety audit, a brief meeting was
held with the concerned officials of m/s. UCO bank to understand more
details about the premises at which the audit was scheduled and to
ascertain the as built and as is where is information about the
electrical infrastructures / installations available in that premises.
Brief Details about the building, the existing electrical infrastructure and
facilities in this building.
The Zonal Office building is a six storied building comprising of the
following
Floor
Ground Floor

Brief Description of the usage of the floor

Main Electrical Switch room, Transformer

First Floor
Second Floor

Room, Panel room and lift lobby

Cash room, record room and bank operations
Zonal managers cabin, credit and recovery

Third Floor
Fourth Floor

departments
UPS room, Office area
Retail Loan section, computer centre,, general

Fifth floor
Sixth floor

office
Trainees hostel, dining hall, doctors room
RTC Principals cabin, class room, conference
room, faculty room

Brief details of the existing electrical infrastructure

Incoming power supply from EB
HT service connection No.
Installed capacity of Transformer

11 kV
2072
1 x 500 kVA, 11/0.415 kV, Oil filled

type
RMU with Oil switch in incoming

Type of HT breaker

and outgoing side and Oil circuit

Date of installation of HT panel
Installed capacity of DG set

breaker in the Tee off

09/12/1970
1 x 250 kVA with acoustic enclosure

Audit phase
Audit Objectives
The key focus of the electrical safety audit were as below:

Assessment
Assessment
Assessment
Assessment
Assessment
Assessment
Assessment
Assessment
Assessment

of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of

electrical panel room

Earthing system
Diesel Generating Set
electric circuit
lighting protection system
Air conditioning system
UPS
Pump
luminaries/ light fittings

The audit team was equipped with the following instruments

Clip on type tong tester

Earth Megger
Insulation Megger
Lux Meter
Decibel Meter
Necessary PPE

Based on the details collected during the pre-audit meeting, the available
electrical system was studied in depth and key nodes were identified for the
purpose of carrying out measurements of electrical parameters.
Audit findings in brief
Assessment of Electrical Panel room

HT Switchgear Room Utility Breaker

The HT switchgear room is located in the ground floor of the building.
The HT incoming supply is received through an Ring Main Unit (RMU)
belonging to TANGEDCO. This RMU consist of two Nos. Oil switches and One
No. Oil circuit Breaker in the Tee off.
The observations made on this HT switchgear panel belonging to TANGEDCO is
as below

The RMU has been installed way back in 1970 i.e., about 45 years ago

and has outlived its useful service life.

The fault rating of this switchgear is only 250 MVA at 11 kV, whereas the

present requirements are above 350 MVA at grid level.

The incomer oil switch from the HT 11 kV DP structure appears to have
been not holding and the handle has been provided with a stick to hold
the operating lever in position, which is highly not an acceptable practice
from electrical safety point of view

Operating handle of the HT

oil switch held in ON
position
by means of a
o None of the protective relays appeared to
be functional.
stick

o The oil has been changed many years ago

HT Switchgear Room Consumer Breaker

The consumer side breaker is again an age old HT oil switch with fuse.
o Considerable oil spill was evident on the floor. This implies that the
oil is leaking though the joints or elsewhere from the oil tank.
There is a very much possibility that this oil leak can lead to
reduction in oil level in the switchgear tank and this can lead to
serious arcing and explosion hazard during fault interruption

Oil spill on floor

Narrow,
congested
poorly

and

o The switchgear is located in a not an easily approachable /

inconspicuous location. Further the area is also very poorly
illuminated. This is likely to result in time delay in switching OFF
the breaker during emergencies.

o The ratings of the fuse elements are not legible and given the age of
the installation the fuses should have deteriorated.
o The rupturing capacity of the fuse element is not evident.
Transformer room
o The transformer room is located adjacent to the HT switchgear
room in the ground floor of the premises.
o The 11000 / 415 Volts transformer is oil filled type and is
installed during 1970 and has outlived its codal life.
o Considerable oil spill / leak is observed from various part of
the transformer tank / tap changing box / cable termination
box etc., which indicates the poor health condition of the
transformer.

o Being a transformer of yester years specification, it is

considered that the oil being used will not be Polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) free. The PCB are toxic in nature and as per
the latest codal provisions, the transformer oil should be PCB
free version.
o As per the recent norms / guidelines, the transformer located
in the basement portion of such high rose buildings shall be of
oil free i.e., Dry type
o The tap changing available on the transformer is an OFF loa
version which implies that the tap changing should be done
when the transformer is switched OFF. It is observed that the
tap changer available in the transformer is not provide with
any mechanical or electrical interlock to ensure that the tap
changing can be done only when the transformer is put OFF.
In the absence of any such mechanical / electrical interlock
on this tap changer, any inadvertent operation or any
miscreant operation without putting OFF the transformer can
lead to huge flashover and bursting of transformer leading to
unimaginable catastrophic situation.

Oil spill
leaks

o The burnt oil drain line at the bottom of the transformer tank is
seen directly connected to the normal drain, which is not correct.
The oil should be drained into an oil soak pit instead of directly
being discharged to a normal drain. There is very much probability
that the oil in flame can float around the top layer of the water and
spread the flame.
o Secondly this is also against the Pollution control norms.
Burnt
oil
drain
pipe
discharging into drain

directly

Assessment of Earthing System

o Though earth strips are found laid and connected from the metallic
frames of switchgear panel, transformer etc., the earth pits by itself for
the HT / LT installations are not traceable at site.
o It obviously implies that the earthing system is not being maintained as
per IE rules.
o Only the earth pits for the DG set are available at site.

o The inspection of these earth pits revealed that the earth electrodes
and earth interconnecting flats / strips have also been highly corroded.
o The bolts and nuts in the earthing termination are also highly
corroded.

Highly corroded earth

electrode

Earth electrode
traceable

Earth flats highly

corroded

The existing earthing system was observed to be ineffective.

not

Assessment of DG set
The backup power supply requirement for this building is achieved by means of
a 250 KVA emergency DG set. This DG set is located outside the building close
to car parking area.
One the day of audit it was observed that this DG set was running even though
utility supply was available. When enquired it came to be known that though
the installed capacity of the transformer was 500 kVA, the contracted
maximum demand is only 250 kVA. Further, the permitted demand is still
lower than the contracted demand. Hence, in order to ensure that the
consumed demand does not exceed the permitted maximum demand, this DG
set was also being used as PEAK LOAD SHAVING purpose i.e., it is being used
to meet the additional electrical load of AC plants.
It was also observed that this DG set is being operated for about 6 hours every
day and more hours during summer months as this DG set primarily supports
AC plants.
Though the practice of using DG set for Peak Load shaving is a general
procedure prevailing in HT consumers, but such practices are restricted to
absolute minimum as the per unit energy cost for a DG set is almost twice that
available from utility.
The output power of this DG set is terminated on to a manual change-over
switch. It is observed this change over switch is only an OFF LOAD type i.e., a
switch which is not meant to be operated when load current is flowing through
and should be operated only after ensuring that the loads connected to it are
switched OFF and no current is flowing through the switch.
However, it was observed that this change over switch is being used an ON
LOAD change over switch i.e., it is being operated with the LOAD ON, which is
strictly prohibited and extremely dangerous. When enquired it was stated by
the DG set operator that the existing switchgears in the main panel are of
obsolete type and many often do not work.

Secondly it was observed that the cable terminations at this the change-over
switch board was shabby. It was also observed that cable looping was done at
the bus side, which is totally not acceptable.
The earth fault relay in the DG panel was also observed to be non-functional

Cables haphazardly terminated and lopped in the change

over panel board

Thirdly, it was also observed that the cables from the DG set were protruding
into the car parking and maneuvering area. There is a very high probability
that this cable can entangle to the bumper of any of the car and get pulled out.
This will lead to a very dangerous situation and can lead to unimaginable
catastrophes.

Cables protruding in the carpark area

Assessment of Electric Circuit

The LT 415 Volts power supply from the secondary side of the transformer is
terminated in a main LT panel. This panel has also been installed way back in
the year 1970.
The incomer in this main LT panel is an LT Oil Circuit Breaker

This OCB is an horizontal drawout type

This OCB is provided with dash pot type (oil filled) over current relays. These
dash pot type relays are the obsolete version of the protective relay family as on
date. A closer look revealed that these relays were not functioning and the trip
settings were totally irrelevant. Thus, the transformer is not protected against
short circuit and earth faults.
This main panel is also observed to have lost its design integrity as it is
observed that this has undergone additions / alterations on piece meal basis.
The outgoing feeder switches are also of SFU type which again is significantly
obsolete when compared to the present option of SDFs with two breaks per
pole.

Switches added in the Main

LT panel with tapping from
main bus-bars

.
The 415 Volts LV power supply is further distributed from the main LT panel to
an auxiliary panel board. In addition to this auxiliary LV panel several switches
were observed to have been mounted on the walls of the switch room. The
cables to these switches and as well as the cables from these switches to the
loads were also observed to have been run haphazardly manner. The cable
terminations are also not done in correct manner. Such cabling and
terminating methods can give rise to totally unsafe condition.

Switches added in the LT switch room wall

with improper cable termination and tapping
methods from main panel

Electrical Switch room (earlier AC plant room)

The 415 Volts LT power distribution from the main LT panel in the main LT
switch room is also fed to a host of auxiliary panels available in the erstwhile

AC Plant room. Here again it was observed that the panel room was totally in a
mess with cluster of panels, most of them dysfunctional.
Most of the electrical connections were precariously done and dangling across
the length and breadth of the LT panels.
The cable terminations were observed to have been made in a totally
unacceptable manner.

Switches added in the LT panel in AC plant room with

improper cable termination and tapping methods
from main panel

Electric circuit cabling in various floors

The insulation values of the feeder cabling were randomly measured. By and
large the values were within the permissible limits.
The Panel boards for power distribution inside the floors of the premises were
also verified for any glaring safety gaps. The panel boards were also checked for
the balance of load distribution in the three phases. The voltages at the
incoming and outgoing terminals of these panel boards were also measured.
The availability, adequacy and the rigidness of earth connection / termination
in these panel boards was then examined. It was observed that in most of the
panel boards, only one earth wire was found terminated. As per the Indian
Electricity Rules, every panel board should be earthed with two independent
earth connections.

Typical floor power distribution board

Assessment of Lightning Protection System

As per IS the buildings needs to be protected against lightning strike in
accordance with the risk assessment for that building category. The risk
assessment considers the height of the building, its location, its purpose, the
number of people expected to be available inside that building etc.,
By all probability it is certain that this building does need a Lightning
Protection System.
It was understood that the lightning spike was installed many years ago in this
building. It was observed that no lightning protection system is available as on
date in this building. Hence, it is strongly recommended to immediately provide
a lightning protection system for this building.
Assessment of Air-conditioning system
The office space in various floors have been provided with a mixture of DX type
air-conditioning units comprising of

Window type AC units

Split Type AC units
VRF type AC units
The currents drawn by various AC units were randomly measured. It was
observed that all the AC units were taking current in the reasonable variation
range. However, it was observed that the filters of many of the AC units were
clogged, which causes ice formation at the evaporator coils leading to lesser
efficiency.
It was also observed that in some of the rooms the air flow from the AC plants
were blocked by physical obstructions in its path like curtains, cupboards /
cabinets, file racks etc.,, Such blocking of air flow path will lead to short cycling
of the cool air and this inturn result in poor efficiency of AC units, besides
causing strain on the unit.
It was also observed that in many of the floors, the power socket outlet and the
voltage stabilizer have been mounted in a clustered manner, mostly near the
stairways. Though this might offer a centralized access / control to various AC
units located in that floor, it is observed that running small size individual
power cables on longer runs will lead to higher voltage drop than leading a
bigger size cable. Hence, there is a need for redistribution of AC plant load in a
manner so as to have final branch circuits with smaller size conductors as
close to the AC unit location.

Typical clustered arrangement of power sockets and voltage

stabilizers for AC plants

Non- weather proof MCB enclosures used near

outdoor AC units

Assessment of UPS
The power backup to data servers, work-stations and associated passive
networking and communication devices have been achieved by host of smaller
rated UPS spread across various floors. All these UPS are under Annual
Maintenance Contract with a external agency.
All the UPS rooms were inspected and glaring unsafe practices were observed
as below
o The batteries were both of Vented Type Lead Acid (VLA) and as well as
Valve Regulated Lead Acid type (VRLA).
o The battery and the UPS were located in the same room.
o The UPS cum battery room were poorly ventilated.
o Many of the batteries were observed with passification due to reaction of
hydrogen crystals and sulphuric acid in the batteries. Continuation of
such condition is likely to lead to further corrosion of the battery
terminals leading to loosening of cable terminations. This inturn can lead
to sparking and flashover leading to fire accident.

o The inter-cell connectors between battery banks were dangling and

running crisscross the floor.
o No battery breakers are available near the battery bank. Such battery
circuit breakers are essential to safeguard against short circuit.
o The battery surfaces were totally filled with dust which implies very poor
maintenance.
o None of the UPS rooms were observed to be provided any passive smoke
detection and alarm devices nor fire suppression devices.
o None of the UPS rooms were provided with any hydrogen gas
concentration sensors.

UPS batteries stacked in floor without battery racks

UPS battery inter-cell connections improper
No Battery breaker available near the battery bank

MCB DB wiring left exposed in UPS room

The Flooded or Vented Lead Acid batteries give off hydrogen and oxygen gas.
The hydrogen gas being lighter rises to the top most point like ceilings and
other enclosed space. If the battery room does not have good ventilation then
the hydrogen gas concentration builds up. A 4 % concentration in the air forms
an explosive mixture. The institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE) have defined the permissible of Hydrogen gas concentration. As per
IEEE recommendations, the maximum permissible concentration of hydrogen
gas is only 1 %. Thus all the UPS battery rooms need to be provided with
adequate mechanical forced ventilation. The guideline given by m/s. Exide for
hourly air exchange volume as below
Q = 0.05 X n x I (Cu.mtr/hr); where
Q = Air volume required for the room
n = No. of cells and
I = Value of the current.

Assessment of Pumps
Presently the Metro water is being received into a underground main sump.
From the main sump, the water is being pumped into a secondary sump and
then to overhead tank.
Pump room No.1

The primary pump is a jet pump located near the compound wall abetting
the road.

This pump room is shabbily maintained.

The name plate of the pumpset is not available / defaced due to

ageing
The pump starter is mounted in an inconvenient position inside this

pump room.
No guard is available for the Vee Belt.
The motor pulley has considerably worn out
No body earth connection is available for the pumpset.
The wiring / cabling is precarious

Pump room No.2

This pump room is located at the side of the main building.

This pump room is shabbily maintained.

The name plate of the pumpset is not available / defaced due to
ageing

The pump starter is mounted in an unsafe position inside this pump

room.
The live wires of the start / run capacitors are bare
No body earth connection is available for the pumpset.
The wiring / cabling is precarious with many number of joints

Assessment of Light fixtures

The lighting levels recommended as per Part 8 Section 1 table 4 of the National
Building Code (NBC) 2005 is as below
General Offices

300-500-750 Lux

Computer Work Stations

300-500-750 Lux

Conference rooms, executive offices

300-500-750 Lux

The lighting in the various office areas in various floors of the building have
been accomplished by combination of FTL and CFL light fixtures. The spot
illumination levels were measured using lux meter at random spacing of the
office areas.
The illumination levels observed at various locations in all the floors is
available vide annexure
It is observed that the illumination levels measured in all the floors were
considerably lower than the NBC recommended values.
There is thus a need for improving the illumination in all the office areas.

The improvement of lighting level, however has a consequential increase in

energy bills also. An increase in the level of lighting by 10 lux however,
increases the energy demand by 3.5 %.
The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) 2007 specifies the Lighting
Power Density i.e., the Total connected load of lighting system divided by the
total built up area, for typical office space as 10.8 Watts / Sq.mtr
Hence, the improvement of lighting has to be approached on a more
professional basis as below
a) Re-lamping of the fixtures to ensure the full working complement of
lamps in each light fixture
b) Identifying those fixtures with longer working hours i.e, those light
fixtures which are located in the interiors of the office area and
retrofitting them with LED lamps.
c) Provide occupancy sensors and day light timers and re-wire the light
fixtures so as to ensure need based switching ON & OFF.

Other General Observations on Electrical Safety point of view

Unused / Discarded furniture have been piled
up

in

front

of

the

main

electrical

HT,

Transformer and LT panel room. This is against

the

recommended practice

of keeping the

electrical rooms and its vicinity free of any

inflammable materials
None of the panel boards have any feeder
identification / tagging. In the absence of such
feeder tagging, it will be difficult to switch OFF
particular feeder during emergency. Secondly
there

exists

high

probability

that

the

maintenance personnel get electrocuted due to

switching OFF of incorrect feeder

All the switch rooms were very shabby and

littered

down

with

materials

totally

unconnected with electricity.

The fire buckets near the DG set were rather
being used as dustbins instead of fire buckets

None of the panel room have been provided

with any fire detecting devices such as smoke
sensor / heat sensor.
The DG set is being operated by a person who
does not possess any competency to operate
the DG set.
The HT and main LT switchgear panel is also
observed to be handled / operated by this
person. This is totally not acceptable. The
electrical installations needs to be operated
only

by

persons

who

holds

the

valid

competency certificates issued by electricity

board.
No maintenance register / log book is being
maintained, except for log book for recording
the

particulars

of

DG

set

running

and

fuelling. It is a good practice to have log books

for operation and maintenance of electrical
system.
All the UPS rooms are observed to be with
considerable dust and muck, which indicates
a poor housekeeping.

Recommendations in brief for improving the electrical safety

Sl. No.

Recommendation in brief

Time schedule for

action

Advise TANGEDCO to replace the age old RMU Immediate

with state of the art SF6 based compact
switchgear panels

Replace the age old oil filled transformer with Immediate

dry type transformer. The new transformer shall
be of low loss version conforming to the latest
CEA guidelines

Replace all the age old main electrical LT panels Immediate

with

compact

compartmentalized

versions.

These panels shall be fitted with switchgears

with appropriate fault breaking capacity. Till
such time the panels are replaced, temporary
feeder name plates / tags shall be provided for
all main feeders. For the rest of the panels, the
feeder tag shall be painted
4

Redress the cable terminations in all panels

Immediate

Improve the housekeeping in all electrical switch Immediate

rooms

The rubber floor mats provided in front of the Immediate

main LV panel appears to have outlived its
integrity due to aging. Replace these rubber
insulation mats of appropriate voltage grade as
per IS

No rubber insulation mats were found available Immediate

in any of the panel room in various floors.
Rubber insulation mats to be provided in front
of all panel boards

The DG set operator needs to be equipped with Immediate

competency certificate

All temporary wiring needs to be removed and Immediate

pucca wiring to be made

10

Illumination levels to be improved to conform to Immediate

ECBC 2007 requirements

11

All UPS rooms needs to be isolated from battery Immediate

bank.

12

All electrical switch rooms to be provided with Immediate

smoke and heat sensor

Attachments
1) Filled in formats
2) Photographs
3) Illumination measurements

****

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