Energy & Utilities Safety Training

Maintenance on powered equipment and digging near buried lines both come with specific rules, and electrical work brings its own hazards.

• Lockout/tagout. Before equipment is serviced or repaired, Alberta (OHS Code Part 15) and BC (OHS Regulation Part 10) require hazardous energy to be isolated, secured with personal locks and verified. The Lockout Tagout (LOTO) course takes about 75 minutes, and its description says it follows CSA Z460 and Z462.
• Hazard assessment. Alberta employers must assess a work site before work begins and involve affected workers (OHS Code ss. 7 and 8). Hazard Assessment Safety covers identifying, ranking, controlling and reviewing hazards.
• Ground disturbance. In Alberta, the ground can't be disturbed until owners of buried facilities have located and marked them (OHS Code s. 447). Ground Disturbance 201 is endorsed by Utility Safety Partners.
• Electrical work. The arc flash course covers controls, operations, hazards and emergency response, and includes a checklist your employer can use for a practical exam.

Start with hazard assessment and lockout/tagout, since both apply to most maintenance work. If you dig or supervise digging, read our Ground Disturbance 201 guide to pick between 101 and 201. For gas and confined space hazards, see confined space, H2S and gas detection training.

• Lockout procedures are site-specific. BC requires written procedures to be made available to workers, so you'll still learn your employer's.
• Ground disturbance standards differ by province. Take the BC 201 if you work in BC.