ESP – Electrical Safety Program for BEBs
ESP – Electrical Safety Program for BEBs: A comprehensive plan for high-voltage bus operations, ensuring safety, OSHA compliance, and effective procedures.
What is an Electrical Safety Program?
An Electrical Safety Program (ESP) for BEBs is a group of particular procedures that are knit together by a plan that covers all aspects of high voltage bus operations for every involved department and point of contact. It’s everything from what we do in an emergency, to how we charge a vehicle, to how often we inspect our equipment for compliance, and more.
Who needs one?
Anyone who has electric vehicles needs an Electrical Safety Program. OSHA 1910 requires employers to provide a written ESP designed to protect employees and enable them to work in an electrically safe environment. It’s an essential part of the transition to a professionally operated fleet incorporating Battery Electric Buses (BEBs). The inherent electrical hazards associated with these vehicles makes them a completely different animal than their diesel counterparts.
What are the benefits of an ESP?
The ESP provides a complete plan to prevent and deal with problems as they come up, and written well, it will make your operation OSHA compliant. An ESP will also:
- help your employees understand high voltage electricity and how safe it can be as long as you respect its boundaries
- ensure everyone in your organization knows what to do around these high voltage vehicles to create the safest environment possible
- remove inconsistencies in your organization’s procedures and protocols
- help you focus effectively on good procedure and employee safety
Why use Fleet Maintenance Consulting?
So, why have Fleet Maintenance Consulting help you create your ESP? Often companies can get caught up in the process of creating the plan, and once it’s complete, there is a risk it gets put on a shelf instead of becoming an integral part of the company’s process. FMC does the legwork to put together Standard Operating Procedures that will be effective for your business, and we work with you on the process of implementation.
The process of creating the ESP should not be one and done, but rather the start of a new, robust approach to work which safeguards both employees and assets with an enhanced culture of safety. With FMC, you get 40 years of real world maintenance and operations experience together with a highly educated staff who understand planning and project management and are certified in those areas. For us, customer service is not just something we like to talk about, it’s really the way we do business and we will always worry about every detail.
What does an Electrical Safety Program cover?
Here are some of the things we include:
- Standard Operating Procedures for BEBs
- Guidance on the selection, care, inspection, and use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Working with First and Second Responders and Emergency Situations
- High Voltage Awareness training from general awareness to Qualified Technician
- Audit recommendations
- Safety responsibilities by Job Role
- Training recommendations
- And more…
One size does not really fit all, and so we work with companies to develop a Program that is specific to their operation.
“I think our technicians understand that with Battery Electric Buses it’s a new world. We owe it to them as employers to have a plan to take care of them” – Frank Dopp, FMC.
