Grounding through a switch

Electrical & Electronic Engineering gen discussion Electric Power Transmission & Distribution
#1

QUESTION

What does it mean to ground through a switch?

REPLIES

crshears
Here’s what it means at the utility where I am employed as a Power System Operator:

_________ / __________
. . bus A . . . .bus B . . .

Work to be done on bus A

Either there’s no handy spot for the tradespeople to apply working grounds or there are no permanently installed grounding devices on it

Bus B either DOES have a handy spot for the tradespeople to apply working grounds or has permanently installed grounding devices on it

  1. Remove both the A and B busses from all sources of potential and lock out / tag out

  2. Close or check closed the intervening switch and lock out / tag out in the closed position

  3. Either
    a. close permanently installed grounding devices on bus B and issue Work Protection on bus A with intervening switch guaranteed closed for grounding continuity, or
    b. issue Work Protection with intervening switch guaranteed closed for grounding continuity, making the requirement for the trades people to apply working grounds a condition of issuance, with this listed in the safety precautions and instructions of the Work Protection

SOURCE
https://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=450092
Above is a snippet.

#2

@crshears, thank you for the excellent summary and diagram of what this exactly means in the real world.

#3

Thanks for the kudos, SimpliEditor, and no problem; I’m not actually an engineer, but I’ve been employed in the operations field of the steam, fossil and hydraulic power generation, and electricity transmission and distribution disciplines for > 40 years, this sort of thing is what I do, and this is at least the sort of question I can confidently answer.

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