The Central Electricity Authority on 24th May 2022, has issued Advisory to all Thermal Power Generating Utilities. The thermal units shall Implement the requisite provisions of Central Electricity Authority (Safety Requirements for Construction, Operation and Maintenance of Electrical Plants and Electric Lines) Regulations, 2011, Central Electricity Authority (Measures relating to Safety and Electric Supply) Regulations, 2010 and other related Acts such as Manufacture, Storage, and Import of Hazardous Chemicals (MSIHC) Rules, 1989.
As per the advisory, Internal Safety Audits must be carried out once a year through cross functional teams/ internal trained staff and records must be maintained. Further, External Safety Audit must be carried out through registered Agencies at a regular periodicity of 2 years and Action Taken Report (ATR) must be prepared & monitored to ensure early closing of pending recommendations. Safety awareness drives must be conducted amongst plant personnel as well as the employees deployed by the Contractors, periodically for the compliance of provisions of safety manuals and to imbibe the safety culture.
All major/ minor accidents must be properly investigated and analyzed to find the Root Cause of incident/accident. Emergency Response Disaster Management Plan (ERDMP) both On-site & Off-site shall be prepared by all power plants.
Emergency exit path marking should be made available for safe evacuation of working personnel during emergency conditions. Emergency telephone numbers must be prominently displayed at prominent locations in the plant, such as at TG floor, Unit Control Room & emergency exit points etc. Display of DO’s & DON’Ts should be done in large fonts for better visibility. All such Display Boards should have a DC backlit display.
