Talk On Safety in Substations for Security Personnel 24th Nov 2011

Yesterday I've been requested by the Support Police (Polis Bantuan) of Tenaga Nasional Berhad to give a talk on the safety in substation. The talk would be given to a group of contracted security personnel in order to help them understand how to ensure their safety during their job guarding TNB substations. I accepted the invitation with high spirits as I have the opportunities to share my experiences and help in preserving the high safety culture in TNB organizations.

Preparing the hardware to start the presentation. 

So today as promised, I started my presentation at 11.30am to a crowd of 35 gentlemen which are all have non-technical background. I am deeply honored to be given the chance to share safety tips to these security personnel. It is because I have high respect towards their dedication in ensuring all TNB assets in substations are safe from theft and trespassing. While you and me are sleeping, they make sure their eyes are wide open to see if there are anything suspicious happening in the substation.

Ice Breaking Session. Don't ask me why there is no ice in the picture.

The talk was in Bahasa Melayu as not all security personnel knows and understand English. I have set my presentation material to be as simple as possible so that although they don't have technical background, they can still understand and can practice all the safety tips which I've informed them.

My First Slide for the Talk. 

I started my talk by introducing them to the flow of electricity supply system in Malaysia starting from generation until distribution of electricity to consumer. This is important because on each level of electricity supply system, there are several types of substation which are critical for them to know such as Main Intake Substation (Pencawang Masuk Utama-PMU), Main Distribution Substation (Pencawang Pembahagian Utama-PPU) and Substation (Pencawang Elektrik-PE). Each substations have different roles and voltage levels.

Going through the content of my presentation. Luckily no one fall asleep yet.

Next I introduced them to the basic electrical components in a substation. In order for them to avoid hazard and ensure their own safety, they need to know what are the components which will bring hazard to them. It is the same when you want to tackle a hot chick. First you need to know her, study her interests, know her hobby, find about food and drinks which she likes, TV shows that bring tears to her beautiful eyes and her favourite colour. After you have gathered all this information, then you can straightaway plan a strategy to win her heart. After you have won her heart, marry her and stay in your bedroom for the whole month.

The crowd was very supportive and attentive. 

After that I explained about why they need to take care of their safety when they are in substations. I go through topics of injuries caused by electricity. I also shown them videos on real flashover accident involving an electrician and a bear going up an electricity pole.

Sharing Session where one of the participant asked questions about safety

Then I gave them four tips which will ensure their safety in substations. I told them if they follow these four tips, they can prevent any electrical accident from happening to them even though they do not have any technical knowledge about electricity.

1. Never touch any electrical components in a substation
2. If you meet an unconscious person with an electrical wiring touching his/her body while patrolling the substation area, separate it using insulated material such as wood
3. Do not follow orders from TNB personnel (either CEO, Bosses or Engineer) which involved touching electrical components inside substation.
4. If you hear any weird sound (crackling, hissing, alarm) from electrical components or see any irregularities in the substation, do not investigate yourself. Contact TNB personnel or TNB Polis Bantuan.

Finally I arrived at the climax of my safety talk which is the review of fatal and nonfatal electrical accidents in TNB. In this review, I showed some electrical accident pictures, explained what went wrong and how can they prevent the same accident from happening to themselves. The pictures are disturbing but I think the pictures succeed in showing the participants the importance of safety in TNB substations.

Below are pictures from my presentation slides:

Suspected thieve lying on top of 11kV transformer already dead and well cooked

Another thieve trying to steal cooper strip in TNB Substation. He did not succeed. Instead he become super crispy...and dead.

Tools of the thieve - metal saw, pouch bag and mineral water. Too bad now the thieve cannot drink the water again.

Cable Thief case. Picture on the left is the place where the power cable being stolen. Picture on the right is the thieve. He actually tried to cut a live cable. Superman would be proud of him - not! 

The pictures above are scary right? It is not good to steal others' properties. TNB suffers millions of losses every year because of theft. Instead of stealing TNB properties, better they steal a lady's heart. Then marry her and be satisfied all night long bebeh.

Answering one of the participant's question

I would like to thank Ketua Gerakan Negeri TNB Pulau Pinang En Dzahiruddin and Sarjan Saiful Yezin for inviting me to give the safety talk. I would also like to thank my Chief Engineer Mr Lim Yew Soon for allowing me to give the safety talk.

Towards the end of my talk. I am lucky to be blessed with such a wonderful crowd

This is a part of my contribution towards society as an electrical engineer. Am always proud to work as a TNB engineer. You should be proud too.

My slide can be downloaded by clicking the address below

http://www.4shared.com/document/S8wbtlCM/Taklimat_Safety_in_Substation_.html?