Hi Guys - where do I start compiling SOP/Method Statement Re: Live Working on Electricity (Quarrying Industry) - any help would be gratefully appreciated.

This is not a "clever" answer - you start with a competent person. This is required by the Electricity at work regs.

Assuming that you have someone competent who is doing and or planning the work, you could get together with them, and ask them to go through step by step, the safe working procedure. Document this, then get someone such as site manager to approve it. They will have the electrical knowledge, you the knowledge of safety systems and the way such things are recorded.

Ta dah! A team effort!

Walker's reply is spot on. There are apparently very few work situations where it's unreasonable for live electrical conductors to be made dead. A classic example of such a situation I'm told is where the power supply for a new house or other property, or even new lamp post, is connected to a supply company's existing and uninterruptible supply, e.g. below an adjacent pavement or road. In such cases the employees involved (probably those of the supply company) are authorised, highly trained, equipped with appropriate insulating tools, barriers, etc and follow an established system of work - so as to effectively manage and minimise the potentially high risk for the employees involved and also others such as passing members of the public.

p.s. While checking my above response for typos and errors, I had a good look at the second sentence and think it does read correctly. However, as it still seems somewhat convoluted, here's an alternative and hopefully clearer rendition: In the vast majority of situations, it is reasonable for live electrical conductors to be made dead before anyone carries out work on them.

Excellent - thanks everyone for the advise - thankfully I'm heading in the right direction!!!

I was asked by a client a few year ago to look at the safety of working live on 33 kV transmission lines. My immediate thought was that it can't be as safe as working dead. But going through the methods used by the contractors and watching them in action, I was very impressed with how the risks were managed. And, they made the very good point that a lot of people die every year working on systems they think are dead.

There is a reasonable overview of this type of work at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live-line_working

My client and the contractor were based overseas. I know it is not so prevalent in the UK, but I believe it does happen. I am still not sure how it fits in with the regulations as often it is a choice to work live based on the view that it will be easier and can be carried out safely. It is not always the case that it would be unreasonable to make dead, just not preferred.

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