Annex IV of NR-16 – Hazardous Activities and Operations with Electricity

(MTE Ordinance No. 1078, of July 16, 2014)

1. Workers are entitled to hazard pay if they:

a) Perform activities or operations in high voltage energized electrical installations or equipment;

b) Perform activities or operations in proximity work, as established by NR-10;

c) Perform activities or operations in low voltage energized electrical installations or equipment in the electric consumption system if item 10.2.8 and its sub-items of NR-10 – Safety in Electrical Installations and Services are not met;

d) Work for companies operating in power system installations or equipment, as well as their contractors, in accordance with the activities and respective risk areas described in Table I of this annex.

2. Hazard pay is not due in the following situations:

a) Activities or operations in electric consumption systems in de-energized and released installations or equipment for work, without the possibility of accidental energization, as established by NR-10;

b) Activities or operations in installations or equipment powered by extra-low voltage;

c) Elementary activities or operations performed in low voltage, such as the use of energized electrical equipment and circuit switching procedures, provided the materials and electrical equipment comply with the official technical standards established by the competent bodies, and in the absence or omission of these, the applicable international standards.

3. Intermittent work is equivalent to permanent exposure for full hazard pay in the months where there is exposure, excluding occasional exposure, considered as accidental or not part of the routine.

4. Activities in the power system.

4.1 For the purposes of this annex, activities of construction, operation, and maintenance of overhead or underground high and low voltage lines forming part of the power system include:

a) Assembly, installation, replacement, maintenance, repairs, testing, and inspections of: fuses, conductors, lightning arresters, poles, towers, switches, insulation, transformers, capacitors, meters, voltage regulators, reclosers, sectionalizers, carrier (wave carrier via transmission lines), crossarms, relays, and street lighting arms, graphic measuring devices, concrete or masonry bases for towers, poles, and network support structures, and other components of overhead networks;

b) Tree cutting and pruning;

c) Connections and disconnections of consumers;

d) Aerial and underground network operations;

e) Substation operations;

f) Short-circuit testing on transmission lines;

g) Maintenance of power supply sources for communication systems;

h) Reading in high voltage consumers;

i) Calibration of measuring equipment;

j) Resistance measurements, installation of counterweight cables;

k) Electromagnetic field measurements, radio interference, and induced currents;

l) Electrical testing in third-party installations in transmission line ranges (pipelines, gas pipelines, etc.);

m) Painting of structures and equipment;

n) Verification, inspection, including aerial, supervision, data collection, and technical service monitoring;

o) Assembly, installation, replacement, maintenance, and repairs of: busbars, transformers, circuit breakers, switches and disconnectors, capacitors, oil switches, instrument transformers, underground and underwater cables, panels, electrical circuits, contacts, insulators, and other components of underground networks;

p) Civil construction, installation, replacement, and cleaning of: trenches, duct banks, ducts, conduits, galleries, tunnels, inspection boxes or wells, chambers; q) Measurement, verification, testing, inspection, supervision, data collection, and technical service monitoring.

    4.2 For the purposes of this annex, activities of construction, operation, and maintenance in plants, generating units, substations, and distribution cabins in operation, forming part of the power system, include:

    a) Assembly, disassembly, operation, and maintenance of: meters, relays, switches, circuit breakers and reclosers, control boxes, power cables, control cables, busbars, batteries and chargers, transformers, fire-fighting and cooling systems, capacitor banks, reactors, regulators, electronic, electromechanical and electromechanical equipment, panels, lightning arresters, circulation areas, support structures, and other electrical installations and equipment;

    b) Construction of: duct trenches, cable ducts, equipment bases, structures, conduits, and other installations;

    c) Cleaning, painting, and signage services of electrical installations and equipment;

    d) Testing, inspection, calibration, measurement, supervision, and data collection of electrical, electronic, telecommunications, and telecontrol equipment.

    TABLE I

    ACTIVITYRISK AREAS
    Activities listed in item 4.1 of construction, operation, and maintenance of overhead or underground high and low voltage networks forming part of the power system, energized or de-energized, but with the possibility of accidental or operational failure energization.a) Structures, conductors, and equipment of overhead transmission, subtransmission, and distribution lines, including aerial platforms and baskets used for work execution;
    b) Substation yards and operation rooms;
    c) Distribution cabins;
    d) Structures, conductors, and equipment of electric traction networks, including ladders, platforms, and aerial baskets used for work execution;
    e) Trenches, duct banks, conduits, internal boxes, inspection wells, chambers, galleries, tunnels, terminal structures, and surface aerial areas corresponding;
    f) Submerged areas in rivers, lakes, and seas.
    Activities listed in item 4.2 of construction, operation, and maintenance in plants, generating units, substations, and distribution cabins in operation, forming part of the power system, energized or de-energized, but with the possibility of accidental or operational failure energization.a) Measurement points and distribution cabins, including consumers;
    b) Control rooms, machine houses, plant dams, and generating units;
    c) Substation yards and operation rooms, including consumers.
    Inspection, testing, calibration, measurement, and repair activities in electrical, electronic, electromechanical, and individual and collective safety systems in high and low voltage power systems.a) Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical maintenance and testing laboratories where tests, inspections, calibrations, and repairs of energized or potentially energized equipment are carried out;
    b) Control rooms and machine houses of plants and generating units;
    c) Substation yards and operation rooms, including consumers;
    d) High voltage electrical testing rooms;
    e) Control rooms of operations centers.
    Training activities in power system equipment or installations, energized or de-energized, but with the possibility of accidental or operational failure energization.a) All the areas described in the previous items.