How Ontario regulation can improve electrical safety

BY BILL KHASHFE, London Hydro

According to an Ontario Electrical Safety Report, 35 percent of the province’s electrical-related fatalities in the past 10 years were attributed to power-line contact. Equipment specifications and electric utility construction plans within Ontario’s power industry, only a few decades ago, lacked regulation. Each utility developed its own policies.

Currently, the global economy has created a marketplace in which equipment is manufactured to various standards and, occasionally, with no standards at all. As a result, governments have started to step in to regulate the safety of equipment used on electric distribution systems. Ontario Regulation 22/04 came into force to regulate electrical safety standards.

In addition, the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) was mandated to audit Ontario utilities annually to ensure compliance with this regulation. In essence, OR 22/04 stipulates that all equipment and material used on the electric grid must be approved to meet a particular standard.