IHEEM AE REGISTERS
Persons for HV or LV. Once the assessment is completed, the AE will recommend the person in question for appointment to the Trust’s management. In common with other HTMs, the AE can only nominate or endorse an individual for an appointment. The AE also has the authority to rescind an AP appointment if the AP is found to have been negligent in his or her duty. The HTMs provide sufficient information on the processes involved. The AP assessment should be carried out at the facility where the AP will take on his or her duties to establish the AP’s knowledge of the systems for which he or she will be responsible.
Viewing all areas
The AP and AE should arrange to view all areas, to gain an overview of the main electrical infrastructure. In larger hospitals, this may be impractical, since the AP is more than likely to be proposed for appointment in both HV and LV disciplines. If so, this will require assessment in both disciplines, which well be impractical to complete in a single day. The AP will be required to demonstrate knowledge of plant operation, and particularly the actions that would be expected of them in an emergency or a ‘black start’ situation – often the part that they find difficult. This tests their familiarity with the systems for which they are responsible. APs should be familiar with how their plant works to ensure that they can establish the nature of a fault should one occur, and return the equipment back into service as quickly as possible, with minimal disruption. Advice provided by the AE (Electrical) can either be proactive or reactive. This may either be on a daily basis, with the AP calling to seek technical advice, or may involve advice on the interpretation of the HTM, or the AP and Trust management team seeking technical advice for new or refurbishment works associated with the electrical infrastructure. Advice may also be given in response to incidents and non- compliances. This role is likely to expand when the revised HTM is published, with the requirements of the new Electrical Safety Group (ESG).
Monitoring
The AE’s monitoring role is aligned to the engineering governance of the organisation, and how it manages, directs, and monitors, its engineering activities to ensure compliance. This is part and parcel of the auditing process, and requires occasional interventions when recommendations are not implemented from an audit. While the HTMs comprise guidance specifically written for healthcare, and an organisation is not obliged to take on board recommendations made by an AE, it may, at some point, need to provide
About the author
Mark Richards BEng (Hons), CEng, FIHEEM, MIET, CMAPS, is a Chartered Electrical Engineer, a Fellow of IHEEM, and a Certified Member of the Association of Project Safety. An IHEEM Council Member, he chairs the Institute’s Electrical Technical Platform, and sits on the Electrical AE Registration Board.
Mark Richards draws on extensive construction and engineering experience in supporting a wide range of clients as an independent Authorising Engineer and Principal Designer under CDM 2015, in the healthcare, manufacturing, industrial/commercial property management, and electrical service sectors. Commencing his career with the Central Electricity Generating Board in the late 1970s, he
subsequently joined a local authority as an electrical design engineer, implementing engineering designs on a variety of commercial and local authority buildings. He was later recruited by a facilities management company, where he became the firm’s Authorising Engineer, electrical designer, and CDM coordinator, supporting NHS and commercial clients. While working at Imtech Inviron as senior Authorising and Compliance
evidence to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on what actions it took to mitigate/address a particular issue. There is no doubt that designers should consider risk at the earliest possible stage, and throughout their work. Likewise, the healthcare organisation should ensure that the designers, the AE (Electrical), and the APs, interact throughout this process. The responsibility for any design remains with the designer, but one wonders whether the most recent iteration of the Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) Regulations has actually improved communications within the organisation? There have been numerous occasions over the years, in my role as CDM coordinator/ principal designer, where I have had to impress upon designers the need to provide suitable means of access for maintenance and plant replacement. This illustrates the point that organisations ‘only see what they want to see’, when documentary evidence of the designer’s ‘risk-based approach’ to be one reflecting the philosophy, ‘as far as reasonably practicable’, is submitted.
What does the future hold? Collaboration between all the AE registers is – in my view – required to provide consistency across the profession, and to
Engineer for the company, he also authored policies and procedures. He went on to form his own company, Health Engineering Services FM, providing Authorising Engineer support for electrical systems and lifts, offering strategic support, and authoring policies and procedures for NHS clients and commercial companies and contractors. In late 2016 he joined PPL Engineering Services to head the Healthcare AE side of the business, working in parallel with its commercial AE arm. The company provides a wide variety of Authorising Engineer services to the NHS, MOD, and commercial clients across most of the current HTM and engineering disciplines, including ‘Pressure systems’ and ‘Confined spaces’. He has recently been involved with the Department of Health’s working group on the revision to HTM 06-01.
confirm to organisations who employ AEs that the individuals have satisfied the technical and ‘soft skills’ criteria to become an Authorising Engineer. The AE Foundation course should not therefore be discipline-specific, and should principally address the ‘soft skills’ necessary for individuals to gain an appreciation of the role and further develop their existing skillset. The AE at this juncture should already be technically knowledgeable and competent. There are a number of engineers who are self-employed who would like to become AEs, but unfortunately for them ‘time is money’. It is the Electrical Platform’s firm belief that the duration of the AE Foundation course should be considerably shorter, particularly if the prospective AE is qualified and has already completed his or her NEBOSH requirements.
Consistency in documentation The current raft of HTMs are in need of a major review, with AEs and APs who use the documents on a daily basis – and particularly HTM 06-02 and 06-03 – finding errors which should not be in print. Lack of resource appears to be a fundamental barrier to enabling the necessary improvements to be made;
April 2017 Health Estate Journal 23
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