Safety at Installation

Owned by David Rus
Mar 13, 2024
8 min read

 

Before installation

The instructions provided in the charging station documentation assume that the appropriate wiring and electrical protection are in place at the installation location. To assist in the process of preparing the installation site, it is recommended that you thoroughly read the contents of the station installation guidelines before starting the charging station installation and familiarize yourself with the required installation steps. In case of questions or concerns, always consult the seller before proceeding with the installation.

 

DANGER

The charging station is a device connected to the electrical grid. Any unauthorized manipulation of the station is life threatening and prohibited.

Installation companies shall implement a training policy that ensures that all installers are adequately trained, understand risks and safety issues, and possess the relevant skills before they commence operational duties. The installer needs to recognise and understand different charging station installations, charging station types and various equipment associated with those installations applicable to the successful installation.

 

DANGER

It is prohibited and life threatening to connect the charging station into the live electrical grid. Therefore, the up-stream protection switch must be disconnected before the installation procedure.

The charging station installation procedure may only be performed by well-trained and adequately authorized personnel.

 

WARNING

  • The charging station's internal parts must not get wet during the installation procedure. If installation is performed in wet weather, proper precautions and protection means must be taken.

  • Do not perform any installation or maintenance work with wet hands or equipment.

 

CAUTION

Ensure that the charging station is protected from electrical hazards.

When installing a charging station without any built-in protection device (e.g., Residual Current Device - RCD, Miniature Circuit Breaker - MCB) ensure to install the required protection in the main electrical cabinet for enhanced safety according to IEC 61851.

The following protection units need to be part of the installation to protect the charging station:

  • Surge and overvoltage protection (Surge Protection Device (SPD), Type 1+2).

  • Overcurrent protection (MCB, In = 40 A, characteristic C)

  • Differential protection (RCD, In = 40 A, IΔ = 30 mA)

 

 

The installer must consult and comply with national legislation and local regulations and read the installation instructions written in the charging station documentation before installation. Instructions must be understood and followed in detail.

  • The charging station documentation provides the instructions for its installation. 

  • The documentation provides the product overview, details of its installation and set-up, installation considerations, and health and safety considerations.

  • The installer will be treated as a public representative both by the company for which he performs the installation and by its customers.

  • The installer shall adopt the highest standards of behaviour and be respectful to clients and members of the public.

  • Before the beginning of the installation procedure, it should be checked if the charging point is correctly prepared for charging station installation. After each installation, the charging point must always be left clean and tidy.

  • The work location shall be defined and clearly marked, according to the national legislation and local regulations. Adequate working space as well as means of access, lighting and where necessary weather protection shall be provided at all parts of an electrical installation on / with / near which any work activity is to be carried out.

  • The charging point must not be exposed to running water or fire.

  • Charging station installation must not be performed by unauthorised and untrained personnel. Such persons are not allowed to access the service area of the station because contact with the station’s live parts is potentially life threatening.

 

DANGER

Opening the charging station without disconnecting the power dangers your life because there are live parts inside.

  • Installation personnel must possess the required electrical knowledge and skills and must be authorised by the utility to perform the installation procedure.

  • The installer is obligated to perform the installation procedure in accordance with the national legislation and internal norms of the utility.

  • Only authorised and trained personnel are allowed to access the service and installation area of the station because contact with the station’s live parts is life threatening.

  • National legislation can set out the minimum age and the competence criteria for installers. In case, there are no national requirements defined, the following criteria shall be used for assessing the competence of installers: knowledge of electricity, experience with electrical work, understanding of the installation procedures, practical experience with this sort of work, understanding the hazards which can arise during the work and the precautions to be observed, ability to always recognize whether it is safe to continue working.

  • According to the basic principles, either the nominated person in control of the electrical installation or the nominated person in control of the work activity shall ensure that specific and detailed instructions or training are provided to the personnel carrying out the work before starting and on completion of the work.

  • Before starting work, the nominated person in control of the work activity shall give notification to the nominated person in control of the electrical installation, of the nature, place, and consequences to the electrical installation of the intended work.

 

CAUTION

It is expected that the installer fully understands the risks and safety issues involved in electrical installations. The installer shall be aware at all times of the potential hazard of electrical shock and shall exercise due caution in completing the task!

  • Tools, equipment, and devices shall comply with the requirements of relevant national or international standards where these exist. Tools, equipment, and devices shall be used in accordance with the instructions and/or guidance provided by the manufacturer or supplier.

  • Any tools, equipment, and devices provided for the purpose of safe operation of, or work on, with, or near electrical installations shall be suitable for that use, be maintained, and be properly used.

  • Personnel shall wear clothing suitable for the locations and conditions where they are working. This could include the use of close-fitting, anti-static clothing or additional PPE (personal protective equipment).

 

CAUTION

  • The installer must be correctly equipped with personal protection equipment (PPE) and always use the appropriate tools during the installation.

  • The working procedure is based on the use of protective measures against electric shock and/or the effects of short-circuits and arcing.

 

Once the relevant electrical installations have been identified, the following six essential requirements must be met in the specified order, unless there are essential reasons to do otherwise:

  1. Disconnect the power supply completely using the protective switch.

  2. Secure against reconnection.

  3. Verify that the installation is completely de-energized.

  4. Carry out electrical installation works.

  5. Perform electrical installation measurements.

  6. Turn back the power supply and check the functioning of the charging station.

 

CAUTION

Do not attempt to install the charging station before you have isolated the installation site from the network and any other source of hazardous live voltage (in case of local generation).

 

DANGER

The relevant upstream protective switch (fuse or MCB) must be disconnected before making any modifications to the installation and kept safe until completing the work to prevent the unnoticed reconnection.

 

CAUTION

Only one wire or ferrule may be connected in one terminal. Otherwise, the terminal could be damaged, or the contact could not be obtained.

 

CAUTION

Do not use cable types that are not prescribed for the installation site and the power requirements!

Always use cables and wires appropriate for the installation location and proportionally dimensioned to power requirements.

 

DANGER

The insulation of the connecting cable must extend over the completely visible part of the cable. There must be no further bare part of the cable visible above the terminal edge. Touching live parts can be lethal. The stripped part of the connecting wire should be shortened if necessary.

 

CAUTION

At the end of installation at the charging point, no cable should stay unconnected or hanging freely from the charging station. The charging station cover must be closed and secured against the undesired access of unauthorized persons with the tamper resistant security screw or at least with the screw (depends on the charging station type, the customer order of the screw type). For safety reasons, closing the station and securing it against unauthorised entry must be done immediately after installation.

  • Only the user interface may be accessible from the outside. Do not expose the charging station's surface to extremely high temperatures, even if it is constructed of a non-flammable material, to prevent fire.

  • Electrical connection: connection cables must be properly dimensioned and of proper length. The charging station must be connected according to the instructions for connecting the charging station you are connecting and the terminal markings on the station. Cage clamps of current terminals must be properly closed and free of obstructions (e.g., cable insulation).

 

DANGER

At the end of the installation procedure, check once again that the charging station is closed and secured against being opened by the consumer (final customer) and them meeting live parts of the charging station.

 

DANGER

If the housing enclosure or cover is not closed properly, a danger of contact with the connection terminals exists. Contact with live parts of the charging station is life threatening.

 

DANGER

RCD, RCBO, MCB or fuses protecting the the charging station must be disconnected before the installation or any maintenance work.

 

DANGER

Switch on the power. Beware of the risk of electric shock at all times!

 

The functional check requires voltage to be applied and load applied to all phases. First determine the energy flow direction. If no main voltage is present, commissioning, and the functional check must be performed at a later date.

Because the charging station has varistors installed, they may affect the measurement result, or may be damaged. The test voltage for this circuit should be set to 250 V DC. The measured insulation resistance should be at least 1 MΩ. To perform the insulation resistance test, the power supply must be disconnected.