Occupational exposure to electric fields and currents associated with 110 kV substation tasks

The main aim of this study was to investigate occupational exposure to electric fields, and current densities and contact currents associated with tasks at air-insulated 110 kV substations and analyze if the action value of EU Directive 2004/40/EC was exceeded. Four workers volunteered to simulate the following tasks: Task (A) maintenance of an operating device of a disconnector at ground or floor level, Task (B) maintenance of an operating device of a circuit breaker at ground or floor level, Task (C) breaker head maintenance from a man hoist, and Task (D) maintenance of an operating device of a circuit breaker from a service platform. The highest maximum average current density in the neck was 1.8 mA/m(2) (calculated internal electric field 9.0-18.0 mV/m) and the highest contact current was 79.4 µA. All measured values at substations were lower than the limit value (10 mA/m(2)) of the EU Directive 2004/40/EC and the 2010 basic restrictions (0.1 and 0.8 V/m for central nervous system tissues of the head, and all tissues of the head and body, respectively) of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).