By Chuck Holm, NERC Reliabilty Specialist
Pre-Job briefs are typically completed to ensure that the job scope is properly identified and that the safety aspects of the job are clearly identified and mitigated. Over time, facilities added environmental permit type pre-job discussion to address common issues such as proper hazard material storage and/or disposal.
It’s not common to find NERC related checks in a pre-job brief. NERC standard CIP-003-9 (Cyber Security – Security Management Controls) has requirements that could benefit by adding checks in the pre-job brief process.
Pre-Job Item #1: This pre-job item is regarding work that occurs within a cyber asset physical security boundary. How will the cyber assets be properly protected while the work is completed? Will the physical barrier be temporarily blocked open to allow access or will they need to contact the control room each time? Will the work put the integrity of the cyber asset at risk?
Real Life Incident: Contractors were provided with access to paint a server room. Proper safety mitigations such as ventilation were put in place, but no other discussion occurred. One of the contractors used a server as a stand for a paint container. When the paint container accidentally spilled – the paint entered one of the servers causing a failure. The server provided information to half of the DCS stations.
Pre-Job Item #2: This pre-job example is regarding work that could potentially lead to cyber asset access. When the job scope specifically requires access to a cyber asset, the pre-job brief is an excellent process to ensure that the vendor follows facility access requirements such as scanning devices and recording the access properly. It also provides a chance to identify the processes used if an update does not go well and to review the required post job testing to identify unintended consequences.
The pre-job brief can also be used to determine if there is a potential cyber asset connection. For example, when the OEM comes on site to perform non-cyber asset related tasks and the OEM is then contacted and asked to perform a cyber asset update. The pre-job brief is an opportunity to review how that request should be addressed.
In short, the pre-job briefing process is an excellent process to identify job scope, safety related items associated with the job scope, possible environmental issues associated with the job scope, and NERC related items that could open the facility to potential noncompliance – or worse – cause the facility to be unable to operate.
While not a complete list, work scope that could impact FAC-008-5 (Facility Ratings) and PRC-005-6 (Protection System, Automatic Reclosing, and Sudden Pressure Relaying Maintenance) are also good pre-job briefing topics to include in your pre-job briefing.
For assistance or more information regarding NERC-related pre-job briefing topics please reach out to your NAES NERC Reliability Specialist.
