Thanks Johnny!

SSG senior advisor, expert in electrical safety and trainer to industry Johnny Jansson is now taking his leave after 20 years at SSG. They have been 20 very intensive years, in which SSG really has assumed a position as a leading force when it comes to the development of electrical safety and responsibility in the Swedish industrial sector.

When Johnny Jansson came to SSG in 1998, he was given the task of starting up SSG’s training activities for the industrial sector and making sure that SSG leads the way when it comes to pedagogical and technical training material.

“We often hear participants tell us that we’ve made a boring subject like electrical safety enjoyable and interesting. And it’s SSG that came up with the concept of ‘electrical responsibility’,” says Johnny Jansson.

In his 20 years working with the industrial sector, he has had various training programmes designed specifically for businesses and industries.

“The training material is based to a large extent on our pedagogical structure with a practical emphasis, which links regulations and SSG’s recommendations with the member companies’ own expertise,” says Johnny Jansson.

“When live work appeared as a work method in the 1999 regulations, SSG was the second organisation in Sweden to be authorised to provide training in this method. At the time I was working with Leif Stensinger from the Swedish National Electrical Safety Board on the launch of a reference group of training companies that were authorised to provide training for live work. That’s when SSG and I started to collaborate with the Swedish National Electrical Safety Board, a partnership that’s grown through the years.”

In his years at SSG, Johnny Jansson has also been involved in working together with electrical managers to build up geographical network areas.

“This work on networks has turned out well. At present there are five local networks, with a new one starting in February 2019.”

What has made the biggest impression on you in these 20 years?

“Above all, I’d have to single out the new Swedish Electrical Safety Act, which appeared in 2017. This was a very important event, in which I was actively involved as the industry’s representative in the government’s legislative committee work, and SSG and I were able to have a direct influence on the content. Electrical responsibility issues and helping companies to comply with electricity legislation have been a major task for me and SSG in recent years. The new SSG 4501, which was launched at the 2018 Electrical Responsibility Conference, which I was involved in developing and describes what you have to do to comply with new electricity legislations, has a good pedagogical approach.”

In what way is this new legislation important?

“It’s the biggest change in the field of electrical safety that’s taken place in these 20 years. The previous act was old and hadn’t been written for the industrial sector, but the focus has now shifted. I think that through this new legislation we’ve really succeeded in putting industry on the map.”

Another major contribution is no doubt the creation and continuity of the annual Electrical Responsibility Conference, which also had its 20th anniversary in 2018?

“Yes, the Electrical Responsibility Conference has been a feature of the Swedish electrical safety scene for 20 years, and it also made its mark at the most recent event just over a month ago. The conference has become something of an institution among those responsible for electrical safety in the Swedish industrial sector. It’s been held at the end of every single year since 1998. The first conference was initiated by Rolf Mattson, secretary of SSG’s Electrical Engineering Committee at the time. I took over the baton the following year.”

What is it that makes the Electrical Responsibility Conference unique?

It’s mainly about the opportunity for networking with others responsible for electricity in industry, and the fact that we at SGG always work in a standardised way. That’s why we attract 100 electrical managers to the same place, year after year.

Many of them come up to me at these events and say that this is their lifeline and the most important forum for meeting up with like-minded people and discussing electrical safety issues. I recently heard about one electrician who wasn’t allowed to attend the event because of a company travel ban. So he told them that he’d take a holiday, as he wanted to attend anyway. Then his manager gave in.

Another important feature is the technical messages, where participants are willing to share various positive and negative incidents at their workplaces. This indicates the high level of transparency and trust between participants. The significance of the Electrical Responsibility Conference as an important forum is also emphasised by the fact that the Swedish National Electrical Safety Board has attended almost all of the conferences we have organised down the years.