New Energies Safety

New Energies Safety

The operational safety covers many aspects of motorsport safety, from rally to circuit safety, from medical and rescue to new energies such as high-voltage electric and hybrid cars or more recently hydrogen propelled race cars.

FIA e-Safety stands for “electrical safety” and covers the risks and hazards associated with high-voltage technologies in a race car. These aspects are well established in the FIA, especially since 2019, when the FIA led a research project to deliver a significant update of its regulations.

More recently, the FIA has taken concrete steps into enabling H2 technologies to race safely. The related operational safety regulations are being drafted and the target is to be ready for early 2025. The approach is similar to what was done on e-safety but the risks and the way to mitigate them represent a whole new challenge.

In most countries, the employers in the industry have to comply with regulations for health and safety at work. One of the topics is about high-voltage safety, requiring training so that any employee can do his tasks safely regarding HV risks.

The “FIA e-Safety” initiative is our adaptation of these regulations into the world of motorsport.

The main focus of the FIA e-safety initiative is towards volunteers and officials, especially when cars are racing and even more focussed on emergency situations and rescue operations. Generally, the aim is to ensure the organisation of the event is ready to face and manage the most critical situations involving high-voltage technologies and their associated risks.

High-voltage technologies were introduced for the first time in Formula 1 and in the World Endurance Championship in 2009 and 2012 respectively. The FIA has always positioned safety as a priority, and it was natural for the FIA to pay particular attention to the safe running of the events mindful of the high-voltage risks. With the transition to hybrid or full electric in several FIA championships, in 2019 the world governing body of motor sport launched a research project into the operational side of high-voltage safety.

The FIA e-Safety Regulation is available as a supplement 10 of the Appendix H to the FIA International Sporting Code. It can be downloaded here: https://www.fia.com/regulation/category/123  

These regulations cover the below points:

• Roles and responsibilities (the FIA, the event organiser, competitors, e-safety roles)
• E-safety briefings and hand-outs
• HV safety status sign
• HV safety procedures (WRC)
• HV Safety check
• Recovery and Quarantine
• Red Car Exercise
• Extrication Exercise

Prior to the event, every targeted audience of FIA e-safety briefing will have the opportunity to go through a specific e-learning. It is meant to deliver the core information related to e-safety. That enables people to get a first glimpse at this crucially important topic and will allow to have shorter on-site briefings. The content will share information about the car technology, the FIA e-Safety organisation specifically put in place and simple but crucial information regarding the high-voltage risks and safety measures.

TO ACCESS THE MODULES

For existing users to the FIA eLearning

If you are an existing user to FIA eLearning, please log into your account and you will find the FIA E-Safety eLearning course catalogue on your FIA eLearning home page. Please use the arrows to scroll through the catalogue to find your desired module.

For new users to the FIA eLearning

You can access the modules from any internet-enabled device; however, we advise against using a mobile phone as detail on some content may be too small to see. We therefore recommend using a tablet device as a minimum, with the best learning experience achieved on a PC/Laptop.

To access and register to the module:

1/ follow the link: https://elearning.fia.com/learn/register

2/ Then type in the branch code: eSafetySRG

Once you access FIA eLearning you will land on a dedicated home page.

Under the FIA eLearning banner you will find a course catalogue “FIA E-Safety eLearning”. Please click this to open all available modules.

On the FIA platform, many modules will be made available. The ones about FIA e-Safety are listed below:

• M1 – FIA e-safety Core module

• M2 – FIA e-safety WEC module

• M3 – FIA e-safety WRC module

After receiving multiple requests from ASNs, the FIA has put in place a pack of information in order to hand over easily all necessary information, documents and tools for the implementation of an e-Safety initiative at national level.

The objective of the FIA e-safety tool kit for ASNs is to provide all necessary information, tools, templates, and examples such as FIA published Sporting Regulations to any ASN who needs to implement operational e-safety measures into their sanctioned competitions running with High-Voltage power train. This tool kit is meant to provide a support and is not a mandatory requirement from the FIA. It is the full responsibility of the ASNs to adapt and implement their own operational e-safety procedures according to the type of vehicles, competitions, and local legislations. The FIA remains at full disposal to the ASNs in case of question or need for assistance via the e-mail HV-safety@fia.com.

The “e-Safety Tool Kit” contains various documents, including:

- An introduction note for those who are new to the topic.

- The last up-to-date e-Safety regulation (Supplement 10 of the appendix H to the FIA ISC)

- FE and WRC briefing material in PowerPoint format

- FE and WRC hand-outs sheets in PowerPoint format

- List of recommended PPE per role (for circuit and for closed roads)

- Pack of communication assets as used in WRC

Click here to access the FIA Box.