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What are you really paying for?
"Your Electrical Contractor must satisfy many legal “Obligations
You are paying for a service provided by a qualified and licenced electrical
contractor. The contractor must comply
with all of the requirements of the Electrical Safety Act, the Electrical Safety
Regulations, and the Australian Wiring Rules.
The Electrical Safety Act imposes a number of “obligations” on the
contractor and all employed staff.
The electrical industry is one in which technology and associated legislation is
constantly changing. Your
contractor and staff must continually update skills and the ability to comply
with change.
The staff, all of whom are technicians, will have undergone 4-year
apprenticeships involving both on-the-job training and rigorous blocks of study
with a Registered Training Organisation.
In order to meet their statutory “obligations” all electrical workers must:-
1.
Be employed by a Licenced Electrical Contractor, who must maintain compliant
electrical and workplace safety systems.
2.
Maintain their Electrical Work Licence current by the successful completion of
:-
o
Low Voltage Rescue (LVR) training every 6 months.
o
First Aid and CPR training every 12 months.
o
An Electrical Skills Maintenance Test every 5 years.
Also Hold and maintain Licences and Accreditations in Cabling, Security, Air
conditioning, fire services etc etc.. and maintain requirements to hold these
licences.
3.
Conduct a Risk Assessment immediately before starting every job. The risk
assessment must establish specific
control measures to ensure the safety of all stakeholders and the integrity of
the site.
4.
Conduct complete and thorough tests to ensure that the entirety of the
electrician systems and apparatus (not just the parts effected by the work
completed on the day) are safe and record the results, supplying them with a
certificate of test to the consumer.
Maintain records and results and work with ESO and supply authorities as
required when information is requested or required.
5.
Hold and maintain mandatory Testing equipment.
This expensive equipment must be professionally tested every 6 months to
ensure the accuracy of the necessary test results.
6.
Use only Fibreglass or Wooden Ladders (as Aluminium conducts electricity). These
must also be certified every 12 months.
Have and maintain specialised clothing and PPE suitable for electrical work and
specialised Tools and equipment. Including rubber safety mats, Low voltage
rescue kits, insulated gloves and isolation equipment like Pole fuse pullers and
lockout kits.
7.
Have a Safety Observer, who holds current Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation and Low
Voltage Rescue certification in attendance whenever working on live electrical
parts. Whilst this observer may appear
to be doing nothing, this is a legal requirement of the Electrical Safety Office
– it is illegal to perform live work* without a Safety Observer.
In addition to the above your Electrical Contractor may be required, by
membership of a program, to maintain:-
·
* his enterprise within a Code of Ethics, requiring all activities to be carried
out at a level over above the minimum level defined by the legislation.
·
* an ability to provide additional advice on areas of the industry such as
energy minimisation.
·
* a safety system at a higher level.
·
* a quality control system.
·
* Police checks and blue cards.
....and may incur additional costs for membership and compliance with the
requirements of such programmes, whilst being in a position to provide you with
substantially better service and advice.
Such programmes are designed to reward customers with reductions in
energy costs and the like, as a result of the better knowledge and ability of
the contractor and staff.
Other overheads that must be covered are Insurances, Public liability, work
cover, Vehicle insurance and registration,
Miscellaneous. Petrol, Stock in vehicles, Uniforms, Subscriptions to electrical
related publications, Phones and Phone Systems, Software and Computers,
Please note failure to have the above items covered will create a higher risk
and liability on the persons or organisations that hire that tradesman. Is it
worth it?
#Edited
extracts from
the Electrical Safety Office Website:-
http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/electricalsafety/law/codes/electricalwork/worklive/issues/index.htm#safety
1. “A safety observer must be used
when performing live electrical work unless the work involves testing electrical
equipment.
Where the work has been assessed as high risk, a safety observer should be used
as one form of control measure unless the safe system of work specifically
addresses the likelihood of inadvertent contact with exposed live parts through
alternative measures.
Examples of high risk work include:
·
Fault finding at a switchboard …..
·
Installing and replacing components at a switchboard;
·
Performing complex fault finding.
If a safety observer is used as part of a risk management strategy, the
following should apply:
·
The safety observer's role should be clearly communicated and understood. The
role is to warn the worker or workers of danger as well as to perform rescue and
resuscitation, as required;
·
The safety observer should not carry out any other work or function that
compromises their role as a safety observer;
·
The safety observer should not have to observe more than one task at a time;
·
To meet an electrical safety obligation, a safety observer should not be
regarded as the sole control measure to ensure electrical safety.”
2. Live work means electrical work
performed under circumstances in which the part of the electrical equipment that
is the subject of the electrical work is energised.
Examples include:
·
testing components of a television set that’s switched on to carry out a repair;
·
testing to ensure correct connections (including polarity); or
·
tightening the terminals of live circuit breakers.
.
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