Qld electrical licensing disciplinary actions: Nov 2019

During November 2019 there were seven electrical licensing disciplinary actions, according to the Electrical Licensing Committee. These committee actions were in addition to notices and fines that were already issued by Queensland’s electrical safety regulator, the Electrical Safety Office (ESO).

Two serious actions

The most serious disciplinary action pertained to an electrical worker who advertised his services online to carry out unlicensed electrical contracting work. Sixteen properties were audited and multiple breaches against AS/NZ3000 were found, which caused several of the properties to be electrically unsafe. The worker was disqualified from holding an electrical work or contractor licence for five years and due to the seriousness of the offences was deemed negligent and a danger to the community should he be allowed to continue in the electrical industry. The action involved immediate cancellation of his licence and a $3200 fine. The disqualification extends “to the application of external equivalency provisions to any electrical work licence issued by another Australian state or territory, or New Zealand”, according to ESO.

A second serious action involved an electrical contractor who failed to maintain auditing practices of employees and who also failed to ensure procedures, legislation and Australian Standards were met. Insufficient training led to the failure of workers to complete mandatory installation and test procedures. The contractor received a six-month licence suspension and a $2500 fine.

Summary of remaining five actions

The five other electrical licensing disciplinary actions across the state during November included:

• A caution against work licence and a $200 fine for a worker who undertook an upgrade to a new switchboard on a domestic property that had serious defects. These defects were deemed to have the potential to cause harm to people and property, and resulted in the home owners experiencing multiple tingles from energised water pipes.
• A six-month disqualification from being a technical person with the requirement to complete competency units and a $300 fine for a worker who did not isolate power while undertaking electrical work on a main switchboard. The workers’ failure to identify risks and to implement safe work systems led to a severe arc flash injury.
• A three-month electrical worker’s licence suspension, six-month disqualification from being a qualified technical person and a $300 fine for a worker who failed to demonstrate safety competency while working on a large grid connect solar system. Failure to comply with wiring rules or manufacturer’s instruction led to significant fire damage to a commercial property.
• A six-month electrical contractor’s licence suspension and a $600 fine for an electrical contractor failure to implement safe systems of work and test procedures that led to a person not sufficiently competent undertaking a task that involved non-compliant electrical work.
• Thirty-five penalty points to an electrical contractor whose failure to implement safe systems of work led to a worker receiving severe arc flash burns.
   

Further resources on electrical safety are available via the ESO’s website.

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