Electrical safety focus campaign completed

ACT WorkCover has completed its safety focus campaign targeting electrical safety. The campaign began in January in response to a spate of injury reports received by ACT WorkCover involving electrical shock incidents.

Inspectors visited 17 businesses, and used a standard checklist to determine the level of electrical safety compliance within businesses, thus ensuring a consistent approach was adopted.

During their visits Inspectors looked for evidence that businesses were using risk assessment systems, testing and tagging equipment, keeping maintenance logbooks, ensuring that flexible electrical cords were within the maximum length according to the Amp rating, and devices that have more than two outlets had an overload mechanism in place.

The level of compliance was disappointing with a total of 10 Improvement Notices, 1 Prohibition Notice and 9 Compliance Agreements issued.

Concerns include a low level of awareness by employers in the Retail Trade and Café/ Restaurant industries of their obligation to have risk assessment systems in place to identify electrical plant and equipment safety hazards, and to ensure routine testing and tagging of the equipment is taking place.

Employers should refer to the National Standard for Plant NOHSC:1010(1994) which has been adopted as a Code of Practice in the ACT, and to AS/NZ 3760:2003 for the Australian Standard in respect of testing and tagging of electrical equipment.

http://www.workcover.act.gov.au/pdfs/guides_cop/PlantStandard_NOHSC1010.pdf