Electrical Safety Regulation 2013

This regulation may be cited as the Electrical Safety Regulation 2013.

This regulation commences on 1 January 2014.

The purposes of this regulation include the following—

ensuring the electrical safety of licensed electrical workers, other workers, licensed electrical contractors, consumers and the general public;

enhancing consumer protection for electrical work;

stopping cathodic protection systems from damaging or interfering with the property of others;

ensuring a safe supply of electricity;

ensuring electrical equipment hired or sold is electrically safe.

The ways adopted by this regulation for the achievement of its purposes include the following—

prescribing matters in support of the electrical licensing arrangements established under the Act;

prescribing requirements for working around exposed parts and energised electrical equipment;

prescribing requirements for electrical installations;

prescribing matters about electrical equipment, including—

requirements for electrical equipment; and

requirements relating to the registration and certification of particular electrical equipment; and

requirements about the hiring, selling, testing and using of electrical equipment; and

requiring particular electrical equipment to be marked for compliance with relevant standards; and

requirements for the testing of electrical equipment;

prescribing requirements and procedures for the design, building and maintenance of electric lines and the works of electricity entities;

prescribing requirements for the performance of electrical work;

prescribing requirements for safety management systems for prescribed electricity entities;

prescribing requirements for the operation of cathodic protection systems and requirements for particular systems to be registered by the regulator;

prescribing notification and reporting requirements for serious electrical incidents and dangerous electrical events.

The dictionary in schedule 9 defines particular words used in this regulation.

If a word used in this regulation is not defined in the dictionary, and is not defined in the Act, but is used in the wiring rules, it must, to the greatest practicable extent, be taken to have the same meaning in this regulation as it has in the wiring rules.

In this regulation, unless otherwise stated—

a reference to a standard using the designation made up of ‘AS’ and a number is a reference to the standard as in force from time to time under that designation; andExample—

‘AS 1319’ is a reference to the standard that is currently in force under that designation.

a reference to a joint standard using the designation made up of ‘AS/NZS’ and a number is a reference to the joint standard as in force from time to time under that designation.

Example—

‘AS/NZS 3012’ is a reference to the joint standard that is currently in force under that designation.

Subsection (1) applies regardless of the edition or year of the standard or joint standard.Example of operation of subsection (2)—

In this regulation, a reference to AS/NZS 3000 is a reference to that standard as amended from time to time, and as remade from time to time.

Bracketed words appearing after a standard’s designation are included for information purposes only.

A qualified business person, for an applicant or a licensed electrical contractor, is an individual who satisfies the regulator that he or she—

is a fit and proper person; and

is competent to perform the business aspects of performing electrical work as, or for, a licensed electrical contractor; and

has satisfactorily finished a course of instruction, or an examination required by the regulator, on business aspects of performing electrical work; and

is someone who—

has satisfactorily finished a course of instruction, or an examination required by the regulator, on business aspects of performing electrical work in addition to a course or examination mentioned in paragraph (c); or

holds a qualification in business approved by the regulator and published on the department’s website; or

has been operating a business for a period of, or periods totalling, 5 years.

A qualified technical person, for an applicant or a licensed electrical contractor, is an individual who satisfies the regulator that he or she—

is a fit and proper person; and

either—

if the electrical work to be performed by the applicant or licensed electrical contractor may be performed only by the holder of an electrical work licence—has held for at least 2 years, or a shorter period considered acceptable by the regulator, and still holds, an electrical work licence; or

has held for at least 2 years, or a shorter period considered acceptable by the regulator, and still holds, an external contracting authority; and

is competent to perform electrical work as, or for, a licensed electrical contractor; and

has satisfactorily finished a course of instruction, or an examination required by the regulator, on technical aspects of performing electrical work.

Despite subsections (1) and (2), for a person who is an individual to be a qualified business person or qualified technical person—

for an applicant or licensed electrical contractor who is an individual, the person must also be, or be an employee of, that individual; or

for an applicant or licensed electrical contractor that is a partnership, the person must also be a member or an employee of that partnership; or

for an applicant or licensed electrical contractor that is a corporation, the person must also be an executive officer, a member or an employee of that corporation.

In deciding whether a person who is an individual is a fit and proper person, the regulator may consider only—

the standard of honesty and integrity demonstrated by the person in commercial and other activities in which the person has been involved; and

any failure by the person to perform commercial or statutory obligations and the reasons for the failure.

Despite subsection (4), a person who is an individual is not a fit and proper person to be a qualified technical person if the individual is disqualified from being a qualified technical person for the holder of an electrical contractor licence, because of disciplinary action taken by the licensing committee.

In this section—

applicant means an individual, partnership or corporation that has applied for the issue of an electrical contractor licence.

If a note at the foot of a provision of this regulation states ‘ES Act’ followed by a reference to a section number, the provision sets out the way in which a person’s duty under that section of the Act is to be performed in relation to the matters and to the extent set out in the provision.

Note—

A failure to comply with a duty under a section of the Act mentioned in an ‘ES Act’ note is an offence to which a penalty applies.

A duty imposed on a person under a provision of this regulation in relation to electrical safety does not limit or affect any duty the person has under the Act or, unless otherwise expressly provided, any other provision of this regulation.

If this regulation requires an assessment of risks to electrical safety associated with a hazard, task, thing or circumstance, an assessment of risks associated with a class of hazards, tasks, things or circumstances may be conducted if—

all hazards, tasks, things or circumstances in the class are the same; and

the assessment of risks for the class does not result in any worker or other person being exposed to a greater, additional or different risk to electrical safety than if the risk assessment were carried out in relation to each individual hazard, task, thing or circumstance.

A person conducting a business or undertaking at a workplace must manage risks to health and safety associated with electrical risks at the workplace in accordance with the WHS Regulation, chapter 3, part 3.1.Example of electrical risks—

electrical risks associated with the design, construction, installation, protection, maintenance and testing of electrical equipment and electrical installations at a workplaceNote—

ES Act—section 30 (see section 8)

In this division—

electrical work does not include high voltage live line work.

near, in relation to electrical equipment, means within 3m of an exposed energised part of the equipment.

safe work method statement, in relation to electrical work on energised electrical equipment, means a safe work method statement prepared under section 22.