Work Health and Safety Regulations describe the requirements for ensuring that persons at work are, as far as is reasonably practicable, safe from the risks of injury caused by electricity. To achieve this, the University aims to minimise the risk of injury, electrical shock or fire and requires that any electrical work performed on an electrical installation or electrical plant is only carried out by an authorized competent person.
The Code of Practice Managing Electrical Risks in the Workplace provides practical guidance on managing electrical risks in the workplace.
University Electrical Safety Procedures
The University's Electrical safety procedures outline the requirements for management of electrical safety in the University. The technical details which qualified electricians and electronic technicians are expected to know have not been repeated in these Procedures.
The management of electrical safety requires processes to be in place to assist in reducing the risk, as far as reasonably practicable, by:
- Preventing electric shock - e.g. arising from exposer to live contacts from a variety of situations such as damaged insulation on electrical equipment, plugs or extension leads.
- Reduce the risk of fire arising from heating equipment, overloaded circuits, loose connections, short circuits or inappropriate electrical equipment (i.e. not meeting Australian Standards) or used inappropriately in hazardous environments.
Testing and tagging of electrical equipment
The safety inspection and testing and tagging of electrical equipment must be carried out by competent persons.
The University engages an external contractor to provide this test and tag service in conjunction with the University qualified electricians. Requests for electrical testing and tagging can be placed via Service One.
Electrical equipment must be electrically tested and tagged in accordance with the Electrical Safety Procedures and at testing intervals is specified in AS/NZS 3760.
New to Service Tagging
All new electrical equipment as a minimum must be tagged ‘new to service’ as per the Electrical Safety Procedures. Please note there is a short training session available online which outlines the requirements and where to obtain ‘new to service’ tags.
The equipment must then have the regular inspection and be tested and tagged at the next round of testing or at a maximum within 12 months of purchase.
Visual Inspection and use of electrical equipment
All users of electrical equipment should periodically visually check their equipment: This is particularly the case for items that are regularly moved (e.g. laptop cables)
Visual inspection of equipment is to check it is free from obvious external damage including;
- supply cords – frayed cords, inner part of cords or wires exposed, external sheaths cut, abraded or damaged;
- defects in connectors, plugs, or socket outlets;
- cords are not tangled and do not contribute a tripping hazard;
- power boards – are not used in a way that causes them to overload.
- plugs are not withdrawn from a socket by pulling the cable and causing damage.
And complies by:
- Meeting Australian Standards- i.e. must have a RCM (Regulatory Compliance Mark) or other Australian safety approval mark.
- Not used in an environment that the equipment is not designed for and therefore unsafe e.g. in wet or flammable conditions.
- double adaptors or "piggy-back" plugs are not in use;
- there is no “overload” of power boards / EPODs;
If there are any items identified as being damaged, incorrectly used or non-compliant, then please ensure the appropriate area supervisor is notified of any faults and that the equipment is then removed from use and tagged out of service until it is repaired, re-tested and re-tagged.
Some items or hazards that require taking out of service and replacing:
If an Incident relating to electrical shock or burn occurs please arrange immediately for a person to receive appropriate medical treatment as necessary.
Even if the person does not appear injured they must present to a medical facility for a medical check (ECG) and confirm they are fit to resume activities.
Make the area safe and ensure no one is exposed to electrical hazards.
Workers and students and others must report all electrical accidents or incidents to their supervisor or Topic Coordinator and on FlinSafe as soon as possible.
The following must be reported immediately to University Security or to the Associate Director, Work Health and Safety as they are deemed notifiable incidents
- any accident or incident that involves an electric shock or electric burns
- any incident involving electricity that had the potential to cause serious injury.
These incidents will be reported in line with the Notifiable Incident requirements to SafeWork SA and the Office of the Technical Regulator (OTR) by the Associate Director, Work Health and Safety (or nominee). Notification must be within 24 hours.
If a Notifiable Incident involves a Contractor, then that Contractor's company must also report the Notifiable Incident to the Regulators.
The general principles and process of risk management (hazard identification, risk assessment, control and review) must be applied to electrical hazards see - WHS risk management procedures
A risk assessment must be undertaken and consider all reasonably foreseeable electrical hazards associated with plant/ tasks and electrical installations, including the environmental conditions they will be used in.
Where a risk assessment determines controls need to be put in place, then a Safe Work Procedure must be developed to reflect the use of these controls and adhered to.
Workers and others in the workplace must be informed of any potential electromagnetic hazards in the workplace which may affect a medical condition.
Very specific requirements apply to directly imported equipment, second hand electrical items and non-University electrical equipment- please see the Electrical Safety Procedures for further information.
Only authorised competent persons are permitted to work on University electrical installations. This means a licensed or registered electrician, or any other person permitted to carry out or supervise electrical work under relevant State or Territory legislation.
No access to switch boards and circuit breakers.
Access to University switchboards is restricted to Property, Facilities and Development Division authorised staff only unless they have been approved by the Property, Facilities and Development Division.
Resetting of circuit breakers located in University switchboards must be carried out by a competent person
Isolation Permit are required for electrical isolation they must be approved and issued by PFD.
Work on energised electrical equipment/installations is prohibited unless very specific requirements under the WHS legislation are met and approved – see the Electrical Safety Procedures for further information.
Sturt Rd, Bedford Park
South Australia 5042
