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.
