Model legislation to harmonise electrical safety

You may have heard about ‘harmonisation’ in the electrical industry but what does it mean for you?

At the moment, Australia’s states and territories have different rules, licences and electrical equipment registration systems but that’s about to change, courtesy of harmonisation.

At the end of the process there will be national work health and safety laws including new electrical safety provisions, national occupational licences and a national system of electrical equipment approvals.

All states and territories will generally align their own work health and safety legislation (including electrical safety legislation) with the model act and regulations.

Work health and safety changes will come into effect during 2012. These changes will introduce a common approach to the regulation of work health and safety and ensure there is a shared reference to requirements for electrical safety in the workplace.

In May 2011, Queensland amended the Electrical Safety Act 2002 to reflect changes agreed to by the Workplace Relations Ministerial Council. Changes to the Electrical Safety Regulation 2002 (PDF File, 1.02 MB) are being drafted. Both the Act and Regulation will remain as principal legislation in Queensland and the major effect of the changes will be:

• use of the term “person in charge of a business or undertaking” instead of “employer” and “self-employed person”
• “electrical safety obligation” is replaced by “electrical safety duty”
• there will be three tiers of offences – reckless conduct, failure to comply with an electrical safety duty (risk of death or serious injury or illness), and failure to comply with an electrical safety duty
• a new enforcement measure is introduced – a Non-disturbance Notice
• test and tag provisions will cover use of electrical equipment in an environment that exposes it to likely damage or reduction of expected life-span
• portable or installed safety switches may be used in a workplace.

Safe Work Australia, the co-ordinating agency for this project, is developing new codes of practice covering the management of electrical risks at the workplace, and working in the vicinity of overhead electric lines and underground electrical services. For more details visit Safe Work Australia. The commencement date for the electrical safety changes will be determined once the new codes of practice are finalised.

Occupational licensing changes will come into effect during 2012 to create consistency of rules, licences and electrical equipment registration systems across States and Territories. From mid to late 2012 jurisdictions will begin operating a new national occupational licensing system. Electrical occupations will be in the first wave of those coming under a National Occupational Licensing Authority, based in Sydney. The licensing system will be run by each state and territory in accordance with the policies of the Authority.

In November 2010, the Queensland Government passed the Occupational Licensing National Law (Queensland) Act 2010 which applied Victorian legislation to Queensland. Other states and territories have followed suit.

Electrical Equipment Safety System changes come into effect during 2012. These changes will eliminate the current need for businesses and workers to operate to differing rules, and electrical equipment certification systems across States and Territories. From 1 July 2012 Queensland and Victoria will begin operating a new Electrical Equipment Safety System, underpinned by nationally consistent legislation, which establishes risk-based harmonised rules for certification of types of electrical equipment. Other Australian jurisdictions and New Zealand are expected to join the system shortly after. Relevant legislative changes were made to the Electrical Safety Act 2002 and the Electrical Safety Regulation 2002 by Parliament in March 2011.

The new system will:

• specify which electrical equipment is included in the system
• classify electrical equipment into three risk levels with proportionate standards of conformance for each level
• place obligations for safety on a responsible supplier who is the first point of sale
• create a national register for all suppliers, and for certain high risk electrical equipment to be registered prior to sale
• fund a surveillance program to ensure ongoing compliance.

For more information please check out the Electrical Regulatory Authorities Council (ERAC).

Implementation of the Electrical Equipment Certification System by the Electrical Regulatory Authorities Council (ERAC)

As a first step in preparing for the new Electrical Equipment Safety System, ERAC has created a central portal for the making of applications for certification of electrical equipment under current electrical safety laws in Australia.

Clients of Energy Safe Victoria are familiar with this online application facility and ERAC is pleased to announce that the Queensland Electrical Safety Office has become part of this portal from 1 July 2011.

People wishing to make applications for these approvals may do so by logging on through the Electrical Regulatory Authorities Council (ERAC) login and selecting either Energy Safe Victoria or the Queensland Electrical Safety Office as their approval authority of choice through the application process.  This site may also be used to verify if a product is approved for sale.

ERAC hopes to expand this facility to other state regulators and private certification bodies over time to allow this facility to become the central hub for safety regulatory business for the electrical equipment industry in Australia and New Zealand.