What does the law say - electrical suppliers & distributors

To understand safety requirements for electricity supply and distribution entities and obligations for electrical safety you must understand the legislation and codes of practice.

• General electrical safety rights and obligations
• What you must do
• Specific regulations for electricity supply and distribution entities
• Specific codes of practice for electricity supply and distribution entities

General electrical safety rights and obligations

To understand your obligations and electrical safety requirements you must know:

• Electrical Safety Act 2002 which imposes obligations on people at workplaces to ensure workplace health and safety.

The Electrical Safety Act 2002 also helps you to meet your electrical safety obligations through the:

• Electrical Safety Regulation 2002 (PDF File, 1.02 MB) which describes what must be done to prevent or control certain hazards which cause injury or death
• Codes of practice which give practical advice about ways to manage risks common to industry.

You also have obligations and safety obligations under the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (PDF, 766 KB) .

Where the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 and the Electrical Safety Act 2002 both apply to a situation, the Electrical Safety Act 2002 takes precedence.

Every Queensland employer must have workers’ compensation insurance. Most employers insure with WorkCover Queensland, while a small number of large organisations have their own insurance. This insurance ensures that employees injured at work receive financial support.

What you must do

• If the regulation describes an electrical risk at your workplace you must do what the regulation says
• If there is a Code of Practice about an electrical risk at your workplace you must either:
  • do what the code says
  • adopt another way that identifies and manages exposure to the risk that is equally effective as, or more effective than what the code says
  • ensure you take reasonable precautions and exercise proper diligence.

If there is no regulation or code of practice about a risk at your workplace you must choose how to manage the risk, take precautions and proper diligence about the risk.

See the Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2010 - Risk Management (PDF File, 616.5 KB) for further information.

Specific regulations for electricity supply and distribution entities

Electrical Safety Regulation 2002

Specific codes of practice for electricity supply and distribution entities

One code of practice describes the main electrical safety problems with electricity supply and distribution entities and gives advice on how to address them:

Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2010 - Works (PDF File, 502.0 KB)

Where electrical safety risks exist at your workplace you must either:

• do what the code says
• adopt another way that identifies and manages the risk that is equally effective as, or more effective than what the code says
• ensure you take reasonable precautions and exercise proper diligence.