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• Rights and obligations
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The Electrical Safety Regulation 2002

Electrical work
Licensing
Working around electrical parts
Electrical installations
Electrical equipment
Works of an electrical entity
Electricity supply
Safety management systems
Accredited auditors
Cathodic protection systems
Incident notification and reporting
Miscellaneous provisions

A regulation identifies specific ways to meet your electrical safety obligations under the Act. Among other things, the Electrical Safety Regulation 2002 (PDF, 1 MB) sets down:

• safety and technical requirements for electrical work, electrical equipment and the works of electrical entities
• safety and technical requirements for work in contact with or near exposed parts
• requirements for safety management plans
• notification and reporting requirements for serious electrical incidents and dangerous electrical events
• all matters about electrical licences
• enforcing the electrical licensing provisions
• approvals of electrical equipment
• administrative matters

The Electrical Safety Regulation 2002 contains provision for penalties of up to $4,000 for an individual or $20,000 for a corporation.

Note: A regulation does not identify all that a person needs to do to satisfy their obligations. However if a person does not follow a regulation they will be in breach of their obligations.

Following are some of the key points of the Electrical Safety Regulation 2002, particularly for contractors and workers.

Electrical work

Part 2 of the Regulation prescribes ways of discharging the electrical safety obligation of an employer or self-employed person to ensure the person’s business or undertaking is conducted in a way that is electrically safe.

Topics covered include:

• basic requirements for electrical work (Section 11), including live work (Section 12)
• high-voltage line work (Section 13)
• testing of work (Section 14)
• the requirements that apply to employers and self-employed persons (Division 5)
• other requirements for electrical workers (Sections 19 to 21)
• general provisions for electrical work, including the signing of documents for electrical work (Sections 22 to 24)

Licensing

Part 3 of the Regulation covers the following:

• electrical work licences, including:
  • the classes of electrical work licences (Section 25)
  • the work that the different licences authorise (Sections 26 to 32)
  • the requirements for each class of licence (Sections 33 to 39)
• electrical contractor licences, including:
  • eligibility requirements for individuals, partnerships and corporations (Sections 40 to 42)
• miscellaneous items, including:
  • renewal or reinstatement of electrical licences (Section 47)
  • examinations for assessing competencies (Section 53)
  • operation of a trade contractor's licence (Section 55A)
  • performing electrical work without an electrical licence (Section 57)

Working around electrical parts

Part 4 of the Regulation prescribes the requirements for persons performing work in contact with, or near to, electrical parts.

Topics covered include:

• requirements for working around electrical parts (Section 62), including:
  • construction workplaces (Sections 62A, B, C)
  • excavating and underground electrical services (Section 62D)
• work within exclusion zones (Section 64), including:
  • consultation required for work around overhead electric lines (Section 64A)

Electrical installations

Part 5 of the Regulation covers the safety obligation of an employer or self employed person to ensure the business is conducted in a way that is electrically safe by:

• ensuring any licensed electrical worker employed to work on:
  • electrical installations (Section 65); or
  • water equipment; or
  • electric motors on vehicles (Sections 68 and 69)

performs the work in accordance with the wiring rules (non-Queensland Government link) (Section 66) and also in accordance with AS/NZS 3012 Electrical installations - Construction and demolition sites (non-Queensland Government link) on construction sites (Sections 67 and 67A)

• properly maintaining electric lines and structures of the installation and surrounds when supplied electricity by an electricity entity (this includes tree trimming) (Sections 72 to 76)
• installation of safety switches in domestic residences as required (Sections 77 to 80)
• ensuring an electrician does not perform certain installation work on a residence if a safety switch is not already installed (Section 81)
• ensuring all electrical installations and equipment used in the workplace is properly inspected and tested (Sections 82 to 94)

Electrical equipment

Part 6 of the Regulation covers:

• the restrictions on the hire or sale of particular items of electrical equipment in equipment (Section 100)
• Queensland approvals of types of electrical equipment of a prescribed class of electrical equipment (Section 101)
• changes to approvals, such as changing the name and address on the approval or changing the type of approval (Sections 105 to 107)
• transferring or cancelling approvals (Sections 108 to 111)
• the required marking of approved electrical equipment (Sections 112 and 113)
• the testing requirements for electrical equipment of an approved type (Sections 114 to 118)
• non-prescribed electrical equipment (Sections 119 and 120)
• prohibitions on the hire or sale of particular electrical equipment (Section 121)
• the sale of second-hand electrical equipment (Sections 122 and 123)
• labelling and inspection of electrical equipment (Section 124)
• the hire of electrical equipment (Sections 125 and 126)

The works of an electrical entity

Part 7 of the Regulation prescribes ways of discharging the electrical safety obligations of electrical entities.

This part covers:

• earthing and protection (Sections 129 to 133)
• substations (Section 134)
• electric lines and control cables (Sections 134A to 143)
• termination requirements for low voltage overhead service lines (Section 144)
• service lines (Sections 145 and 146)
• the maintenance of works (Sections 147 and 148)

Electricity supply

Part 8 of the Regulation covers:

• connection to a source of electricity (Sections 149 to 155)
• private generating plant (Sections 156 and 157)
• testing of electrical work on an electrical installation (Sections 158 to 162)
• requests for the examination of electrical work by electrical entities (Sections 163 and 164)

Safety management systems

Part 9 of the Regulation outlines:

• the requirements for electrical entities to have safety management systems in place (Section 165)
• the requirements for these safety management systems (Section 166)

Accredited auditors

Part 10 of the Regulation covers:

• applications for appointment as an accredited auditor (Section 167)
• that the term of office for an accredited auditor is five years (Section 169)

Cathodic protection systems

Part 11 of the Regulation does not apply to any cathodic protection system installed on:

• a floating mobile structure
• fishing equipment
• a fixed offshore structure not connected with land above sea-level
• the internal surface of an apparatus, structure or item of equipment to which AS 2832.4 Guide to the cathodic protection of metals – internal surfaces (non-Queensland Government link) applies (Section 172)

This part covers:

• the requirements for the design and installation of cathodic protection systems (Sections 173 and 174)
• operating and testing requirements for cathodic protection systems (Sections 175 to 181)
• system requirements for cathodic protection systems (Sections 182 to 185)
• registration of registrable cathodic protection systems, including:
  • application for registration (Sections 187 and 188)
  • term of the registration (Section 189)
  • changes to details on the registration (Section 190)
  • changes to the registered system (Section 193)

Incident notification and reporting

Part 12 of the Regulation outlines the requirements of both electrical entities and employers and self-employed persons to notify the Electrical Safety Office of serious electrical incidents or dangerous electrical events (Sections 194 to 202).

Miscellaneous provisions

Part 13 of the Regulation covers a number of provisions including:

• electrical safety contributions made by distribution entities (Sections 203 to 206)
• mines, petroleum plants and prescribed workplaces (Sections 207 and 207A)
• employer obligations for supervising electrical trainees or apprentices (Section 209)

Last updated February 11, 2009

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