16
Electrical
news
New handbook
for working on lifts
includes electrical
guidelines
By Michelle Robertson, Senior Media
and Communications Advisor
WorkSafe has produced a new handbook
titled Lift work on construction projects that
includes information for electrical workers
in line with the Electricity Safety Act 1998.
It provides advice for employers, employees,
health and safety representatives and all those
with a role in health or safety about controlling
risks associated with the installation or
refurbishment of lifts on construction projects.
Specific electrical guidelines for lift work
Any lift work undertaken on or near energised
electrical installations is high risk construction
work and a SWMS must be developed for
the work and followed.
Where the electrical equipment operates
at voltages less than 50 Volts AC or 120 Volts
ripple-free DC, include in the SWMS that the
risk of electric shock is controlled by use of
extra-low voltage.
Electricity safety laws also apply when
electrical installation work is undertaken as
part of lift work, including section 43 (4) of the
Electricity Safety Act 1998, that states:
“A person carrying out electrical installation
work must ensure that—
(a) ll electrical circuits or electrical equipment
a
handled in the course of that work are
disconnected from the electricity supply; or,
New licence
fees
The costs of electrical licence applications
and renewals will rise from 1 July following
the annual increase in the base fee unit,
set by the Department of Treasury and
Finance.
The Department has determined that the
value of a fee unit for the 2015–16 financial year
Licence
REC
Renewal period
will be $13.60, a rise of 36 cents.
The full list of price changes is detailed
below.
The cost for an exemption application
made under regulation 401 of the Electricity
Safety (Installation) Regulations 2009 will
increase from $77 to $80.
Fee to
30 June 2015
Updated fees
from 1 July 2015
LEI
Renewal
5 years
$275
$282
New application
5 years
$573
$588
Renewal
5 years
$275
$282
New application
LEW
Notes
5 years
$573
$588
Renewal (A) Electrician’s
Licence
5 years
$184
$189
New application (A)
Electrician’s Licence
5 years
$368
$378
Renewal only—(ES)
Electrician (Supervised)
Licence
5 years
$184
$189
New Application (L)
Supervised Worker’s Licence
Up to 3 years
$221
$226
Renewal only (O)
Occupiers Licence
5 years
$184
$189
Renewal (REL) Disconnect/
Reconnect
5 years
$275
$282
New application (REL)
Disconnect/Reconnect
5 years
$573
$588
New application (SG)
Switchgear Worker’s Licence
5 years
$368
$378
Renewal (SG) Switchgear
Worker’s Licence
Lineworkers & Spotters
Not required as yet
No change
If not renewed on time
application for a Supervised
Worker’s Licence required
If not renewed on time
no longer available
(b) dequate precautions are taken to prevent
a
electric shock or other injury in the handling
of electrical circuits or electrical equipment
in the course of that work.”
Where reasonably practicable, disconnect
the electricity supply from circuits and equipment
(isolation) and, describe in the SWMS how
isolation is achieved and how it will be maintained.
When the electricity supply is not isolated,
including for electrical fault-finding, the SWMS
must describe the safety measures to be
implemented to control the risks of electric shock.
Guidance on isolation and safety measures
can be found in AS/NZS 4836—Safe work on
low-voltage electrical installations.
While the handbook provides advice on
a number of aspects associated with lift work,
it is not exhaustive nor does it address all
potential risks. Issues associated with the
installation of escalators, moving walkways
or stairway lifts are also not covered. Nothing
in the handbook overrides the manufacturer’s
recommendations with regard to the safe design
or operation of a lift.
lick here to download Lift work
C
on construction projects
Warning
about bogus
electrician
Energy Safe Victoria is warning
residents in Coburg to be wary of
a bogus tradesman who pretends
to be an electrician and is carrying
out dangerous electrical work.
Samson Sahinidis, of Coburg,
was convicted and fined $6000 in the
Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court on
22 April for doing unlicensed electrical
work and installing unsafe electrical
equipment.
It was the third time he has been
prosecuted by ESV in the past decade
for pretending to be an electrician.
Sahinidis has never held an electrician’s
licence but his father is a properly
licensed electrician.
The Director of Energy Safety,
Paul Fearon, urged anyone needing
electrical work to avoid contact with
Samson Sahinidis as he was leaving )