Latest news
Summer 2019
energysafe issue 56
Tree climbers get the
ESV safety message
By Dan Tulen, Advisor, Line Clearance Assurance
ESV’s Line Clearance Assurance team
has again taken an active role in the
Victorian Tree Climbing Championships.
The championships are held in
various locations around Victoria
each November and the events are
organised by the Victorian Tree Industry
Organisation (VTIO). The VTIO is an
industry body whose members include
arborists, tree climbers and other tree
industry workers in Victoria.
ESV has been a major sponsor of the
VTIO for the past three years and the
championships are an opportunity for
our Line Clearance Assurance team
to promote our line safety campaigns,
safe work practices and assist with the
running of the event. This year the team
attended the event at Landcox Park,
Brighton East.
Throughout the day team members
engaged with industry stakeholders,
providing information and advice to
participants and tree industry personnel,
including ensuring people working
with trees are aware of the need for
completing works safely near powerlines
and knowing the rules they are required
to follow.
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The event offered three categories
of competition: student, masters and
an open category. Sixty competitors
undertook designated climbing tasks
including a speed climb, work climb,
aerial rescue, throw line and an ascent
event. Each climb was timed and scored
for technical correctness, with totals
determining class and overall winners
for the day.
Overall winners will represent Victoria at
the national tree climbing championships
to be held on the Gold Coast next year.
Events such as the Victorian Tree
Climbing Championships offer ESV an
opportunity for its staff to speak directly
with industry stakeholders, ensuring our
key safety messages are communicated
directly to our intended audience.
The championships also provide industry
participants an open environment in
which to raise issues and ask questions
of the industry safety regulator.
Online Services no longer
available
We continue to transfer and develop
new services on ESVConnect, and as
a result, from 8 November 2019 Online
Services was no longer available to
REC’s, LEW’s and IC’s.
Upgrade to ESVConnect
All licensed electrical workers must
upgrade to ESVConnect to lodge
COES and manage licences. You will
need your Online Services User ID
and password to do so. If you do not
have these, lodge an enquiry via our
Licensing Contact form on the Contact
us page of our website or call the
Licensing team on 1800 815 721.
ESVConnect works best in Google
Chrome, which can be easily
downloaded. Do not use Internet
Explorer to access ESVConnect.
Registration of Cathodic
Protection Systems
The new Electricity Safety (Cathodic
Protection) Regulations 2019, which
came into force on 29 November 2019,
advise that small cathodic protection
systems (250mA and below) are no
longer required to be registered due to
the low risk of stray currents affecting
other structures. More information can
be found on the ESV website.