04
Editorial
From the editor
Managing editor
Sharon Rainsbury
Editor
Michelle Robertson
Contributors
Michelle Robertson
Michael Weber
Enzo Alfonsetti
John Stolk
John Murphy
Tyler Mason
Jason Treseder
Laurie Devitt
Georgina Waters
David Webb
Editorial assistant
Janice Williams
Design
Aer Design
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Energy Safe Victoria
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A family camping weekend almost turned to
tragedy this winter when four members of an
extended family went to bed with a butane
camping heater burning in their tent. The
heater was designed for outdoor use only.
The cries of an 18-month-old baby alerted
other family members who went to check on the
group around midnight and found the three women
could not be roused.
They were dragged into the fresh air and
revived before being taken to hospital. Fortunately
all made a full recovery.
ESV has also been investigating the death
of an Ararat man who was found in his home
with a camping heater affixed to an LPG cylinder.
Toxicology tests are yet to determine if the man died
from carbon monoxide poisoning or other causes.
These two incidents are sobering reminders
of the dangers that carbon monoxide can pose
if gas appliances aren’t used according to the
manufacturer’s instructions or, in the case of indoor
heaters, serviced regularly.
I hope you all saw our new carbon monoxide
television ad at the movies or on TV at the start
of winter.
The new ad is more hard-hitting than anything
we’ve done in the past, but we won’t apologise
for that. Five years after Chase and Tyler Robinson
died from carbon monoxide poisoning in their
Mooroopna home, we were keen to refresh our
community safety message to continue to remind
Victorians that regular appliance servicing is the
best way to keep your family safe.
The new ad, which was launched by the
Minister at the start of winter, graphically illustrates
that “a faulty gas heater can leave you cold”.
We’ve got some exciting news for our electrical
licence holders with a new Certificate of Electrical
Safety and Licensing platform coming soon.
As the first step in the upgrade of our licensing
and certification database, the user interface has
been upgraded so that it will operate with most
browsers including Safari and Firefox.
We will be launching the new interface in
September so keep an eye on your email for
more details.
If we don’t have your email address on
file, please send back the cover sheet with
this issue of the magazine or email us at
[email protected]
And finally, if you’d like a pair of the slipper
socks we distributed at our CO awareness launch
in May (page 8) email us at [email protected]
and we’ll send you a pair. We have pink and blue
for the kids, and red, blue and black for the adults.
Sharon Rainsbury
[email protected]
Keysborough, VIC 3173
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EnergySafe is copyright.
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is not permissible without the
written permission of EnergySafe
Dedicated new Facebook pages
for sparkies and gasfitters
Victoria, depending on the source
of the article.
By Michelle Robertson, Senior Media and
Communications Advisor
Liability
Howsoever arising as a
consequence of use or reliance
upon any advice, representations,
statement, opinion or conclusion
expressed herein is expressly
denied by Energy Safe Victoria
and all persons involved in the
preparation of this publication.
Get technical safety updates straight to your
mobile via ESV’s new gas and electrical
industry Facebook pages.
The two new pages—one for electrical
content and one for gas—are designed for
electricians, gasiftters and all those working in the
industries to get up-to-date news and technical
information from ESV.
While the main ESV Facebook page is a forum
for community safety messages and general news,
the new gas and electrical pages are designed to
provide information of a more specific or technical
nature. Examples include licensing news, updates
to regulations, new ESV resources and technical
information sheets. Safety alerts will also be posted
along with some answers to questions
our technical teams receive.
All you need to do is open Facebook
and search for Energy Safe Victoria—Electricians
or Energy Safe Victoria—Gasfitters and “Like”
the page.