0412 589 589
OH & S recommendations
The Occupational Health & Safety (OH & S) Acts throughout Australia call for all portable equipment, appliances, electric tools, extension leads, power boards & portable residual current devices in commercial & industrial areas to be tested on a regular basis.
Under the Victorian OH & S Act(2004), the employer has a legal obligation to ensure the workplace & the plant at the workplace is safe & without risks to health (Section 21). This means identifying whether there are any hazards associated with electrical equipment, assessing the associated risks & taking measures to eliminate or control those risks.
Worksafe Victoria advises that electrical testing & tagging for all plug-in equipment falls under the general obligations of Section 21 (2)(a) of the Act. In the past, the VWA has advised all employers to introduce a safety testing protocol. In some workplaces (for example all Government Departments) it is considered more or less mandatory that all electrical equipment be checked & ‘tagged’ regularly.
The Australian & New Zealand Standard AS/NZS3760 In-Service Safety Inspection & Testing of Electrical Equipment is nationally excepted as the minimum safety protocol for the workplace & applies to plug-in or non-fixed equipment. Worksafe Victoria is now “actively enforcing the Standard & inspecting all types of premises to confirm introduction of minimum safety testing programs consistent with AS/NZS3760″ The Standard applies to all types of electrical equipment in offices, factories & so on (IE tools, machines, computers, even jugs & cooling fans).
Duty of Care
Every person, whether they be an employer, self employed, employee, a customer engaging a trades person, a retailer inviting customers into the store, has a duty of care under common law & the OH & S Act to ensure that all electrical equipment, used, hired, lent or simply accessible is safe.
An interesting article by Worksafe Victoria.
0412 589 589
