New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATION 2001 - REG 64

64 Electricity-particular risk control measures

(1) An employer must ensure that any risk of injury from electricity at a place of work is eliminated or, if elimination is not reasonably practicable, the risk is controlled.

(2) An employer must ensure that:

(a) all electrical installations at a place of work are inspected and tested, after they are installed and prior to their energising for normal use, by a competent person to ensure they are safe for use, and

(a1) all electrical installations at a place of work are maintained by a competent person to ensure they remain safe for use, and

(a2) all electrical articles that are used in construction work are regularly inspected, tested and maintained by a competent person to ensure they are safe for use if the articles are supplied with electricity through an electrical outlet socket, and

(a3) all electrical articles that are supplied with electricity through an electrical outlet socket that are at a place of work where the safe operation of the electrical article could be affected by a hostile operating environment are regularly inspected, tested and maintained by a competent person to ensure they are safe for use, and

(a4) all electrical installations and electrical articles at a place of work that are found to be unsafe are disconnected from the electricity supply and are repaired, replaced or permanently removed from use, and

(b) plant is not used in conditions likely to give rise to electrical hazards, and

(c) appropriate work systems are provided to prevent inadvertent energising of plant connected to the electricity supply, and

(d) if excavation work is to be carried out at a place of work, all available information concerning the position of underground electrical cables is obtained and disseminated to persons at the place, and

(e) persons at work, their plant, tools or other equipment and any materials used in or arising from the work do not come into close proximity with overhead electrical power lines (except if the work is done in accordance with a written risk assessment and safe system of work and the requirements of the relevant electricity supply authority), and

(f) any electrical cord extension sets, flexible cables or fittings:

(i) are located where they are not likely to be damaged (including damage by liquids) or are protected against any damage, and

(ii) are not laid across passageways or accessways unless they are suitably protected, and

(g) adequate signs to warn of the hazards, and (if necessary) restrict access, are provided at or near any area in which there is a risk of exposure of persons to hazards arising from electricity.

(3) In this clause, "hostile operating environment" means an operating environment at a place of work where an electrical article is in its normal use subjected to operating conditions that are likely to result in damage to the article, and, for example, includes an operating environment that may:

(a) cause mechanical damage to the article, or

(b) expose the article to moisture, heat, vibration, corrosive substances or dust that is likely to result in damage to the article.

Maximum penalty: Level 4.