Qld law raises bar on safety

The Queensland Electrical Safety Act 2002 has raised the bar on workplace safety in Australia.

The Act is the result of recommendations of the Electrical Safety Taskforce, a comprehensive Management and Strategic Review of the Electrical Safety Office, and the Ombudsman’s Workplace Electrocution Project. Qld Minister for Industrial Relations, Gordon Nuttall, said industry stakeholders, including electrical contractors, trade unions and power suppliers, gave important advice to the government during the drafting of the legislation.

The Act provides for the appointment of a Commissioner of Electrical Safety to advise the Minister on electrical safety matters, and also establishes an Electrical Safety Board and Committees. Industry and community representatives will have a voice on electrical safety matters via the board and committees.

The Act imposes regulations on anyone whose activities may affect the electrical safety of others, establishes industry standards, creates licensing and disciplinary measures for people performing electrical work, and provides for the appointment of inspectors with powers to monitor and enforce compliance with the Act.

Among the standards established are safety management systems for electricity entities, including power authorities.

Gladstone Power Station has adopted a fully automated permit to work system, Sage Technology’s Permit Administration System, as a direct result of the new Electrical Safety Act.

The most significant changes in the regulation require the permit process to include extra checks and documentation. Sage Technology has made several enhancements to PAS to comply with the new regulations, particularly in supporting the various forms of documentation.

Production Manager at Gladstone Operating Services, Mark Moran, said managing the maintenance of a complex plant like Gladstone required fast and efficient processing of work permits to avoid costly plant downtime during maintenance work.

"Our first priority is to keep people safe, but the processes also need to be efficient and must not comprise our business performance," Mr Moran said, "PAS will not only enhance the processing of permits on a day to day basis but will also improve our return to service times at the conclusion of the outages."

PAS Product Director, Peter Kingwill, said the safety standards created by the Queensland legislation were likely to filter through to other authorities throughout Australia.

“Safety in the workplace is vital and, as Queensland has shown, governments will not hesitate to adopt the highest standards,” Mr Kingwill said.

To learn more about the Electrical Safety Act 2002, visit www.dir.qld.gov.au.

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