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• 1. Introduction
• 2. The Electrical Safety Act 2002
• 3. The Electrical Safety Regulation 2002
  • 3.1 Part 2 – Electrical work
  • 3.2 Part 4 - Working around electrical parts
  • 3.3 Part 5 - Electrical installations
  • 3.4 Part 8 - Electrical supply
  • 3.5 Part 12 - Incident notification
  • 3.6 Part 13 - Miscellaneous provisions
  • 3.7 Schedule 2 - Exclusion zones
• 4. Risk management
• 5. Working de-energised
  • 5.1 Scope
  • 5.2 Regulatory requirement
  • 5.3 General
  • 5.4 Low voltage isolation and access
  • 5.5 High voltage isolation and access
• 6. Working live
  • 6.1 Scope
  • 6.2 Regulatory requirement
  • 6.3 Important issues when working live
  • 6.4 What to use to work safely
  • 6.5 Testing and fault-finding
• Appendix A
• Appendix B
  • 1 Common sources of electrical hazards
  • 2 Other electrical hazards to be addressed
  • 3 General elements of a safe system of work

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Code of Practice for Electrical Work

1. Introduction

1.1 Important dates
1.2 What is a Code of Practice?
1.3 What is this Code about?
1.4 How is this Code set out?
1.5 What is "electrical work"?
1.6 Obligations under the "Electrical Safety Act 2002"
1.7 How can I meet my obligations?
1.8 Defences for failing to meet your electrical safety obligation
1.9 Penalty for failure to meet your electrical safety obligation

1.1 Important dates

This Code of Practice:

• Was made on 15 November, 2002
• Commences on 22 November, 2002
• Expires on 21 November, 2012

1.2 What is a Code of Practice?

A Code of Practice is a document made under the Electrical Safety Act 2002 (PDF, 788 KB) (the Act). It gives practical advice on ways to discharge electrical safety obligations. Included in a Code are ways to identify and manage exposure to risks of injury and property damage caused, directly or indirectly, by electricity.

1.3 What is this Code about?

The Code gives benchmarks for performing electrical work¹ in ways that are electrically safe². The Code provides guidance on managing electrical risk³ only; no guidance on other risks is provided.

The Code has been designed to reflect the two ways to per form electrical work – working de-energised and working live.

1.3.1 This Code includes

This Code applies to:

• Electrical workers;
• Employers and self-employed electrical workers; and
• Electrical contractors.

This Code focuses only on the electrical aspects of work performed by the following people:

• Restricted electrical licence holders;
• Electrical work training permit holders;
• Licensed electrical linespersons;
• Licensed jointers;
• Licensed electrical fitters; and
• Licensed electrical mechanics.

1.3.2 This Code does not include

Approved work performed under a high voltage live line management plan, as prescribed in section 13 of the Electrical Safety Regulation 2002 (PDF, 1 MB) (the Regulation), is not covered by this Code. High voltage live line workers are subject to this Code for electrical work activities while not performing high voltage live line work.

Functional operations such as switching performed regularly to operate electrical equipment⁴ is not covered by this Code. Switching to provide electrical access is part of this Code.

Practical guidance provided in the "Code of Practice - Working Near Exposed Live Parts" ⁵ may be relevant to electrical workers when they are performing work on either live or de-energised⁶ parts.

Apart from correct connections (including polarity) this Code does not address the inspection and test procedures detailed in section 6 of AS/NZS 3000 Electrical installations (known as the Australian/New Zealand Wiring Rules) (non-Queensland Government link) ⁷.

This code does not cover general health and safety matters, such as preventing falls from heights. These requirements can be found in information supplied by the Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General – Division of Workplace Health and Safety. This information may be obtained via the internet at Fair and Safe Work Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General website.

Information may also be found from sources including:

• National Occupational Health and Safety Commission;
• Electricity Supply Association of Australia;
• Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency; and
• Standards Australia.

1.4 How is this Code set out?

The sections of the Code are:

• Sections One to FSour outline general information about the Code, the legislation and risk management;
• Sections Five and Six provide guidance on working de-energised and working live; and
• The Appendices contain definitions and further guidelines on how to perform work that is electrically safe.

1.5 What is "electrical work"?

The definition of "electrical work" used in the Act is contained in Appendix A – Meaning of terms used in this Code.

1.6 Obligations under the "Electrical Safety Act 2002"

The Act imposes obligations on persons who may affect the electrical safety of others by their acts or omissions.

For example, an employer has an obligation to ensure their business or undertaking is conducted in a way this is electrically safe. This includes identifying electrical hazards, assessing the risk of injury or property damage that may be attributed to hazards and taking necessary actions to minimise exposure to the risk.

An extract from the Act detailing the obligation holders relevant to this Code is included in section 2.

1.7 How can I meet my obligations?

Under the Act, there are three ways you can meet your electrical safety obligations – either through regulations, ministerial notices or codes of practice. Where applicable, you must comply in the following manner to meet your obligations:

1. If a regulation is identified as prescribing a way of discharging your electrical safety obligation, you will fail to discharge your obligation if you contravene the regulation.
2. If a ministerial notice prescribes a way of discharging an electrical safety obligation in relation to an electrical risk, you will fail to discharge your obligation in relation to the risk if you contravene the ministerial notice.
3. If a code of practice states a way of discharging your electrical safety obligation, you will fail to discharge your obligation if you:
   • Contravene the code or act in a way inconsistent with the code; and
   • Do not follow a way that is equally effective to, or more effective than, the code of practice for discharging your electrical safety obligation.

Refer also to section 4 of this code regarding the risk management process.

1.8 Defences for failing to meet your electrical safety obligation

If charged with a breach of obligation, you can provide a valid defence by establishing that the offence was due to causes beyond your control. In this instance, you cannot claim as a defence those sections of the Criminal Code relating to an accidental act or omission, or a mistaken belief.

Where there was no regulation, code of practice or ministerial notice that told you how to meet your electrical safety obligation under the circumstances, you can seek to establish that you chose an appropriate way, took reasonable precautions and exercised proper diligence to discharge the safety obligation.

1.9 Penalty for failure to meet your electrical safety obligation

The maximum penalty for failing to discharge an electrical safety obligation is:

• If the breach causes multiple deaths – 2000 penalty units or 3 years imprisonment;
• If the breach causes death or grievous bodily harm – 1000 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment;
• If the breach causes bodily harm – 750 penalty units or 1 year imprisonment; or
• Otherwise – 500 penalty units or 6 months imprisonment.

A penalty unit has a dollar value determined by the Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General. At the date of publication, the value of a penalty unit was $100. Under the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992, if a corporation is found guilty of an offence, the Court may impose a maximum fine of an amount equal to 5 times the maximum fine for an individual.

¹ The term "electrical work" is defined in Appendix A.
² The term "electrically safe" is defined in Appendix A.
³ The term "electrical risk" is defined in Appendix A.
⁴ The term "electrical equipment" is defined in Appendix A.
⁵ The "Code of Practice - Working Near Exposed Live Parts" is a Code under the provisions of the "Electrical Safety Act 2002".
⁶ The term "de-energise" is defined in Appendix A.
⁷ Further information on inspection and testing be obtained from codes and standards produced by other sources including:

• Manufactures and suppliers;
• Electricity Supply Association of Australia;
• Standards Australia; and
• Relevant industry associations.

Last updated July 22, 2009

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