Prosecutions
Among the activities of the Department of Justice and Attorney-General, the Electrical Safety Office undertakes inspections and conducts audits to assess compliance with the law.
The enforcement options open to Electrical Safety Office (ESO) inspectors range from verbal warnings and notices to prosecutions.
During the 2004 calendar year the ESO commenced 1356 investigations.
The ESO commenced 22 prosecutions in the Industrial Magistrates Courts during the year and finalised 15 of those matters with fines ranging from $500 to $18,000. These included:
- an incident on the Noosa River, in which a sailing vessel contacted high-voltage electric lines that crossed the river, causing significant damage to the vessel but fortunately no serious injury to people on board
- an electricity entity being found guilty in the Industrial Magistrates Court of a breach of Section 30 (2) of the Electrical Safety Act 2002 (PDF, 788 KB) (failing to operate its business in a way that was electrically safe) and fined $10,000 plus $10,000 investigation costs, with no conviction recorded
- an electrical contractor completing 18 certificates of test and compliance in respect to work completed by an unlicensed person, for which the contractor was convicted and fined $4000 in the Industrial Magistrates Court
The use of infringement notices as an enforcement option, rather than commencing court prosecutions introduces a simpler, more efficient alternative to prosecuting for failing to comply with the legislation. Rights to review and appeal or to have the matter heard in court are retained.
Read the latest Queensland Workplace Prosecutions.
Last updated 21 July 2009
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