Do I need to undertake safety tests on electrical equipment?

If you are an employer, you have a duty of care to ensure that employees and visitors to the workplace are safe from injury and risks to health. You must therefore manage any safety risks surrounding electrical hazards, in accordance with the requirements of the OHS Act 2000 and OHS Regulation 2001.

  • clause 64 (2) of the Regulation requires that an employer must ensure that all electrical installations, electrical articles and associated equipment at a place of work are safe to use and are regularly inspected, tested and maintained to ensure they remain safe for use and are repaired or replaced if unsafe

    • Clause 65 of the Regulation requires that an employer must ensure that a record is made and kept of all inspections and tests made and maintenance carried out on electrical articles and electrical installations.

    Because of the relatively recent introduction to Victoria; compared to other states such as NSW and Qld which have had mandatory testing for some years; many businesses have not understood their obligations in relation to electrical safety requirements.

    Until quite recently Workcover and OH&S authorities have not focused on monitoring this area of the legislation other than for building construction sites and other more hostile manufacturing environments.

    WorkSafe Victoria Campaign to inform and enforce AS3760 minimum standard guidelines

    The recent WorkSafe Victoria information campaign and CD Rom, Managing Safety in Your Workplace- A Step by Step Guide which has been circulated to 250,000 small to medium sized business operators and organisations outlines the requirement for appliance testing & tagging as part of your routine safety requirements under OH&S legislation for “plant and equipment”.WorkSafe Inspectors as part of this ongoing campaign are now actively policing and enforcing the application of minimum safety protocols (using AS37650 as a guide) along with all routine safety requirements classified under general “plant and equipment” for every type of workplace they inspect large or small.

    The range of equipment which is covered under the standard

    Everything from A-Z:

    Air-conditioners, computers, coffee percolators, chargers, dishwashers, drills, dryers, DVD’s, fans, fax’s, fridges, frypans, grinders, heaters, hotplates, irons, jugs, leads, lamps, lights, monitors, microwaves, printers, photocopiers, projectors, radio’s, routers, sandwich makers, saws, shredders, sound systems, TV’s toasters, urns, vacuum cleaners, videos, water coolers, welders and xylophones, zoo equipment.

    “If it plugs in test it!” This is the basic rule and definition of Australian Standard – AS 3760:2003. The only variations will be the type of tests necessary for various classifications of equipment and where it is located which will affect the frequency of testing.