Are You doing enough to keep safe?

In every area of our lives we must maintain safety and this includes electrical safety.

 With electricity you can't smell it, you can't taste it and by the time you feel it, it may be too late! Many dangers can be seen but electricity cannot. This makes it potentially more dangerous. What's your attitude to electrical safety? 

There is a lot of information easily available that clearly shows that portable electrical appliances need to be tested to ensure that they do not pose a hazard to the user. It is not written in black and white and nowhere does it actually state: ' You must test portable electrical appliances in the workplace' - stop looking it's not there.

However, Governments and other Regulatory Bodies have written much on how to maintain a safe work environment and have put detailed instructions for ensuring electrical appliances are safe to use, and armed with this will prove in court, should you have an accident, that there is absolutely no excuse for not testing your appliances.

Of course you can always let your 'ostrich qualities' come to the fore and should there be an accident then the men from Worksafe/WorkCover will certainly come and roughly grab you by the scruff of the neck, pull you 'out the sand' and... put your head on the 'chopping block'.


Fines under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015:
For offences where a person's action, or failure to act occurs, and they know it is likely to cause serious harm, the maximum penilty is:

  • $600,000 for the company;
  • $600,000 and up to 5 years prison for company directors;
  • $600,000 and up to 5 years prison for company officers;
  • $300,000 and up to 5 years prison for workers.

In April 22016 The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (New Zealand only) finally provided teeth to inspectors giving real deterrents against unsafe work practices.

Electrical safety testing is your insurance

Testing your portable electrical equipment in accordance with the Standard AS/NZS3760 can be likened to an insurance policy. Most, if not all of you, reading this will have insurance against a fire burning down your premises - but how many of you have claimed against it. If there is an accident/injury/death then testing your equipment in accordance with AS/NZS3760 will give evidence to help the defence show you took 'all practicable steps' to maintain your employees' safety.

Don't put your electrical safety testing in the too hard basket - we can show you how easy it is to comply without breaking the budget.