Government legislation has been in place for a number of years encouraging employers to minimise the risk of accident by electrical fault and in order for organisations to meet the safety guidelines, all electrical workplace appliances (anything with a 2 or 3 pin plug) should be tested on a regular basis.

The Electricity Act 1997 contains a number of regulations that reinforce that obligation - Regulation 69b being particularly relevant: "Electrical Safety- (1) Works, electrical installations, fittings, electrical appliances, and associated equipment must be designed, constructed, maintained, installed and used so as to be electrically safe".

Penalty structures exist up to $10,000 under the Electricity Regulations (and have been imposed in NZ already), and in steps up to $100,000 under the Health and Safety in Employment Act, depending upon the severity of the offence. Should an electrical accident occur in the workplace OSH could use non-compliance with standard AS/NZS 3760 as the basis for any prosecution.

OSH places the duty of care on employers and employees to ensure the safety of everybody at work. They require that, "as may be necessary to prevent danger, all systems shall be maintained so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, such danger".

Whilst testing is not compulsory, maintaining safety is and unless you have complied with AS/NZS3760 as a minimum then OSH would not consider you have taken all reasonable steps to provide a safe workplace and would likely use non-compliance with AS/NZS3760 as the basis for prosecution should the need arise.

 Schools -

Extract from the Property Manager's Handbook

Section 7 – Operational polices

7.7 Electrical equipment – testing requirements

7.7.1 Boards’ responsibilities for testing

AS/NZS 3760:2003 in-service safety inspection and test of electrical equipment describes a minimum standard regime for testing electrical equipment. This regime includes visual inspections, instruments testing and tagging of tested appliances which comply. Tagging records the date of the test, that the item passed the test and who conducted it. Following the regime provides boards with a defense in he event of an accident involving electrical equipment.

7.7.2 What needs to be inspected or tested?
• Generally all the electrical items and appliances need to be tested except or those -

• Where there is no reasonable chance of contact with the item and electrical ground at the same time, for example, suspending light fitting

• That would have to dismantled in order to perform test

• That are fixed or stationary equipment connected directly to the installation wiring and not via the plug

7.7.3
AS/NZS 3760:2003 provides a table which lists some suggested reset times for different equipment in the different environments. A general rule assumes an annual period and adjust upwards or downwards depending on the potential risk or hazard for example, a hand drill in a workshop, used on a basis by a large numbers of students will probably require testing every six months, but a computer which is rarely moved with its leads safely tucked may away only require testing every five years.

7.7.5 Who should conduct tests?

AS/NZS 3760:2003 requires testing to be conducted by a ‘competent person’. This need not necessarily be registered electrician. A competent person is simply someone who has received relevant training to do the job – this could be a staff member or caretaker. A parent who is a electrician may also be willing o do this testing for the school for a reasonable charge.

Schools should be wary of approaches from electricians and other selling electrical services who suggest they are only the people legally authorized to conduct the tests.

It is the job of the ‘responsible person‘to both ensure the competent person has received the relevant training, and determined the re-testing period for appliances. In most schools the responsible person would be the Principal or the Board Chair.

There are a number of training providers throughout the country, from electrical contractors to polytechnics who can assist with training.

7.7.6 How much should testing cost?

A large number of schools have cited concerns over the time and the money they feel obliged to spend on complying with electrical safety regulations. Hiring an external competent person to perform the test will cost around $3 to $7 per item. Higher costs usually mean a more extended service is provided, for example provision of a downloadable inventory of a test result. Some providers charge on a hourly basis, in which case an expectation of around 15 items tested per hour would be reasonable.

To control costs Boards should consider the costs of either:

A: training a staff member to conduct tests and buying or hiring a testing instrument, or
B: employing a competent external person to conduct tests.

With option (A), it makes sense for a cluster of schools to share costs of training a staff member and buying or jiring the test instrument.

Incase Boards may find it helpful to have a copy of AS/NZS 3760:2003. It will be useful in challenging provider companies ho may be advising excessive compliance.

As AS/NZS 3760:2003 costs $60, the Ministry has arranged a bulk discount with Standards New Zealand and can offer it to schools direct at no cost. Contact the Ministry to order a free copy.

Did you know that...

...1200 hundred fires a year in NZ are caused by electrical fault?

...an average of 6 people a year die from electrocution?

...2 years in prison and $100,000 fines can be handed down for unsafe work practices?

...in some cases 10 - 15% of all appliances tested failed?