ELECTRICAL SAFETY
CONFIDENCE IN CONTRACTOR COMPLIANCE
Do you know your responsibilities when it comes to electrical health and safety? Tim Beardsmore of experts Calbarrie Compliance Services provides the essential facts and information to help you remain compliant.
Employers can expose themselves to significant risk if they don’t act on their electrical safety obligations, and laws are in place to help them ensure that their properties are safe and healthy places for people to work.
All electrical installations deteriorate due to factors such as damage, wear, tear, corrosion, excessive electrical loading, ageing and environmental influences. The Health & Safety at Work Act etc 1974 and The Electricity at Work Regulations (EAWR) 1989 place a number of legal duties on employers to ensure “all reasonable and practicable steps to prevent danger from electrical systems” are taken to avoid injuries or deaths that may arise from electrical faults in the workplace.
Put simply, without the correct certification not only is the employer putting their employees at risk but they may experience severe disruption to business activities and their insurer may not cover costs in the event of an insurance claim resulting from an electrical fault. Faulty electrics are a very common cause of workplace fires and the impact that an industrial fire can have on a business is far reaching – with operations, profits and the company’s reputation all being adversely affected.
The law requires regular inspection and testing of workplace electrical equipment and for systems to be
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maintained. It’s vital however to understand that testing is only part of the electrical safety compliance requirement. In a recent survey we found that over half of the organisations we contacted had conducted electrical safety testing of their installation but not continued to carry out the essential remedial work. This is a significant risk for any organisation as the employer could be culpable of fault and negligence. Offences committed under the EAWR 1989 can result in up to a £20,000 fine for each minor offence, unlimited fines and/or imprisonment in the case of a serious offence.
As part of the electrical inspection report the engineer should give advice on remedial action that should be taken without delay. At the time of testing a good electrical contractor will make safe any faults requiring urgent remedial action and rectify minor faults.
The law states that periodic inspection and testing shall be carried out by a “skilled person or persons, competent in such work”. In practice, this means electrical engineers who are ‘time-served’ with extensive inspection and testing experience gained within the commercial and industrial sectors, and trained and qualified to the minimum standards. Records must
also be created and maintained and an employer can transfer risk by using a specialist contractor who can offer a total compliance service with online recording of testing dates and the setting of reminders for when inspection and testing is due.
An employer should check that their electrical contractor is accredited with a recognised trade body such as the NICEIC or Electrical Contractors’ Association and comply with the IET Codes of Practice and current Wiring Regulations. There are regulatory changes coming into effect from 1st January 2019 with the introduction of BS 7671:2018, (18th Edition (2018)) and your electrical contractor should be able to tell you what the new standard means for you. Further guidance is also available on the NICEIC website. The contractor should also be able to demonstrate their commitment to employee safety by holding an industry standard such as ISO 18001 and membership of a reputable safety body such as RoSPA.
An experienced contractor can manage the challenges faced by the employer around electrical compliance by building long-term relationships and committing to shared values that increase control, improve performance and reduce costs.
www.calbarrie.com www.tomorrowshs.com
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