Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00407:body:0:p29
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00407
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 75969–78900

advising of potential hazards
    * taking any necessary precautions to ensure that electrical equipment cannot become inadvertently re-energised
    * ensuring that the status of switchboards and electrical equipment are clearly and correctly labelled
    * handing over adequate information to workers taking up the unfinished work to allow them to continue the work safely.

7.     RISK CONTROLS – ENERGISED ELECTRICAL WORK

7.1              Prohibition on energised electrical work

Regulation 152 and 157 A person conducting a business or undertaking carrying out electrical work must ensure the work is not carried out on energised electrical equipment unless:
    * it is necessary in the interests of health and safety that the electrical work is carried out while the equipment is energised (e.g. it may be necessary for life-saving equipment to remain energised and operating while electrical work is carried out on the equipment), or
    * it is necessary that the electrical equipment to be worked on is energised in order for the work to be carried out properly, or
    * it is necessary for the purposes of testing to ensure the equipment is de-energised as required by regulation 155, or
    * there is no reasonable alternative means of carrying out the work,
These requirements in relation to energised electrical work do not apply to work carried out by or on behalf of electricity supply authorities on the electrical equipment, including line-associated equipment, controlled or operated by the authority to transform, transmit or supply electricity. These authorities may be covered by separate electrical safety requirements.
Energised electrical work is electrical work carried out in circumstances where the part of electrical equipment being worked on is connected to electricity or 'energised'.
Electrical work must not be carried out on electrical equipment while energised only because it is merely more convenient for the electrical equipment to stay energised while the work is being carried out.
Energised electrical work must not be carried out unless the safety risk to those persons directly affected by a supply interruption is higher than the risk to the licensed or registered electrical workers proposed to carry out the energised electrical work. Only in extremely rare circumstances would it be possible to justify that it is not practicable to have a short break in supply. Most electrical installations suffer no harm through unplanned interruptions of this kind to the network supply. In some cases a short break may allow for the insertion (and removal) of insulated barriers.
A Person conducting a business or undertaking requiring electrical work to be carried out may provide operational reasons appearing to justify energised electrical work. Requiring electrical work to be carried out while the equipment is energised when it could be avoided places an onerous responsibility on