No substitute for work experience

Work experience provides a great opportunity for people interested in seeing what it could be like working in the electrical industry. Work experience is also a requirement for students undertaking industry placement for their Certificate II Electrotechnology (Career Start).

While industry placement allows students to experience the electrical trade, employers and supervising workers must remember the limited scope they can perform. Unlike apprentices, Section 55 of the Electrical Safety Act 2002 does not permit students to perform electrical work.

Work that can be performed by students includes:

• work on non-electrical components of electrical equipment if they are not exposed to an electrical hazard while doing so (i.e., painting equipment covers, cleaning filters or replacing a drive belt on a washing machine)
• replacing electrical equipment or components such as light bulbs
• locating or mounting electrical equipment, as long as it doesn’t involve connecting the equipment to the energy supply (i.e., cutting out plasterboard and installing wall plates or installing mounting brackets or blocks)
• assisting a licensed electrician with electrical work under direct supervision where there is no physical contact with live equipment (i.e., assisting the installation of conduits and cable trays with support)
• if competent to do so, testing and tagging of portable appliances
• work on extra low voltage equipment.

Further information

For more information on the work students can and cannot do, contact the Electrical Safety Office on 1300 632 993.