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Electrical work on or near energised electrical equipment

Electrical work on energised electrical equipment can put you at risk of inadvertent contact with an energised part resulting in persons receiving electric shocks and exposure to an arc flash.

The risk of working near energised electrical equipment can be as great as working on the parts themselves. There have been a number of serious incidents where persons have received significant injuries from an arc flash where they were working near exposed energised equipment and did not consider further upstream isolation.

From 1 January 2025 the amendments to the Electrical Safety Regulation 2013 regarding electrical work near energised equipment will come into effect.

These changes will broaden the legislative requirements for electrical work on energised electrical equipment to include electrical work on or near energised electrical equipment.

What do I need to do

Persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) should review their current safe work procedures and risk management processes to ensure they adequately address the additional legislative requirements where persons are performing electrical work near exposed energised electrical equipment.

Remember, electrical work on or near energised electrical equipment is generally prohibited.
De-energise equipment before starting any electrical work to prevent burns, injury and death caused by an electrical arc flash. If the job requires you to work energised, control the risks and follow safe work procedures.

There are several circumstances (known as prescribed circumstances) where electrical work is permitted on or near energised electrical equipment. If prescribed circumstances apply, PCBUs and workers must control the risks and follow safe work procedures.

What are energised electrical parts?

Energised electrical parts are parts that are electrically connected, have a source of voltage, or are electrically charged. Energised electrical parts are in electrical installations and electrical equipment.

What are the risks of energised electrical parts?

Even brief contact with electricity at 50 volts AC or 120 volts DC can have serious consequences to your health and safety. The most common electrical risks and causes of injury are electric shock causing injury or death; fire, arcing or explosion causing burns; and toxic gases causing illness or death.

High voltage shocks can also cause damage to internal organs and can cause falls from ladders or scaffolds. Other injuries from electric shock include muscle spasms, palpitations, nausea, vomiting and collapse.

The risks come from:

  • working on or near electrical parts that have not been de-energised, isolated or locked out
  • unidentified live permanent wiring
  • contacting deteriorated, brittle or poorly installed live wiring
  • using metal tools too close to live electrical wiring
  • residual current devices (RCDs) not fitted or not protecting all circuits
  • existing faults to earth wiring.

What is arc flash?

An arc flash is a release of electrical energy that causes an explosion which can reach temperatures of up to 20,000 degrees Celsius.

An arc flash usually occurs in large switchboards but can also occur in smaller switchboards, electricity supply pillars or large electrical equipment.

Common causes of arc flash include:

  • unsafe work practices and procedures
  • foreign materials
  • breakdown of busbar insulation
  • electrical equipment failure such as a switch, circuit breaker or loose cables
  • contacting energised equipment with uninsulated tools
  • using test equipment not designed or rated for the job.

What are the risks of arc flash?

An arc flash can happen in a split-second, causing serious burns, injury and death as well as damage to property and equipment.

How do I manage the risks?

Prevent arc flash by eliminating the hazard.

PCBUs and workers are required to de-energised electrical equipment (being to turn the power off and isolate the equipment) before electrical work occurs on or near electrical equipment.

Electrical safety laws prohibit electrical work on or near energised electrical equipment unless, the following prescribed circumstances apply:

  • it is necessary in the interests of health and safety that the electrical work is carried out while the equipment is energised (for example, on life-saving equipment)
  • it is necessary that the electrical equipment is energised in order for work to be carried out properly
  • it is necessary for the purposes of testing to determine whether or not the equipment is energised
  • there is no reasonable alternative means of carrying out the work.

Note that testing energised electrical equipment is a form of energised electrical work.

You may be required to reschedule your work to another time to ensure that you are not performing electrical work near energised electrical equipment.

Workers and management can work together to reduce the risks of working on or near energised electrical parts. A safe place of work benefits everyone. Read more about how you can create safe work.

For workers

As a worker you have a responsibility under the Electrical Safety Act 2002 and Work Health and Safety Act 2011 to take reasonable care for your own health and safety and for others who may be affected by what you do or don’t do.

You must comply with any reasonable instruction and cooperate with any reasonable policy relating to electrical safety at your place of work. If your employer provides you with equipment to do a job, you must use it in accordance with the information, instruction and training provided on its use. If something is unclear, or you are uncertain, ask for an explanation.

You should also read through relevant legislation and codes of practice (see the bottom of this page for details).

For PCBUs

For employers or PCBUs, you have legal responsibilities as outlined in the Electrical Safety Act 2002 and Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) for the health and safety of every worker and visitor.

If workers are permitted to perform energised electrical work, PCBUs must take all reasonably practical measures to protect workers from arc flash through hazard elimination and risk reduction.

PCBUs must ensure that:

  • the equipment is tested by a competent person to determine whether it is energised or not
  • the area where the work is to be carried out is clear of obstructions
  • persons are prevented from inadvertently making contact with an exposed energised part
  • unauthorised persons are prevented from entering the immediate area
  • the point at which the equipment is connected is marked/labelled, clear of obstructions and capable of being operated quickly
  • consultation with the person with management or control of the workplace
  • a risk assessment identifying exposure to electrical risks is conducted and kept
  • a safe work method statement is conducted, implemented and kept
  • appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), tools and testing equipment is used by a competent person; and
  • a safety observer is present (unless the work is only testing and the risk assessment shows no serious risk associated with the proposed work).

PCBUs must also ensure workers have sufficient and appropriate training and supervision according to their experience and the tasks that their doing.

PCBUs should also read through relevant legislation and codes of practice (see the bottom of this page for details) and know what to do in an electrical emergency.

Four steps to risk management

Identify the electrical equipment with the potential for arc flash and any work in the vicinity of energised equipment.

Inspect the worksite

Look at:

  • the type of equipment and work to be done
  • the age of the equipment and electrical installation
  • proximity of the work to energised parts or other energised equipment
  • the tools and equipment used to do the work, particularly their conductive properties
  • environmental conditions, such as confined space, wet surfaces or unfavourable weather
  • work that may impose additional risks, for example, welding or grinding that could damage adjacent electrical lines or equipment.

Talk to workers

Talk to others about the possible hazards. This includes workers who are always on site as well as those who are part of the electrical work crew.

Review information already available

You can review information such as regulations, codes of practice and standards related to electrical work in general.

Look for trends in information already available, such as workplace records, reports, worker complaints and injury compensation claims.

You can also find out about possible risks from regulators, industry associations, unions and safety consultants, or designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers.

Once you identify possible risks, make a risk assessment and decide:

  • if there is a risk to you or others
  • how severe a risk is
  • how likely the hazard is to cause harm
  • whether any effective control measures are already in place
  • what actions you could take to control the risk
  • how urgently you should act.

For example in considering the level of possible fault current present at the switchboard, you should take into account:

  • the physical size of the switchboard
  • the size of the incoming consumer mains
  • high fault current ratings of circuit protection devices
  • the presence of fault current limiters on the switchboard
  • transformers located near the switchboard.

You can use this risk assessment template (DOCX, 0.02 MB) to guide you and record your assessments.

A PCBU has a duty to either eliminate risks, if reasonably practicable, or to minimise them as much as possible. Workers have a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety.

Once you’ve identified possible risks, you must work through the hierarchy of controls to choose the control that most effectively eliminates or minimises the risk of working on or near energised electrical parts.

This may involve a single control measure or a combination of two or more different controls. The best way to control risk is to remove the hazard completely. If that’s not possible, you must reduce the risk as much as possible.

You can minimise the risks by using substitution, isolation, engineering controls, administrative controls and PPE.

Find the hierarchy of controls in How to manage work health and safety risks Code of Practice 2021 or use the Electrical safety code of practice 2021 -Managing electrical risks in the workplace (PDF, 1.34 MB)

The Electrical Safety Regulation 2013 outlines requirements for PCBUs and workers that perform energised electrical work. This includes that PCBUs must ensure that:

  • the equipment is tested by a competent person to determine whether it is energised or not
  • the area where the work is to be carried out is clear of obstructions
  • persons are prevented from inadvertently making contact with an exposed energised part
  • unauthorised persons are prevented from entering the immediate area
  • the point at which the equipment is connected is marked/labelled, clear of obstructions and capable of being operated quickly
  • consultation with the person with management or control of the workplace
  • a risk assessment identifying exposure to electrical risks is conducted and kept
  • a safe work method statement is conducted, implemented and kept
  • appropriate PPE, tools and testing equipment is used by a competent person; and
  • a safety observer is present (unless the work is only testing and the risk assessment shows no serious risk associated with the proposed work).

When working near overhead or underground powerlines, there will be different specific hazards, so use Electrical safety code of practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (PDF, 0.47 MB).

Risk management is an ongoing process. You should check regularly to make sure the control measures are working. If you find problems, revise your measures so they work as planned and are as effective as possible. The aim is to maintain a work environment that is without risks to health and safety.

Under work health and safety laws you must review controls:

  • when you become aware that a control measure is not working effectively
  • before a change that might create a new risk
  • when you find a new hazard or risk
  • when your workers tell you that a review is needed
  • after a health and safety representative requests a review.

FAQs

Example: Replacing a faulty contactor within a switchboard at an industrial workplace.

In this situation the circuits supplying the contactor have been isolated for the electrical work to be undertaken.

However, there are exposed energised parts within 3 metres of where the electrical work is being performed that would meet the definition of near.

In this example the exposed energised parts will need to be deenergised before the electrical work can commence.

Near, in relation to electrical equipment, means within 3m of an exposed energised part of electrical equipment.

Exposed means—

(a)  bare; or

(b)  not effectively insulated; or

(c)   not effectively guarded by either a fixed barrier or an earthed metal shield.

Exposed part means an exposed conductor or an exposed component of an item of electrical equipment.

These definitions can be found in the Electrical Safety Act 2002 and Electrical Safety Regulation 2013.

From 1 January 2025, requirements for electrical work on energised electrical equipment are extended to apply to electrical work near energised electrical equipment. These changes were introduced into the Electrical Safety Regulation 2013 by the Electrical Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation 2024.

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Last updated 20 December 2024