Hazardous area and high voltage accredited auditors renewal application guide
Key focus areas for the Electrical Safety Office (ESO) during the hazardous area (HA) and high voltage (HV) reaccreditation process include:
- Continuous professional development (CPD) – ensuring accredited auditors enhance their skills, abilities and knowledge in a structured, practical and relevant way.
- Audit activity – ensuring accredited auditors perform work under the Electrical Safety Regulation 2013, enabling ESO to monitor activity.
- Results of the assurance program – ensuring the quality of accredited auditors’ work. This may be assessed though external or internal desktop audits and site visits.
- Conditions of office – accredited auditors continue to meet their conditions of office.
1. Continuous professional development
Accredited auditors must demonstrate CPD during their last period of accreditation (three years). They are responsible for completing and recording their CPD and associated costs.
When applying for re-accreditation, the applicant must demonstrate they have a minimum of 50 suitable CPD hours over the previous accreditation period.
For dual accreditation, once the accredited auditor has demonstrated the 50 CPD hours required for one accreditation, they are only required to demonstrate 25 hours for mandatory technical CPD for the second accreditation.
CPD is classified in three groups:
- mandatory technical (25 points minimum)
- mandatory non-technical (15 points minimum)
- other (10 points maximum).
The required elements of CPD are shown in diagram 1 and a calculation demonstrating the application of the CPD system for accreditation renewal is in the example below.
Diagram 1 – Continuous professional development required elements model
- Training delivered by RTO (20 points/day)
- Conferences (20 points /day or part thereof)
- Workshops (20 point /day or part thereof)
- Webinars (5 points)
- Standards committee member (10 points)
- Other training received (20 points /day or part thereof)
- Attend industry presentations (innovation) (10 points).
All the above must have:
- Significantly technical content related to accreditation.
- Objective evidence to substantiate attendance/achievement and technical content, e.g. statement of attendance, agenda.
- ESO forum attendance (10 points per forum)
- Auditing/ inspection training (10 points)
- Access to standards (5 points)
- Standards refresher (AS/NZS 3000/ AS/NZS 60079 - if standards updated) (10 points).
All the above must have:
1. Objective evidence to substantiate: attendance/achievement and technical content, e.g. statement of attendance, agenda.
- Auditor conducts peer review of reports or training material (10 points)
- Industry presentations conducted by applicant (10 points)
- Contribute article to ESO newsletters (5 points)
- Professional registrations (10 points)
- Delivery of training (10 points per course delivered)
- Research/ reading of technical material (10 points).
All the above must have relevance to appropriate accreditation.
Example - Accreditation renewal CPD calculation
Mic is an accredited auditor responsible for inspecting electrical work and confirming the electrical installation, to the extent it is affected by the electrical work, has been tested to ensure it is electrically safe and complies with the requirements of the wiring rules and any other standard applying under the Electrical Safety Regulation 2013.
He must demonstrate he has a minimum of 50 suitable CPD hours over his previous accreditation period (refer to diagram 1) when applying for re-accreditation.
Mic’s situation
Mic’s CPD activities since his last renewal include two conferences, a webinar course and reading technical journals.
Mandatory technical = 21 hours
The conferences contained technical content directly relevant to his accreditation. He has a receipt for his attendance which also includes the attendance dates and subject matter. In total, attendance at these conferences total 15 hours.
Mic didn’t receive a receipt for his attendance at the webinar, but he does have a calendar invite, registration details and notes he took during the webinar to support his claim. The webinar went for six hours.
Other = 9 hours
Reading technical journals has credited Mic with five hours.
Mic can also claim his professional registration (relevant to his accreditation) - two hours and a few peer reviews he received on his technical reports, also two hours.
His total of 30 hours (21+0+9) is well short of the 50 hours required.
Making up the shortfall
Mic must make up the shortfall for mandatory technical and mandatory non-technical.
Mic finds product technical information sessions relevant to his accreditation, making up the extra five hours required for the mandatory technical component of his required CPD. This takes his tally to 26 hours.
For mandatory non-technical,Mic needs 15 hours minimum. He notes that attendance for each ESO accredited auditor forum provides seven hours. He attended two forums in the last three years which equates to 14 hours. He also has access to Standards (two hours) which then takes him to 16 hours.
In summary, Mic calculates he now has the required CPD to make up the 50 hours:
- Mandatory technical (26 hours)
- Mandatory non-technical (16 hours)
- Other (9 hours)
Total = 51 hours
Recording the CPD
Mic records his CPD to demonstrate he has achieved the required CPD hours as part of his renewal application using the ESO template provided in the operational requirements document, re-badging it with his own banner.
CPD log
All CPD activities must be recorded in a CPD log and submitted when reapplying for accreditation. An example of CPD log is below:
The CPD log must include:
- CPD type
- start date
- end date
- activity topic
- provider
- location
- total hours
- learning outcome (as applicable to accreditation).
CPD items listed in the CPD log must:
- have technical content related to accreditation
- meet learning outcomes detailed in the CPD log
- demonstrate claims by objective evidence e.g. certified copy of course attendance, certificates, registrations for webinars, minutes of standards committees attended, agendas. Activities submitted to a professional body may assist.
Note: Accredited auditors must retain all CPD evidence for a minimum of five years and provide to ESO if audited.
2. Audit activity
Accredited auditors must be active in conducting inspections in Queensland under the Electrical Safety Act 2002. Non-compliance will influence accreditation renewal.
Accredited auditors must complete the accredited auditor inspection summary and provide this to ESO within 28 days of the final inspection. They must record audit details in an audit log that will be submitted to ESO when applying for re-accreditation.
Audit log
Example of audit log:
3. Results of assurance program
The professionalisation of accredited auditors may be further assessed through the quality of the accredited auditor’s work. Results of external or internal desktop audits and site visits may be considered during the renewal process.
4. Conditions of office
Accredited auditors must continue to meet all their conditions of office. For example, insurance requirements and submitting inspection summaries to ESO within 28 days of the audit.
Refer to the conditions of office issued with the notice of appointment at accreditation or reaccreditation.