There are serious dangers in ceiling spaces such as live or damaged electrical cables, high temperatures and biological hazards such as mould.

Your employer must ensure these risks are managed and provide information, training, instruction and supervision to ensure you can work safely in ceiling spaces.

You also have responsibilities, including:

• following reasonable instructions
• following workplace policies and procedures
• not putting yourself or your workmates at risk
• wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) where required
• reporting unsafe situations, injuries or near-misses to your immediate supervisor and/or employer.

Our stats show that you’re more likely to be injured in the first few months of a new job than if you've been doing it for a while, so don’t be afraid to speak-up if you’re unsure how to do something.

It’s important to actively participate in how work health and safety is managed. This means taking induction and training seriously, using the risk management process for your work tasks and asking for help before you start a task you’re not familiar or comfortable with.

If you need to work in a ceiling or roof space, you and your supervisor should turn off all the main power switches at the switchboard first and ensure it can’t be re-energised while work is in progress. This will reduce the electrical risk significantly. 

Even with the power off at the switchboard, avoid contact with electrical cables and equipment as some circuits, like service lines and solar PV cables, will still be live. Exposed conductive parts such as air-conditioning ducts, roof sheeting or metal battens could also still be live if there’s an electrical fault.

Check out our film about Dale Kennedy, who was working in a ceiling space when he died from an electric shock. Dale was 20 years old and close to finishing his electrical apprenticeship.

Did you know you can lodge an anonymous safety complaint with us? If you feel your workplace is unsafe or your safety concerns aren’t being addressed, please get in touch via our online complaints form.

We want to know if Queensland apprentices are being provided with the training and supervision to work safely in ceiling spaces. You can let us know by completing this short anonymous survey.