Chris Bombolas:
Hello and welcome to the Electricity Safety Summit for 2020. I'm Chris Bombolas from the Office of Industrial Relations. I'll be your host for this very special presentation. It is Electrical Safety Week. And it happens from the 7 to the 11 of September, and it reminds us all that while electricity helps power up our everyday lives, it can be dangerous. The ESO is hosting free digital events focusing on health and safety in the industry, particularly mental health. These events are tailored for industry leaders, electrical workers, contractors, and apprentices. The Electrical Safety Summit is on today and we'll be getting to our very special guests very, very shortly. Tomorrow we have a webinar for electrical contractors and electricians featuring football legend and Australian survivor champion, Matt Rogers, who will discuss challenges he's faced including how he manages stress and personal loss. And on Thursday, the boys from Aussie workwear brand TradeMutt, Dan and Ed, look at stigmas around mental health during a digital session, especially for apprentices and supervisors.
Chris Bombolas:
Today, though is the fourth Electricity Safety Summit following on from a great event last year, where we focused on safety culture in the workplace, it's a shame we can't gather in person like we normally do. However, as we continue to navigate these very extraordinary times, it's fantastic that we can still catch up digitally and make sure that we can have presentations and deliver very important information like we are today. Today, we will be delving deeply into electrical safety in rural and regional Queensland. I'd like to acknowledge Craig Allen, Deputy Director General of the Office of Industrial Relations. Greg Skyring, Commissioner for Electrical Safety in Queensland, Donna Heelan, the Executive Director, Electrical Safety Office, and our guest speakers situated in all different regions of Queensland, including Cairns and Brisbane and across the Tasman in New Zealand.
Chris Bombolas:
So we do have a number of people and guests to get through. If you have any questions throughout the Summit, type your name and question via the chat box to the right of the live stream. We'll ask them during the panel session, which will happen at the end of our presentations. To change the size of your screen, select the four small arrows next to the volume bar at the bottom of your screen. Firstly, I'd like to welcome Craig Allen, the Deputy Director General, Office of Industrial Relations. He joins us in the studio for the official welcome.
Craig Allen:
Welcome to everyone today. Firstly, I would like to respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which we meet and elders past, present and emerging. I'd also like to acknowledge Greg Skyring, Queensland commissioner for electrical safety, Dona Heelan, Executive Director, Electrical Safety Office and members of her team. Our speakers, Dave Burt from Master Electricians, New Zealand. Michelle Taylor from Energy Queensland, Leo Ward from Power and Data Support Services and Christine King from Queensland Country Women's Association. Representatives from industry groups such as the Electrical Trades Union, the National Electrical and Communications Association and Master Electricians Australia and everyone else interested in electrical safety who has dialled in this morning. Again, welcome and hello everyone.
Craig Allen:
These are certainly extraordinary times with parts of Australia in lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus. So far, Queenslanders have done a great job battling COVID-19, but as we continued to deal with the pandemic, this is an Electrical Safety Summit like no other. This year's digital event focuses on a serious issue, electrical safety in rural and regional Queensland. Unfortunately we've seen a number of electrical fatalities and incidents over the past two years in rural Queensland. Often these tragedies involve contact with overhead power lines between machinery or equipment and a failure to properly maintain electrical gear. That's why it's important we have industry gatherings like this annual safety summit to discuss emerging trends and to identify issues which need our urgent attention. As the Deputy Director General of the Office of Industrial Relations thank you for all of your efforts to help us deliver potentially lifesaving messages to the general community and those working in our industry.
Craig Allen:
As you're all aware so much risk can be avoided by taking very basic actions. Yet tragically eight Queenslanders have lost their lives over recent years after receiving electrical shocks while doing everyday things, these people were just doing simple things in and around their homes, digging a hole in the garden, working in the garage, returning to the house after picking fruit, walking around under a high sat house and checking submersible pumps. Clearly the message is not getting through as industry leaders we have to work harder and look at new ways to make sure everyone is fully aware of the dangers of electricity. It's not just the fatalities in our industry. It's the people that are injured in our industry. People who experienced severe arc burns, they have issues for the rest of their lives. So whilst we talk about eight fatalities, which is a number that we can't accept, there are many, many, many hundreds of other injuries that occur in our industry every year.
Craig Allen:
People using everyday appliances and any equipment that powers up workers need to be aware. The Electrical Safety Office has run campaigns, which promote the dangers of working in ceiling spaces, regular electrical housekeeping, using only licensed electrical contractors and installing safety switches on all circuits. It's no fan that at the Electrical Safety Office we're a big fan of safety switches. They're a life-saving device and they're an important device. There's also loads of information on our website on electrical safety for tenants and landlords, regular electrical housekeeping, working near overhead power lines, purchasing and maintaining electrical equipment. And of course most importantly only using licensed electrical contractors.
Craig Allen:
Electrical work is not a do it yourself job. We want to get these important messages out into the community and get everyone thinking and living electrical safety. Make no mistake electricity is an invisible and silent killer and it rarely gives second chances. We're in Electrical Safety Week and as part of that, we are hosting a webinar for electrical contractors tomorrow featuring footy legend, Matt Rogers. On Thursday there's another webinar for apprentices and their supervisors where arc flash survivor Mark will share his harrowing experience. These events are digital and free targeted at key personnel in our industry with people like Mark and Matt Rogers and TradeMutt's, Dan and Ed on board to deliver key messages. For the moment though, I hope you enjoy the Summit and the speakers we have on offer and thank you for making your time available today.
Chris Bombolas:
Thanks Craig. As Craig touched on in his address, there have been a number of tragic incidents in regional and rural Queensland recently. And that's why our Summit this year is focusing on that particular issue. Time now to bring in the first of our presenters and we're going to have to head across the ditch to Tasmania, Auckland in fact. And we welcome in Dave Burt. Dave is a registered electrician and the owner and director of Team Cabling that operates in Auckland, Waikato, Wellington and Christchurch. He's also an immediate past board member of Master Electricians, New Zealand. Dave published a book titled Lengthening the Shadow, which details his personal struggle with depression. Dave's message is simple. It's about mates, helping mates and being brave enough to ask the question what's happening in your world? Well, Dave, what's happening in your world.
Dave Burt:
Mostly good stuff. Thanks Chris. And my name's Dave Burt it's a pleasure to be here with you today. Talking about mental health and wellbeing. A subject I've come to know a bit about over the last few years and probably fair to say not by choice that subject picked me. Whenever we're talking to groups, I will always say, if you think you don't know anyone struggling with mental health issues, I'll be betting that you do. And for those of you who do know people, I'll be equally comfortable in saying that for every person you know there are many more you also know. And often those folks don't say anything. And they don't say anything for a bunch of reasons. Some don't feel comfortable talking about it. Others don't want to be judged or defined by this thing that affects their lives. And there are those like me I saw it as a weakness and not something that I coped easily with.
Dave Burt:
If there was just one single thing I would wish for you to take away from today, it would be that everyone has knowledge that you all possess a very powerful gift. And while you may not know you have this gift, just trust me on this you do. And that is the power to give and provide hope and you just have to choose to use that. And I'm going to talk more about that later. I'll give you a quick backstory on me. I'm a sparky, I've been in the industry for 41 years and whenever I hear myself say that out loud, it makes me sound quite old. I don't feel that old. I'm a husband of 37 years, a dad, a granddad, business owner, business partner, work mate, part-time writer, part-time coach. And I certainly love anything to do with cars that go fast. Six years ago, had anyone asked me what depression was, I couldn't have told them.
Dave Burt:
Six years ago, I was living my life 900 miles an hour as I'd always done. My wife always say she gets tired just looking at me, not tired of looking at me. I had endless energy, I had endless optimism, and I had a vision these glory days would go on forever. For me they didn't. They stopped quite abruptly in December, 2014. I became unwell, physically unwell, and I'll tell you it really knocked me. In a short period of time, I lost that abundance of energy I'd taken so much for granted. I lost my appetite and I lost a bunch of weight, probably 15 kilos in a matter of weeks. Over the next five to six months, I genuinely couldn't tell you how many tests and procedures I went through, but it was a lot. And it was during that time, I can let you in on a secret, are you aware there's not a single hole in the human body the medical proficient cannot insert a camera.
Dave Burt:
Now I didn't like any of it, but I really wanted my life back. I was grateful I did find out what it was. Pretty rare thing. I had the surgery and I did get better, but for me it didn't last long. And it seemed to be from the point of my life where everything went wrong, I couldn't cut a break. From the date of the first surgery mid 2015 until now I've been through 21 different surgeries, countless tests and procedures, and quite some weeks in hospital. And slowly, I started to become a quieter version of my old self, but just inwardly and outwardly I went to great measures, trying to hide this thing, desperately, not wanting anyone to know. The fact is that basically depression entered my life just a little at a time. At first you don't notice these things, I got used to it. And then eventually it became a significant issue affecting not only my life, but that of the ones who mean the most to me.
Dave Burt:
And the reason I'm telling you this, I think it's very important to understand it doesn't matter who you are or at what stage you are in your life. None of us are immune from a mental health issue or crisis. Fact is almost 50 per cent of the population can experience a medically diagnosable mental health issue within their lifetime. One in six will experience that within this year. And just like me, almost 20 per cent of males live with a mental health issue, females slightly less. When you're armed with that knowledge and you get an understanding of the size and scale of it, and you take a moment to look around your own mates, family colleagues, you start to get appreciation. It's a big issue, it's right around us, and for many of us we're blind to it. I guess the reason I'm here today, apart from the fact that I was kindly invited and always really happy to shine a light on the subject is because I wrote a book.
Dave Burt:
And I never set out to write a book and certainly not on mental health and wellbeing, I'm just going to briefly share that story. Two and a half years ago, and I'll put two and a half years ago in some perspective for me, I was finally having some treatment for this depression and while life wasn't great there was a glimmer of light and I was hanging on to that with both hands. And it was also the first time in some years, I'd managed to go five straight months without a surgeon sticking a knife in me. I was pretty proud of that. However, this particular morning as I walked through the bathroom and paused to stand on the bathroom scales, I had three digits flashing back at me.
Dave Burt:
Now I was okay with two but three that was pretty confronting. Long story short with that, it ended up with my business partner suggesting we join the gym. I said, "Dan that's a great idea, leave that to me." And he said, "Dave there's a new gym opened up just down the road." And I said, "I'll check it out." I jumped in my truck and I drove all of 250 meters down the road and parked. And I know I should have run that or at the very least walked it. But I walked through the doors of the Ultimate Body Transformation gym, which I thought was an absolutely fantastic name. Then the owner, great guy, not only talked me into joining the gym, but he also talked me to sign up for a 10 week gym challenge. Now I assured him I wouldn't be able to do this. And he assured me that there was four weeks until mid-January when it started and providing I did a bit of fitness training in the between time I'd be good to go.
Dave Burt:
I signed up. I paid my money and I have to say that four weeks disappeared in a blur of good food indulgence and no exercise. And I'll also tell you, it was one of the toughest things I've ever done, physically. Mondays and Tuesdays with my trainer, upper body Mondays and Tuesdays was leg days. And I came to hate leg days they hurt. Wednesdays, no gym, but you had to run 6Ks. Something that I hadn't done for years. And Thursday, they had a thing called 20 minutes channels day. Now, 20 minutes how hard can that be. Up until that point in my life I had not realized there was so many places in the human body you could actually sweat from. But toughest for me was Friday's CrossFit. Now I don't know if anyone does or has done CrossFit, but I can tell you for a 56 year old who was overweight and unfit, I could barely coordinate chewing gum and walking at the same time, it was incredibly challenging. But I have to say, I eventually I got a bit fitter. I got better at it.
Dave Burt:
And now it's a very important part of my life. And every Friday I'll be at that gym just after 5:00 working pretty hard with a bunch of people I've come to know. And for me it wouldn't matter if it was the middle of winter and I was running shuttles outside in the pouring rain or in the high heat of summer, pushing a sled full of weights up the centre of the gym. There's never ever a Friday that I don't take just a minute to look around and think how lucky am I to be doing this. Because from a physical perspective, after what I've been through and continue to go through, I don't take that for granted. And from a mental wellbeing perspective, I certainly don't take it for granted, very strong correlation between physical activity and mental wellbeing. I don't need to read it, I don't need anyone to tell me, I know it's fact.
Dave Burt:
Anyway, the part, where the book actually started is everyday you had to run 3ks. Apart from Wednesdays, when needed to do your six. Now that very first morning I was pretty motivated. I set my alarm for 4:30. I had dressed in clothes fit for an athlete. They were all shiny and brand new, they had little wee pumas on them. And I left the house mid-January, that beautiful scent of summer in the air, it was dark it was warm and incredibly quiet. I had no music with me and the only sound was my feet on the pavement and that very early bird song. And I had to say I found that a very peaceful place to be. Normally, I wake and then stuff is coming at me 900 miles an hour text, phone and it goes until the end of the day.
Dave Burt:
And when I got home that first morning, there's some stuff rattling around in my head, and I wrote it in the notebook I keep by the bed, I didn't want to forget. Tuesday after my run, there was more and I wrote that down. On a Wednesday after 6ks there was more still. And remember that Wednesday evening, I went to bed pretty early. My body was so incredibly sore after doing things to muscles I didn't even know I had. Got to probably about 8:30 and I was still scratching around looking for my basket. And in bed I remember taking out that notebook and reading those 10 or so entries and for whatever reason, I just took out my laptop and started writing. And I wrote the next day and the next day, I wrote every day probably for a week before I read what I've written. And I have to say a fair bit of it is pretty lighthearted. I don't take myself too seriously, but there was some stuff in there I want to explore further. In some ways I wanted to see how the story was going to end.
Dave Burt:
So I made a promise to myself, I would write every day at the gym challenge and I did. I wrote almost every day of the 70, probably apart from five maybe eight days in towards that last few weeks. And it was a period where that depression bit me, and it bit me pretty hard. And it'll do that sometimes in the quiet of the night, something unlocks the cage and let's it out and I just have to deal with that. But I'll tell you the difference now having been through it. I have faith and belief I can deal with it. And the difference now is I have hope. And hope is something I will never take for granted again. And that's also that very powerful gift every one of you possesses, should you choose to use that power to give and provide hope.
Dave Burt:
Anyway, I finished the challenge. I lost a bunch of weight. I was pretty happy about that. I was a lot fitter and from a mental wellbeing perspective it was a huge revelation to me. I also had the makings of what turned out to be a book. And it was my wife who asked me, "Are you going to do anything with that?" And I said, "Why would I do that? I've spent five years of my life hiding this thing from the world." And I think in that moment, I understood that it was part of the problem. The problem that keeps it a secret and that didn't sit well with me. So I did publish it and as a result of that I was asked to speak at a bunch of events. And as much as I knew about depression, what I could do to make it better. I didn't really know much about the wider issue. So I did a bit of research and I will have to apologize the numbers I'm giving you are only New Zealand numbers.
Dave Burt:
I did try and research the Australian numbers, but because it's put up via state, I couldn't corroborate them all together. To give you a basis of comparison, our populations 4.8 million. Last year in New Zealand, we lost 353 lives. Now that's just the number of people that died on our roads. And that's a tragedy and you'll hear about it in the media every day. In the same timeframe, we lost 353 lives on the road, 685 New Zealanders decided for whatever reason living was too much and they couldn't do it. 498 of them were male, 187 were female. Disproportionately high number of male to female. And if you drill into those facts, you going to find that for each one of those woman that we tragically lose each year to suicide, approximately 15 per cent presented at hospital for it is classified as self-harm. The males, the corresponding number is less than three.
Dave Burt:
Now it's a really important point that I'm trying to raise because you need to understand that males often do not reach out for help and on occasion they act. And when they act, they act with effectiveness. Your good mate colleague, someone who means something in your life could be doing it really tough. You cannot rely on them to tell you. If you're drawn to those facts even further, you start to find that my own industry construction, it's an industry that I love. It has the highest incidence of suicide of any other categorization in New Zealand, higher than forestry or farming, not much higher but it is high and I believe the same is true for Australia. And if you drill even further into that statistic, you'll actually start to find one of the things that really, really gets me is that our industry from a health and safety perspective, it's such an important part of what we do. But each year in our sector, we lose six times more workers to suicide than you do to workplace accidents.
Dave Burt:
And when you hear that, you have to ask the question, what the hell are we doing about. Deeply ingrained in our sector as a mini male dominated workspace, is there exists an attitude and a culture of, "man up." of "toughen up" and of, "harden up." And even if those words aren't said with the same frequency or volume as in previous generations, I tell you that that attitude exists, exists as loudly as if it was shattered from the rooftops. In my opinion, we need to redefine what tough is because in my opinion, tough is maybe noticing when something's not quite right with one of your mates and trusting your gut and asking the question. And tough is maybe having one of those conversations that we as blokes don't do that easily. And tough quite simply is looking out for your mates when they need you.
Dave Burt:
So take it from me. It's a big and widespread issue. None of us are immune. And it probably leads to a very, very fair question. What is it, mental health issue or crisis? I can only really talk of depression a thing that affected my life, and if you've never experienced something like that I'm very happy for you. And if you've never experienced it, it can be very challenging to understand what it is like for those affected. And if I were to explain depression as the thing that affected my life, the best way I can is I have a very clear recollection of standing on top of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. And it was 2007 the heat of the Rugby World Cup was a very overcast morning the clouds were really thick and dense, and I remember really grey and low. You could almost touch them. And as I looked out over London, it was like looking at a black and white photo. But there was something about those dense British clouds that stripped very remnant of colour from the light spectrum and just left grey.
Dave Burt:
And I think that's what depression did, it took the colour from my life and just leave grey. And not continue with that it stole from me all my tomorrows, all the things I would normally look forward to and enjoy. Gradually, I couldn't see those things and gradually my future became irrelevant. And I cannot express how important it is to see a future. That same afternoon we booked to go on the London Eye and it would have been probably three in the afternoon is that carriage near at the top of that big revolving wheel an amazing view of London. But it was hard to believe it was the same city because at three o'clock, the clouds had dissipated. The sun was now out and London was displayed in all it's glorious vibrant colour. And it got me to thinking that earlier that morning, when all I could see was grey. The fact is all those colours were there they existed that morning and in that moment, it's just I couldn't see them because the clouds prevented that.
Dave Burt:
And that morning, it wouldn't have mattered how long I stared, how intently I stared or even how desperately I wanted to see those colours I was now seeing, I just couldn't because the clouds prevented that. It steals the good and it leaves the grey. And it wasn't that there wasn't good stuff in my life. There was marvellous stuff and in my future grandchildren, I was blind to it. And I have to say at times an evil constant when you have it in your life because when it exists there, day after day and week after week and into the months, a very challenging place in which to exist. And when I'm at the gym now I can hear that phrase occasionally of like, "pain is temporary." I get that in the context of the gym, for those living with depression, temporary is a very challenging concept.
Dave Burt:
And when I am at the gym on occasion I'll gravitate to that evil piece of equipment called a spin bike, and I can be quite mean to myself. And I'll set the dial for about 30 minutes, I'll pedal pretty hard and I know I'm working. And then when crack the dial the next little bit for the next 20 minutes. I wouldn't say I'm in pain, but man, I've got to concentrate to stick in it. And for the last 10 minutes, when I crank it, now I've really got to concentrate because it's hurting. And for the last five, when you crack that dial you actually have to get off the seat and drive with your legs. And even a minute into that I tell you, my lungs are burning and my legs are screaming. It physically hurts.
Dave Burt:
And I have the power to make that stop, all I have to do is reach down and turn the dial back and I can make it stop. But before I touch that dial I always ask the same question. Does it hurt as much as that anguish and pain of depression and so far it's never been close. So mostly I'll leave the dial and I'll push myself. It's good for me physically and mentally. But I can tell you an hour on a spin bike hurts a whole bunch less than an hour living with depression. So take it, none of us are immune big issue widespread. For those affected, trust me, it can be incredibly debilitating.
Dave Burt:
So it's probably a very fair question is why is it that people don't reach out for help when they need it, and we know they don't? As much as I've thought about that I can answer that question. Looking back. I thought this thing was going to fix itself.
Dave Burt:
That was never going to happen. I was fortunate my wife recognized it for what it was, she was the one that got me in front of my doc. And it was a really good starting place. And to be fair, I got to know her pretty well. She'd been busy fixing all the physical stuff. She's probably got a holiday house on me.
Dave Burt:
It wasn't just one individual thing too, some of the stuff she put in place for me... Some I had side effects I didn't like and she'd ring me at work and say, "Dave, how's it going?" Or tell me, she'd say, "Come back in and see me, we'll work on it." She put me in touch with people, professionals, who could make a difference, psychologists. And again, initially some of those people I didn't gel with, but I really wanted to be well again and I'm pleased I didn't give up and I eventually found my way to people that could make a difference.
Dave Burt:
Family, always depend on. Mates, there's a bunch of mates who helped immensely and I've never told me, and I should've told them. I should have given them all credit. And for me that gym challenge was an incredibly important part of getting well again, and staying well again. It gives me structure, it takes my mind away from other things. And I guess just the physical activity, that was really good for keeping good mental health.
Dave Burt:
If I was to walk out of here now and break my leg, I know I probably wouldn't get up and try and walk on it. Pretend it didn't happen, and view my leg as fixed itself. Because that's ridiculous. If I did break my leg I'd probably get those interventions, surgery to pin the bone, a cast to give it stability, and crutches for mobility and maybe some drugs for inflammation and pain. And you see, none of those individual treatments have fixed my leg because under the cast the bone is still broken. Those treatments are just there to support my body while it has time to heal. And there's a lot in that analogy and the treatments for depression that they have in common. Not one individual thing, it's a bunch of stuff working together coupled with time.
Dave Burt:
If I would ask the question now of, and I can't see anyone put their hand up, but how many people would know how to do CPR right now? Certainly it's a most electrical audience, almost everyone does. And I always say to construction audiences, "If you feeling unwell, go and stand next to a sparky, they'll save your life." Pretty much as we do at the end of every project, when they've eaten all the program up and leave it to us to get it over the line. The point is if I had a heart attack, anyone within a distance could attempt to save my life because someone showed them how to do it. They removed the mystery of it. And just because you learn how to do it doesn't mean oh goody, I want to try that. You don't do these things out of choice. And it's a bit like this issue around mental wellbeing, particularly in our sector.
Dave Burt:
It's not that we don't want to help our mates, we're just not good at it. We don't know how to. And that did get me to thinking that maybe a good starting point is if we had a phrase we could use. And if you use that phrase at the right time in the right situation, the person you were talking to would automatically know if there's anything going down they can tell you. And for me, that phrase would quite simply be, "What's happening in your world?" Because it's an open question. What's happening in your world? And I'd like to think if we did use that phrase, maybe a bit more often at the right time in the right situation, maybe we might have a few less occasions when after someone had taken the dreaded decision to end their agony, we wouldn't be left wondering. There's nothing I wouldn't have said, there's nothing I wouldn't have done if only I knew.
Dave Burt:
I won't keep you much longer, but I do have a question. And I'd like you to just think in your own mind, if I was to ask you to choose between one of two things, one of those things being bravery and one being vulnerability, what would you choose? And you could be forgiven for thinking that they're two very vastly different things. But they have more in common than you would think, they coexist almost like the flip side of the same coin. Because when you consider the woman who might save the child from drowning, incredibly brave act, at the same time that woman has put herself in a very vulnerable position. In 2003 in Afghanistan, New Zealand's corporal Willie Apiata was sleeping on a bonnet. A rocket blew into the ground critically injuring two of his comrades. Well he assessed the situation and knew immediately his commanding officer would die and bleed out if he didn't act immediately. When he put him over his shoulder and crossed 70 meters of open ground under heavy enemy fire to what was almost his own certain death, he ended up awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry. Harder to imagine a braver act, yet at the same time a human being in a more vulnerable situation, than Willie Apiata as he crossed every one of those 70 meters.
Dave Burt:
And I guess what I am saying, if you too maybe take the opportunity to be just that little bit vulnerable yourself, and ask that question, that brave question, "What's happening in your world?" I can almost promise you with 100% certainty, it will not be long before you too get to utilize that powerful gift you all possess. That being the power to give and provide hope. And as I said at the start, you just have to choose to use it.
Dave Burt:
Look, I thank you for listening, and I hope it's given you some insight, but more importantly what power you have to make a difference simply by just being a bit vulnerable and a bit brave. Thank you.
Chris Bombolas:
Thanks, Dave. And for those who may need help, or would like to offer someone important or close to them help, you can see on your screen some of those very vital services that are available to those who are struggling and battling, not just physically, but mentally so. Very important, take note of those.
Chris Bombolas:
And today, thank you very much, some very poignant messages. Learning the depression stole your life, or stole your tomorrows, that it's important to never give up. These are life lessons, not just about mental health. Family and friends are important, vital, should be there, should be in your corner. They are in your corner, but quite often we don't go to that corner. We go to the neutral corner, because we're blokes and we don't go to the corner that has our family and friends and those who are supporting us.
Chris Bombolas:
And the new definition of tough, according to Dave, is looking out for your mates. Again, very important messages that we should all take back to our workplaces, back to our families, back to our communities. And I think the most important lesson that I learned were five very simple words, we touched at it at the start, Dave touched at it at the end, and I'll remind you all about it. It's a very short phrase and something that could save someone's life. "What's happening in your world?"
Chris Bombolas:
Time now for the second of our presenters, and let's move the focus towards the Electrical Safety Office and the initiatives and what they're doing in this space. And I'd like to welcome to the podium, the Executive Director of Electrical Safety in Queensland, Donna Heelan.
Donna Heelan:
Thanks Chris. And thanks Dave, for sharing such an important message, which I know resonates both across New Zealand and Australia. I've read your book, and I can tell you for those that are interested, it's a very easy and funnily entertaining yet challenging read. So I would recommend if you get the time to certainly seek out Dave's book and have a read. It sends such a great message, particularly in areas like construction that Dave's spoken about.
Donna Heelan:
I'd like to acknowledge all of our speakers today for taking the time to come and talk about the issue of electrical safety in our homes and our workplaces. I'd like to acknowledge the commissioner for electrical safety, and I'm happy that online we've got members from the ETU, NIKA, Master Electricians and Master Builders. And thanks everyone else for taking the time for joining us this morning.
Donna Heelan:
Electrical Safety Week is a really important event, and taking the time out of your busy day sends a message about your commitment to your workplaces, your friends, your family, and your kids. The electrical industry in Queensland is critical for our everyday way of life. It powers our workplaces, our schools, our hospitals, and the little things that we often take for granted. Our air conditioners in summer, our computers that we rely on daily, and even our mobile phones. I'm not sure about some of you, but I'd like to throw mine away some days. But it's certainly something that we use in everyday life.
Donna Heelan:
I'm not going to talk forever. I can, but I won't. For those of you that like numbers, I thought I'd give you a quick update about where we're sitting in the electrical industry across Queensland. We are approximately 12,000 electrical contractors and 56,000 electrical workers licensed in Queensland. During the last financial year between 2019 and 2020 the Electrical Safety Office responded to 1,164 electrical incidents. We conducted 1,272 assessments in industry. Completed 2,369 audits and issued 1,929... Sorry, I'll start that again. 1,921 enforcement notices. One of these 1,164 electrical incidents sadly was a fatality. This is one fatality too many.
Donna Heelan:
I wanted to touch briefly about what the Electrical Safety Office team is doing, and the broader team of the Office of Industrial Relations in relation to electrical safety plan for Queensland and the areas that we are currently focusing on. We're working to improve electrical safety for regional Queensland, focusing on areas that are overrepresented in the incident data, to deliver both engagement and compliance activities. In the coming months, COVID pending, we're going to focus our engagement and compliance activities in the Isaac, Hinchinbrook, Mount Isa, Cloncurry, Carpentaria and Gladstone areas. These activities will include key priority areas, which incorporate contact with overhead lines, which I'm sure Christine will speak about, safety switches and the importance of having them on all your circuits, the risk of unlicensed work, both to yourself, your children and your home, working near energized equipment, and buying and maintaining safe electrical equipment in Queensland.
Donna Heelan:
Whilst talking about working safely near energized equipment, and I think it's been mentioned earlier today, I'd encourage you if you haven't to take the time to watch Mark's story. It's a compelling story about the risks of working near energized parts, and if you haven't seen it please find it on our website or by Googling Mark's story arc flash, and take the time to watch it.
Donna Heelan:
We are highlighting the importance of property owner and landlord... Sorry, property owner and tenant electrical safety. Our webinar in recent weeks had almost 1,500 registrations, and we shared the important messages about electrical safety for landlords. And we're partnering with the residential tenancies authority to continue this important dialogue.
Donna Heelan:
We are ensuring that we promote compliance and electrical safety across Queensland while using all of our powers that come to us by a legislation, and all of the powers delegated by the regulator. In recent weeks we've successfully made an application to the Brisbane Magistrates Court for an injunction against a corporation who repeatedly failed to comply with improvement notices issued by the inspectorate. This was someone who carried on unlicensed electrical contracting, even after repeated attempts of the office to get him to cease to do so. We are targeting unlicensed electrical work. I'm sure you'd all agree, unlicensed electrical work is dangerous and puts Queenslanders at risk of injury and sadly death.
Donna Heelan:
Since March this year, the electrical safety inspectorate have issued 112 enforcement notices and issued penalty notices in excess of $42,000 for unlicensed electrical work. This is an area we will continue to focus on, but one I'm asking for your help. As the leaders of this industry I'd like you to be involved to ensure that people and property across Queensland are safe. You can do this by reporting any non-compliant or unlicensed work you see in your day to day activities as those on the ground. Please let us know through our website or by calling our 1-300 number and we will follow up any of those inquiries to deal with this issue head-on.
Donna Heelan:
We're thinking differently in how we engage in areas that are overrepresented in the electrical injury and fatality data. For example, we're sharing the critical messages about living and working safely around electricity in regional North Queensland. We've partnered with the Queensland Country Women's Association. The enthusiasm that the QCWA have for taking action on this issue has been absolutely impressive. And you will soon hear from the remarkable Christine King, state president of the Queensland Country Women's Association.
Donna Heelan:
To end, I encourage that you all share the events happening as part of electrical safety week. As Chris mentioned, we have the electrical contractor webinar tomorrow and the apprentices and supervisors webinar on Thursday morning. One thing I did neglect to mention was about safety in our homes, and I'll just backtrack a little bit. Changing culture about electrical safety starts with our children. And another focus area, which I meant to mention earlier and it slipped my mind, and Mel will speak about later today, about how we can change that safety culture starting with the young children that go to school and come home and educate their parents on a daily basis. I leave you with this, the more people we can engage as a group, as an industry, as a community, the more we can ensure that Queenslanders can safely work and live around electricity.
Donna Heelan:
Again, thank you for joining us here today.
Chris Bombolas:
Thanks Donna. The irony that our kids will be teaching us about electrical safety. Interesting synopsis and situation to arise, but sometimes through the eyes of children we see a different perspective. So get them young and teach them about electrical safety.
Chris Bombolas:
Donna mentioned that one of our guests, and she is our next guest, is Christine King, president of the Queensland Country Women's Association. And of course our Summit in 2020 is all about electrical safety in regional and rural Queensland, and I could think of no better association than the QCWA to talk about what's happening in the bush and on the land. They have many struggles. Drought, weather, you name it. They struggle with it all, and yet come through time and time again as the backbone of Australia.
Chris Bombolas:
Christine has been a member of the WCWA for 26 years, and is going to talk to us today about the importance of safety in the home. Welcome, Christine.
Christine King:
Good morning and thank you very much, Chris. Yes, it is so important. I think safety with electricity does start in the home. And we know that perhaps our generation might be well aware of it but younger people starting up as a family in their home with young children, I think it's a very good reminder to go over these things again. And I have a series of slides coming up, which would be self-explanatory. But it's very important that we look at this from a grassroots level. I represent 4,000 women and their families across Queensland, and the vast majority of those women live in rural and remote Queensland. And it's quite a different lifestyle out there. Distance means nothing to them, they'll drive 200k to go to a meeting.
Christine King:
But they're also the women that look after the family. They look out for the husband, the workers on their properties. And we did join with the electrical safety commission with doing an electrical safety checklist last year, which I believe you can find on Facebook and on the website for the electrical safety board. And it's a very quick checklist. Equipment safety, overhead power lines, shocks and tingles, and safety switches. And we've circulated these posters right throughout our network, all throughout Queensland, through our halls, through to our members farm sheds, to their houses. It's just that wake up call. And some of these items are going to be in the slides for people just to have a refresher, but I think it's very important that we start at that grassroots level and educate people about electricity. It's something you can't see. And I think young children perhaps don't understand it, and as Donna just mentioned, it's very important that we start with the children. So we can roll the slides if you like. And I'm not going to talk through them, I think that everyone's capable of picking up from the picture, the importance of each slide.
Christine King:
I have a mechanic out there who's going to do this.
Chris Bombolas:
Yeah, it's happening in the background. We can see the slides coming through and some of the tips of what to do and what not to do, Christine.
Christine King:
Very good. Very good. So it's all about that safety with power and cords and plugs.
Christine King:
We're looking for the wet conditions again in Queensland. We haven't had them for a while. Oh yes. Yes. And I think coming into Christmas, people with Christmas lights they need to not overload the boards and plug in Father Christmas too many times to the same point.
Christine King:
Everyone has computer equipment at home now.
Chris Bombolas:
And I guess the remoteness of people in the country where they don't have access like we do in the city, as easily as we do in the city, to electricians and contractors is an important factor, Christine.
Christine King:
I think that this is a huge issue that we probably haven't recognized or addressed. But if you've got to drive 150k or 200k to go into town to actually get something fixed, there would be a lot of home handymen out there that might believe that that would be the way to fix something. And that's something, I think, that is worthy of a very serious conversation of how we do this. Because we all know how often things break down, and farmers are great mechanic, home mechanics on everything, and this is a high risk area. We'd love some stormy weather, and we know to get off the telephone when the storms come.
Chris Bombolas:
This is an important one for the season that's just gone by, of course heaters and the dangers that they can potentially have.
Christine King:
Oh yes. I remember as a child that the wind blew through the window and the tablecloth caught onto the heater and caught fire. And my mother ended up slapping the fire out very fast. And it's something that, as a very young child, I do remember that instance. And it's just grassroots stuff. I think that we, as country women, are very aware of being very practical and a lot of common sense. But sometimes we think we can do everything, and our men can do everything. And this is a high risk area, I think, out in these remote areas because they are so isolated to have anything fixed. And there's also a cost involved. And with the drought being for so long around, and everything has a cost attached to it, and that is of great concern to us, of the safety of people. And how we address that, I think, is a very worthy conversation.
Christine King:
So I do encourage people to go onto the website for the electrical safety office and download the electrical safety checklist and put it up in your workplace, in your sheds, in your buildings, everywhere. Just as a reminder. It's very easy. We did it so that it was very easy. I don't know whether you can see, does that work if I hold it up or not? I'm not too sure. But that's what it looks like, and it's a very quick and easy tool, and a very beneficial tool. And we thank the electrical safety office for working with us on that project.
Chris Bombolas:
How important is it, and I don't want to appear sexist, that the Women's Association and the wives and partners of those very determined farmers and proud of farmers, get important safety messages to them? Because quite often they have the "She'll be right," attitude. "I can do this, no need to do that." How important is it for you guys then to reinforce the fact that, "Hey, we probably need to seek an electrician or an expert to fix this or to help with this problem?"
Christine King:
Oh, I just can't reinforce that enough. I know that when we started this safety checklist they said it was the wives of the farmers that were going to get the message across. Because literature that comes in that's probably too involved or too many pages, the farmers just don't have the time or the interest in reading multiple pages and they just throw it in the bin. It's too complicated. So this is why we came back to the one page that would perhaps attract their attention. And it was easy for the women in the family to understand, to reinforce. Up in the Atherton Tablelands I think they had an extra meeting about electrical safety, and they were talking about just one thing that was damaged electrical extension leads can cause so much trouble. So just identifying one thing is a great tick box to get that to happen.
Christine King:
But we've gone right through all our buildings. We have 230 buildings in Queensland, and they've all been electrically checked that they have the safety switch. And this is one of the major things that we've been talking about this past year at our meetings, is the electrical safety switch. And that's very important. And some of our power boards are very old and the safety switches don't look like the new ones, but the ladies are finding them one way or another. And so I think we're developing another brochure with pictures of all the vintage safety switches that might be in power boxes, because they need to be checked regularly.
Chris Bombolas:
Very important messages, and we thank you for your participation in the summit. You can take a break now before we get back to the panel session and some more questions.
Christine King:
Thank you very much, Chris.
Chris Bombolas:
All right, let's move on to the next of our presenters. And who doesn't like new and emerging technology? I love something that's new. I probably don't know how to use it, and will never ever learn how to use it, but if it's shiny and new I love it. And to talk about new and emerging technology, it's time to bring in Michelle Taylor from Energy Queensland. And Michelle is an active member of the ESO Electrical Equipment Advisory Committee, and the Standards Australia's Renewable Energy Standards Committee. She has a wealth of experience in renewable energy and energy storage technologies, including distributed energy technologies. Welcome, Michelle and thanks for joining us in electricity safety week 2020.
Michelle Taylor:
Thank you, Chris. It really is an exciting time to be in the electricity industry. There are new products everywhere, and new ways of doing things are constantly emerging. And connectivity is King. Donna was just referring to the mobile phone she'd rather throw out, but sometimes that is controlling lots of stuff in our houses now, which never happened before. Today is about providing you, also, with some assistance in how to keep on top of all of this, ensuring safe outcomes for you and for the technology and your customers.
Michelle Taylor:
So there are many, many new electricity technologies available. From electric vehicles to smart home devices controlled by your mobile phone, there are roles for electrically trained personnel everywhere. And what we are doing is making a difference to the lives of current and future generations. Today installing a photovoltaic solar system is commonplace, but 20 years ago there were only a handful of these types of systems connected to our networks. Now battery energy storage systems are starting be installed. Home energy management systems, smart hot water systems with variable elements, vehicle to grid electric vehicle connections, smart lighting and security systems all make up part of the modern home. Our industry is making a difference, and we have to make sure that this is positive, including our consideration of safety for new and emerging technologies.
Michelle Taylor:
Technology changes from the electricity supply industry all the way down to the consumer have the potential to make a big difference in what you do and what you encounter in your work. There may be new technologies out there that you had no training in, but that will impact on your work even if it's not what you're directly dealing with.
Michelle Taylor:
So safety for new and emerging technologies is a challenging area. Things are changing very quickly. The marketplace for products is now global, and we're needing to enhance the skills to offer end to end solutions. I work in the new and emerging technology areas at Energy Queensland, and I am continually challenged to ensure that I and my team understand these new technologies, how they work, what difference they make and how to use them safely. So how do I find out about the safety standards to which a product should be built or certified?
Michelle Taylor:
How do I ensure that I'm installing the product safely? What are the trusted sources of information and what's missing from them information I already have? And how do I know this? How do I keep my knowledge up-to-date? Not all of us have the time or the ability to do the detailed due diligence and market surveys around new technologies, their safety standards and their capabilities. And sadly, not all products out there come with a high quality level of documentation, manuals, references to thorough safety standards and the like. But due to the change of pace, it is impossible also for the standards to keep up with the rate of change and the rate of innovation. From my own experience, when I started in energy storage systems, as an example, many of the early batteries, energy storage systems I trialled, had no, or very inadequate manuals. There were limited Australian or international standards related to these products.
Michelle Taylor:
And in some cases they were applied, some cases, not. We even found many errors in the product that were basically back to the fundamentals of our AS 3000 rules. And perhaps you felt that some products have been rushed to market rather than properly fully tested. Yet these products were available readily on the Australian market. Now, I only happened to be involved in the Australian standards development at that stage, so I had the opportunity to accelerate the development of Australian standards for energy storage, as an example. But the experience clarified that there are so many challenges in getting these new products to have appropriate safety standards, and that we have to accept that there's going to be a bit of a challenge in having the safety standards at the same time as having the new products hit the market. So there are other things that you'd consider doing.
Michelle Taylor:
There are lots of great ideas turning into great products every day. Customers expecting greater levels of control, interconnectivity and visibility of their investments, and rules and regulations are regularly being updated. How do you keep on top of all this and ensure that you're competent in the work that you do? A smart salesman may provide what seems to be a comprehensive insight into a particular product. References to international or Australian standards, compliance on a specification sheet may provide you with increased confidence as to its quality. Images of installations and customer references provided may suggest widespread approval and confidence of a product, but we still must do our own independent homework when it comes to some of these new products. The internet makes that easy, but sadly, some importers and product developers lack integrity and do make untrue claims, and our research whilst it can be an onerous task, should be carried out a number of ways to make sure it's comprehensive enough and we're not at least try and reach out to others.
Michelle Taylor:
In new technologies, easy to focus on the new and not apply existing knowledge. Using your existing training should provide you with a great starting place. It's not just about the electrical risks however. There are other elements to consider. Manual handling, chemical risk longevity, how a product interacts with other devices, how would it be disposed of an end of life, product and service maintenance requirements, many questions to ask a supplier itself. Also, it's important to ask the supplier for the manuals, not just, and related safety certifications. Not just the specification, but actual certification, so you actually get what and understand what the specifications have. If you talk to others in industry, through web forums, social media pages, these are all great places to start and access larger groups of people who often have the same challenges and have different experiences. Asking questions of these groups, general questions, as well as pointed questions can give you an overall feel.
Michelle Taylor:
If you seek out other similar products, you can also compare and determine whether the specifications look right and smell right sort of, their references to ensure that there are applicable standards and if there are not, what are the types of things that they are considering? Look at the applicable standards. There's generally not a widget standard for everything that's freshly comes out, but there are some basic electrical standards which are applicable. Find out whether they're an active industry groups. They may provide direction people to contact, or may already have some references, rules or code of conduct that you may be able to utilize. Sometimes you may also come across some levels of conflicting information, always ensure you to seek clarification where there is conflicting or insufficient information. There are many bodies out there who have also provided some form of guiding principle, codes of conduct, or information bulletins whilst newly published standards may not be yet available. And information is often just a mouse click away.
Michelle Taylor:
So it's often really hard to just go, "Well, where do I start?" Who's who in the industry? There are so many players. But it also means that there's a lot of potential sources of information. A variety of industry boards exist across Australia that can provide good guidance and potentially contacts in the industry. I always use as a handy tool for myself, if there's a similar product that is new in the marketplace, but it's similar to something else, I'll often look at the front pages of the Australian standard, where it lists all the industry associations that are involved in making those products or in making those standards for the products. They become a really good source of the types of industry associations that I want to talk to about new products. On the screen, you can see of a whole variety of different areas from the standard side of things, electrical equipment and regulatory authorities, the industry associations, even our network businesses also have a stance, particularly on items that are connected to the grid. And there are a vast array of not only formal industry associations, such as this, but also things like Facebook pictures.
Michelle Taylor:
Finally, there are opportunities where we want to get some decent knowledge, and this is great for continued professional development for everybody. It takes many forms and as we've known over COVID in particular, there's so many ways that we can access things that we didn't have the opportunity before. As a person in Cairns, I can't always get to those wonderful conferences down in Melbourne or Sydney or Brisbane, but I know now that there's so much more that it's available through webinars, not just in Australia, but webinars internationally. It's amazing how much is happening overseas. There's a lot of knowledge sharing happening, and there's a lot of research happening at university levels that's now becoming much more readily available through the internet. Industry newsletters are a great place to start and give you examples of particularly where new technologies are coming up and how they are impacting different parts of the world.
Michelle Taylor:
There are podcasts recordings, there's training for public and private enterprises and even the media can provide some useful inputs. This is all continuing professional development, and it's all about staying safe and ensuring your competency was delving into the new and emerging technologies that are out there on offer.
Chris Bombolas:
Thank you Michelle. And look, I must say some wonderful tips on new and emerging technology. But one traditional one that can still be frustrating is when paper goes across the top of your microphone, when you're doing a presentation, just thought, I'd bring that one up. You It's a problem that happens quite often. So, thank you Michelle, for joining us from Cairns. If you have a question for Michelle, Dave, Christine or any of our panel members, our presenters from earlier, don't forget, you can submit your questions. All you have to do is type your name and question via the chat box to the right of the screen and we'll get to those very, very shortly. Let's go to the fourth of our presenters. And I'd like to introduce Leo Ward from Power and Data Support Services. Leo has been a member of Master Electricians for more than 15 years and has more than 45 years experience in the electrical industry. He is the managing director of Power and Data Support Services. And on top of that, also operates a cattle breeding property.
Chris Bombolas:
He's a busy man, got lots of things to do. And technology has been his friend. So to give us an update on another aspect of safety in electricity, please welcome another speaker from Cairns, Leo Ward.
Leo:
Thank you Chris and to all the listeners out there, we do really appreciate your attendance. Education, electrical awareness, regional and rural safety. One of the things that really made me aware, is what do the words electrical safety or electrically safe really mean? And how do we portray these processes and how we do things? And the messages we need to get across to get out here our people who use power every day. So my main focus is on how can we educate and deliver the message of safety working and living with electricity? As I started down in Australia thinking how to explore and develop our role in the education of electricity, the vastness of users of electricity in everyone's everyday life, the enormity of this journey became daunting. The consideration of the impact on people's lives and livelihoods and where the electricity has transported us in today's lives and how we use it and how it's that thing that is just there? And how does it affect us in the rural landscape?
Leo:
When we grew up on the farm as kids, we learned to fix everything else ourselves. In those days and ages, we had three lights and two power points in a house, and that was it. The concept of safety was staying out of the way of the old cranky dairy cow and not getting tangled up in the old electric fence. But as our dependency on electricity grew, how do we create that message of the dangers and the effects of electrical industry and the electrical equipment we use? And my dad used to spiel at me that electricity was a wonderful servant, but a terrible master and no truer words are spoken. And young students of today, schools and our apprentices, they're going, and as we mentioned earlier, they will be our teachers of tomorrow. And the messages we develop for them and how will they get their messages across to us in the older generation of how to do things, but also that the generations that they're bringing through underneath them, how will that message get across? The best way to learn is to teach.
Leo:
And we must ensure that our coaching methods and the way we provide those messages really sinks in and we need the ability to offer support. And we must never be daunted in there in that process to be able to give that support. I've spoken to a lot of people in the industry since I was invited to do this tour and that included the local inspectors and some of ESO officers I deal with in the rural sector. And one of the things that it came up at a meeting we had early this year in Atherton, in relation to rural instance in industries and locations, and the highlighted point that really struck me was this things called dead zones. And I was astounded, and reflecting on my own locations and what we do on our own properties. It's something we've never dealt with before. So, things like workshops and sheds on rural properties that have been built under aerial power lines. These things don't need council approval to be built, they're just built there.
Leo:
Farming machinery under the aerial lines, and even hay bail stacks built under aerial power lines. Large traveling irrigators, those processes. Now these aerial lines can be from private lines to high energy lines. And even 20 kilometres away from where we are in Cairns, we have SWER lines, which is single wire earth return electrical reticulation. And the problem with those, is that they're just one wire running across a paddock, a long span. So we need the awareness of all these, everybody living in these areas, what the risk is, and the days of potential risk in that shop. So we're talking about the hazards associated in our rural sectors, such as we've talked about the irrigation systems, including bore pumps. And again, all this machinery needs maintenance sense, constant awareness, just even turning them on, have you got to gumboots on? Are you wearing gloves? Things like that.
Leo:
Traveling irrigation systems, especially around high voltage lines. Harvest new equipment, especially in their cane cutting areas. Refrigeration systems for dairies. Cooking and roasting machinery for locations as far as a mango-packing plants at coffee industries. Welding equipment and portable electric equipment. So, we have all these different equipment and power supply systems out there. One of the ones that had been noticed more lately is a prime or standby generators, tractor PTO generators. It's more proliferation of solar systems, because we're finding it's cheaper to put a solar system with battery support than it is to run mains power supplies from a supply authority companies to these installations. So we're seeing more of a proliferation of those on the industries and in the rural industry.
Leo:
As you can see in the photo, there's a fairly large crack in the ground. Again, part of it, it was drought, a drought area. There's other, also another situation that occurred there. And I said to the operator there, I said, "Is there any mains cables running through underneath there?" And they go, "Oh yes." And I'm going, "Seriously, observation awareness. Are we tracking on top of this?" And again, it was a situation that could have occurred. Fortunately, it didn't. One of the things I tried to find is more, as even Dave mentioned before, statistics and information about Australia and a snapshot in the Australian agriculture and industry. And one of the interesting things was that self-employed workers is 46 per cent in the industry. Employees are higher proportion of older workers than any other industry. 16 per cent aged 65 and over.
Leo:
We're talking about the different hazards and chemicals and just livestock, machinery, weather conditions. You talked about lightning storms and things like that. The farmers, they work often alone and the risk to them is even higher. So, again, we tried to create that awareness of, ask for assistance, ask help, those sorts of things we need to encourage and help to find. And when we consider these details above, the injuries from electrical industries may not seem to be as relevant, but we know the devastation on any industry, or the near misses, one too many. And the cost which Christine pointed out, the cost of electrical installation repairs connected with the tyranny of distance. Are they to be addressed in unimproved or unapproved electrical works and lack of maintenance? It is a big call. And as I said earlier, we learned to do everything as kids, and we need to be aware of those practices and how to encourage a thought bubble with Christine QCWA, how it can actually bring that more to fruition of approvals and understanding the best practices.
Leo:
This slide here was, I've taken a bit of a detail from the NPPD, which is an American-based organization. And they talk about how they plan or process, they ask their rural organizations, farming to actually consider all these things as in toolbox talks, the end of the day before, what are we going to do tomorrow? How are we going to do it? What are we going to replace? But then the next morning, you're going to be working on this power line, you're going to be doing this. You're running your header machine through here, you have grain trucks, you've got portable elevators. What are the things we need to be aware of? Have you a spotter? Are you aware? All right? So, they're the things we just want to keep highlighting. So the education in the electrical industry and awareness.
Leo:
I suppose, we grew up, I sort of grew up in a farming region. And the thing was, you grew up knowing that if you stood all day, the is going to kick you or run over you. So you grew up with that DNA built into you. But what we're trying to do now is create more of an awareness of the electrical risks and electrical situations that are every day and how do actually not get involved with it. So we talked about electrical injuries have devastating and sometimes deadly effects. Work as an occupation is regularly exposed to electrical equipment are particularly at risk of serious injury. However, these injuries are often preventable with proper safety strategies and precautions in place. This is, we talk about our toolbox talks and planning and understanding who's going to be supporting who. And we should all consider and raise the standard for safety or safety for ourselves, our family, friends, employees, we take measures to protect them from electrical exposure.
Leo:
For those who've been in the industry for quite some time and as again mentioned earlier, we finally have in the Australian standards, the installation of safety switches and Aleutian circuits in domestic and commercial world. Is up to each of us to keep pushing for this to be implemented and tested regularly as a minimum standard in our industry and applications. And this is for older places. The new places are getting this as part of the requirements of the Australian standards. We need to make sure that that message is getting down the track for older installations to be upgraded and made safe. And the standards, The following standards must be the core. Turn the power off, do not work live and use qualified personnel. These are basic everyday messages and as stated earlier, when we educate our young people to the dangers of working near or around electrical systems, this becomes the standards that are only acceptable in the future. To round off, finally, I'd like to thank my family for their support during my past 45 years, and for my formative years of farm life. It's been a big circle.
Leo:
However, country and farming life never leaves your blood. And I believe it has made me more driven to be and do better, to both of my team use electrical in farming who keep me focused. We talk about ongoing training and development, COVID's paid a little bit of issue with that at the moment, but we still need to be talking about doing webinars. And I thank you for the work you produce. And also I like to thank my MEA counsellors and MEA members in the electrical industry in my farming community, what they do for me, and Greg and Michael Hyman, they've been very good supporters for the year, so to help us stay focused. So on closing, electrically wise and safe. Thank you. Thanks Chris.
Chris Bombolas:
Thanks Very much Leo. Fantastic words of wisdom and some key take home advice. And if you have a question for Leo or any of the other previous three presenters, Dave, Christine, and Michelle, don't forget to type your name and question via the chat box to the right of your screen. Well, we are here to talk about electrical safety regional and rural Queensland. And one of the major sectors in those areas is agriculture. And to talk about electrical safety initiatives done by the ESO, I'd like to welcome Malcolm Chessells from the Electrical Safety Office to talk about electrical safety initiatives in the agricultural sector in Queensland. Mal.
Malcolm Chessells:
Thanks Chris. And hello to everyone out there. Yeah. The Electrical Safety Summit today, it presents a great opportunity for us to talk about some of the initiatives that are taking place in the agricultural sector to improve safety and education and awareness right across the electrical spectrum. So to do that, I'd like to start with just this simple slide that talks about the priority risks from the Electrical Safety Office perspective. And it's quite obvious. One of the top one there is overhead contact. So working in the agricultural sector is it's considered a high risk with heavy machinery and everything else that's happening to produce the goods that come from there. But you involve that with the heights of machinery and overhead power lines, and the risk of coming into contact is that hazard is just increased.
Malcolm Chessells:
So in terms of the danger of working around electricity, unfortunately with the last 12 fatalities that have taken place in the agricultural sector, six of those, sorry, I'll start that again. Unfortunately, with the last 12 electricity fatalities in Queensland, six of those have been in the agricultural sector. So the Electrical Safety Office has joined with some key players in the agricultural sector and the industry and other community groups, such as Queensland CWA, Ergon Energy, Energex Energy, to improve electrical safety, education, and awareness. The priority risks we're looking at as part of this forum is contact with overhead power lines, unsafe electrical equipment, and lack of safety switches.
Malcolm Chessells:
This slide here, some of you may or may not be familiar with the hierarchy of risk control. So, the diagram that we're presenting there is trying to get people to understand that the best form of safety is elimination of risk. And that's that top category write across the top there, and the least level of protection that you can get is personal protective equipment. So what were the attempted to do here and down the right-hand side, and it's probably very difficult to read from the screen there, there are a number of initiatives that are currently underway and taking place, and we've replicated those as the little blue bubbles in the diagram itself. And the first thing that becomes obvious is that there's only one in the elimination of risks. And on future slides I'll go through after this, we'll talk a bit more about each of these bubbles. But one thing that is very obvious is the massive bubbles down the bottom is all about awareness. We have some more in training and some tools to assist people there, but the majority of work is taking place in awareness.
Malcolm Chessells:
We'd like to encourage people to actually shift some of that awareness into action. Start looking at more ways to eliminate risks, substitute risk, and isolate risk, not just about presenting awareness. So if we talk about elimination, the Electrical Equipment Safety Scheme, and it's a scheme that is going to get some more airplay in the future. It's been in place since 2013. It's about looking for the regulatory compliance mark on products that you purchase. The regulatory compliance mark is an indication that the piece of electrical equipment you are purchasing, a toaster, an iron, a TV, complies with current Australian safety standards. It's a very important thing to look for.
Malcolm Chessells:
Another form of elimination is looking at relocating overhead power lines. And from the picture that you can see on the screen there, it's an aerial picture of a piece of farmland. The blue lines that you can see on the screen there that may or may not be very evident, indicate where the overhead power lines are. And you'll see there in the centre of the screen, a hashed-out red area. The overhead power line used to go straight across the top of Macadamia farm in that area there. And the farmer had frequent contact with overhead power line, putting himself and others at risk. So through discussions with Ergon Energy in that area, they organized to relocate the power line and remove the risk altogether. So the power line is now fed from a different area. So another thing, and Leo mentioned it as well, not storing irrigation pipes or machinery underneath the power lines. It's an important thing about the housekeeping.
Malcolm Chessells:
Other actions. If we look at isolation. Energy Queensland are looking at a revised policy in terms of pole replacement. So if a pole is actually due for replacement due to degradation, or the likes, Energy Queensland have put in place a policy where they'll actually increase the height of those poles to improve the ground-to-line clearance, making it safer, but still not eliminating the risk. So it's something that is in place at this point in time. And I recommend you to talk to your local distributor there in regards to that option. Another thing that definitely we're trying to encourage people, is to look at the actual type of farming activities that are being taken in the vicinity overhead power lines, and look at opportunities to actually change that farming activity that may mean you don't need to come in the close vicinity of overhead power lines or not use the type of machinery you currently use to put you at a higher risk.
Malcolm Chessells:
Engineering controls. And you've heard this mentioned by a few other speakers already. Safety switches are now required on all final sub-circuits of a new electrical installation, but that's not the case for an existing electrical installation. And so we're encouraging and doing a lot of work in the area of education and awareness about the importance of having safety switches installed.
Malcolm Chessells:
General awareness about the importance of having safety switches installed, not just on your power circuits, but on your light circuits, your hot water system circuit, your air conditioning circuit. The safety switch is there for your protection. It may not save you from receiving electrical shock, but it has the high potential of saving you from a fatal electrical injury.
Malcolm Chessells:
For further information, you can con go to our website there. And if you're talking to your electrician, make sure you ask him about installing the correct type of safety switch for the installation that you have and the type of equipment that you have installed. And we do have what we call an e-SAFE on our website that actually provides further information in regards to that.
Malcolm Chessells:
Other engineering controls that can be put in place, and we're conducting some conversations with different service providers at this point in time, is in the era of geofencing. And geofencing, if you're not familiar with it, it's looking at how the engineering control of recognizing the location of power lines through a mapping system can be incorporated with the technology of the farm machinery you're using, and actually start with audible alarms and warning systems and flashing lights to heighten that awareness that you are moving into an area of risk.
Malcolm Chessells:
As I mentioned in the earlier slide about the hierarchy of risk controls, a lot of work is taking place in the administrative control area. One of the key ones that is out there and has been for some time, is Energy Queensland's Look up and Live campaign. That campaign has now progressed to the state that it's available on your handheld device, on your phone. So I encourage you all to go to your app store and download the Look up and Live app.
Malcolm Chessells:
Another area that that can assist if the lines cannot be re relocated, whether it be for financial purposes or other reasons, is to look at any visible warning signs that you can actually place on the overhead power lines. Some of those come in the form of the picture that you see before you now is called a Rohde marker. It attaches to the overhead power line and it actually spins and reflects. So it makes you more aware that you're in an area. There are other things that can be done as well, such as painting around the bottom of power lines. Just as a reminder, that you're driving past them each day, that there are the high risk of overhead power lines above you.
Malcolm Chessells:
Christine has already spoken to, at length actually, in regards to the work that we have done with the Queensland CWA. So it was quite simple, as part of the forum the Agricultural Electrical Safety Forum, Christine presented to us to say, how do we get the simple message out there? Nothing that's too in-depth, nothing that's all that government speak that some people don't like to listen to. So this is where the electrical safety checklist came in. And it does speak very heavily about the simple things to do, to look out for your electrical equipment, the overhead power lines, shocks and tingles and safety switches once again. So shops and tingles there, there's a couple of very important phone numbers that you can call on this checklist there. It's, I think, if you go to our website, you'll be able to see links to the different Facebook and other social media areas where you can get a copy of that list.
Malcolm Chessells:
Another initiative that was undertaken within the electrical safety office was, how do we go into the community and share with them the safety message and demonstrate exactly what it's about rather than just talking about it? So within the team we've built portable safety switchboards. These switchboards, whilst they're made with new technology, replicate the switchboard that's actually your installation on your house or in your shed. And you can see across the bottom there, there's a range of LED lights. So by turning different circuit breakers, main switches and safety switches on and off, actually it's a display showing where the power is turned on and off at any point in time.
Malcolm Chessells:
The other thing that we do with these switchboards is that it's always difficult to explain to someone the difference between a circuit breaker and a safety switch. Now, a safety switch has a test button on it. A T, it has a little T or test button on it. And from this switchboard, we can demonstrate to people how difficult it is sometimes to actually identify which is a circuit breaker, and which is a safety switch. And they perform typically the same function. The circuit breaker is there to protect the wiring and the installation, but the safety switch is there to switch off in an instant to protect you, your life and your families.
Malcolm Chessells:
Some other work that's been taken underway as part of the group. The work that was undertaken with Queensland TAFE, and that came about through Mackay canegrowers Queensland in regards to a lot of their itinerant workers coming through. And how do they keep them fully aware of the induction procedures and the requirements to actually work in close proximity to power lines. So that's now available online. If you go to Queensland TAFE website, you'll be able to see that course is there. Electrical safety, periodicals, e-SAFE newsletters. With Energy Queensland, the Electrical Safety Office and other agricultural industry groups in their own periodicals, there are numerous messages being put out there on a weekly and monthly basis to keep everyone advised and informed of electrical hazards and working in the vicinity.
Malcolm Chessells:
Another piece of work that's been undertaken at this point in time is to engage with different parts of the agricultural industry that I have not necessarily been part of the forum that we're working with at this point in time. To encourage them to improve electrical safety and awareness within their own sector of the agricultural industry. And some of those include the Avocados Australia, Australian Banana Growers, Bamboo Society of Australia, Biosecurity Australia, which we've had some good discussions with them in regards, particularly with bamboo as well to put some more literature out there about the risk of planting underneath power lines. And also with the local government association of Queensland.
Malcolm Chessells:
Another program that we're working on, and there has been some mention of the area already Atherton's Tableland Region. Unfortunately, this region, it's been overrepresented with the number of electrical fatalities in their area. So we're looking to put a dedicated program in place and that will potentially commence next year. Now the program is all about getting local leaders and influencers and family members within the community to take on board that safety message and deliver it within the community and get that community to actually improve their education and awareness in that area. As I mentioned, unfortunately, there have been four fatalities in that area and they all occurred on farms. Two involved contact with overhead power lines and another was an unfortunate double fatality that involved a faulty electrical cord, but no safety switches were installed on that installation.
Malcolm Chessells:
The program itself, it's all about the key messages that we are trying to share with everyone. Is the risk of electrical safety equipment and making sure that you have the regulatory compliance mark on that piece of equipment when you purchase it. Switchboard safety and wiring with electrical safety switches, and working in the vicinity of overhead power lines.
Malcolm Chessells:
And one other piece of work that is just about to take off is... Donna mentioned it earlier, is working with children. Through the Tablelands regional safety project that we're looking to commence there and discussions with the local council and the development of our portable switchboard, we've been contacted by the Tablelands Regional Council in regards to a safety squad program, which is looking at educating children nine to 11 years of age about safety hazards. And the feedback from the schools is that electrical safety is one of the key things they would like to educate their children about. So we've been invited to participate in this program that's being run by the Tablelands Regional Council. And I believe there will be an initial trial program for that at Atherton Sir Joseph School, coming up in October. Those dates are yet to be confirmed. It's only early days, but it's a great initiative by the Tablelands Regional Council to get that safety message through to the younger generations coming through.
Malcolm Chessells:
That's it for me in regards to that presentation and the work that's being undertaken by some key people in the agricultural area. And thank you very much for the opportunity.
Chris Bombolas:
Thanks, Mal. Some great work being done by the ESO, particularly in the regional and rural areas throughout Queensland. Well, it's time for your session now. And we'll open up the panel. Thank you for all your questions. Of course, if you want to try and rush in a last minute question, if it's an absolute ripper, we'll put it up. We'll try to get to as many as we can. You can type in your name and question via the chat box to the right of your screen. Dave, Christine, Michelle, and Leo. Let's see if they're back online. Can you give me a wave? Are you all back on deck? Yes. We've got them. We've got their attention. Let's go to the questions.
Chris Bombolas:
The first one is for you, Dave. It's from Tina. What are the simple steps...? And we've got to keep these answers nice and short so we can get through as many as we can. What are the simple steps someone can take to improve their mental health? Nice and quick in a little capsule for us, Dave.
Dave Burt:
I think there's a few things to concentrate on is things that you're satisfied with, things that make you happy. It's always easy to concentrate on the bad things, but that's an important one. And I think taking time out for yourself and maybe sharing when your mental health is suffering a little bit. I think that sometimes you can't always do everything on your own, we need other people to help us.
Chris Bombolas:
Great advice. Another one for you, Dave. This one comes from Nick. As a business owner, what would you suggest implementing in your workplace to support mental health? Let's get the steps. The first steps that we need to do.
Dave Burt:
Talk about it. Talk about it, make it a subject that's easy to talk. And I can tell you that I've been in business for 20 plus years. And in the two years, since I put a book out there, which our staff know about it. The previous 20 years, I would have had maybe one conversation around mental health and wellbeing with employees. I couldn't tell you how many I've had in the last two years, more than 20. And I think creating an environment where people feel able to talk. It's probably one of the most important things we can do as business owners.
Chris Bombolas:
I'm taking from your earlier presentation, the five words, what's happening in your world? That's as simple as that, that will start that conversation.
Dave Burt:
Chris, most of the time we can see when something's not quite right with someone and nine times out of 10 if you go and ask the question, probe a little bit, you'll probably find that there's something there behind it.
Chris Bombolas:
All right. This one's to Christine. It comes from Joe. Thank you, Joe. How do you encourage women, Christine, to start the conversation about electrical safety in their workplaces?
Christine King:
Well, I think that women are very good at talking and communicating. We don't have a problem with that. And I think that what we've done through the CWA with having these discussions at our halls and that we really do empower women to go home and be brave. And they can find that subtle moment to say, "Well, have you checked something?" Or, "I'll come down with you and have a look at this. And can I put this checklist up in the shed so that you can read it?" I think women are very creative in starting a conversation and it's about life, so we're going to be brave. And it's very important that people don't take offense. It's there for the best interests. And I recommend that they go for it because the outcome is fantastic and it does start a dialogue.
Chris Bombolas:
Great advice. Let's move on to our next question. It comes from Jane and it's aimed at Michelle. Now, Michelle, what would be your advice to other women looking to work in your industry?
Michelle Taylor:
Oh wow. Look, there's nothing stopping you. If you're interested there's opportunities for everybody. And whilst it's quite well known that the electrical industry is a male dominated field, I think that there are so many opportunities and there's so many right places for women to be. In the same way that Christine is talking about influencing women around the farms, there's a lot of things that as women in the electrical industry that we have the opportunity to do that probably didn't happen so much with men. And Dave's example of showing that the conversations around how you going are really important. And we tend to do that a lot more than the guys, perhaps.
Chris Bombolas:
Excellent. Excellent. Now, Leo, you haven't escaped unscathed either. There's a question for you. It comes from Allen and Allen would like to know, what's one piece of advice you have for farmers working alone? And that's a situation that is often the case where they have long days, hard yakka and they're on their own.
Leo:
Yeah. We had that process early in our piece where I had my farm manager and he was basically working on his own. And what we did was we started the dialogue with the next door neighbour. And even today, my farm manager is helping to lay a concrete slab. So we work together, we balance off each other. We try to be supportive, community-wise, so much so that hopefully more post-COVID, but we're trying to actually create more of a community base around ourselves so we can actually support each other in all our outcomes, mental health and all that sort of stuff as well.
Chris Bombolas:
For that question, if you are performing work on your own and it's remote and it's on a far end of the property, how can you keep in contact or what would you do in advance? Would you say to family members or to your foreman or whoever it might be that, "I'll be back at five o'clock, I'll be back at 7:00 p.m." Give them some parameters so that it would raise an alarm if you weren't back in time.
Leo:
Yeah, yeah. Again, we actually all people who work on our property, we actually have all hands-free two-way radio systems so that if there are any issues, it's a quick two-way radio. I think it covers the boundaries of our property. Mobile phones are good, but we just kept having issues with, what you call the VOR, the ability to just talk and you get a response. We then do also have planning in place where we say, "Okay, this is the roles we're going to be doing today. This is our anticipated times. This is what we're using." And again, any of the risk stuff, we try and work in pairs. But as I said, if you're out on your own, communicate, advise, whiteboards, anything. Even if you're on your own and your family is away, just let your neighbour know. Just somebody to actually say, "Hey, if the lights aren't on at night, somebody is missing. So who's there, who's there to help?"
Chris Bombolas:
There's another one for you, Leo. This comes from Kirk. And I know you've had 45 years experience in the electrical industry, but what's the biggest challenge you've faced during that time?
Leo:
Keeping up with the changes in technology, would be one side of it. The other side of it is making sure that the people who work for me are provided constant training because our industry changes so quickly. How do we keep up with that technology? How do we keep them on track? And that to me is always a challenge. It's keeping them safe, but keeping them aware of what the industry is doing and how we keep level of it. And that's all the industries on both sides, farming or the electrical. It's really tough.
Chris Bombolas:
Just aim that question across the Tasman to Auckland, to Dave too. You've had a wealth of experience in your trade. What's the biggest challenge you've faced?
Dave Burt:
I think new legislation that comes in, whether it be technical or health and safety, just constantly being in touch and having systems in place that are fit for purpose so your employees can all go home safely each day. That never stops. My wife runs a health and safety program for our 120 employees. So we're often talking about it at night, which is really, really romantic. But it's really important to us. And I think keeping in touch with all that stuff is challenging.
Chris Bombolas:
And just to wind up and thanks everybody for your questions. A million questions came through, but we've had to keep it to a half dozen or six or seven. This one's for you, Dave. It comes from the ESO. I think it might've come from Donna actually, but I don't want to give her up. There've been many comments and requests for your book in the webinar chat forum. Can you tell us how to get a copy, and could you sign one for Donna?
Dave Burt:
I certainly can. On the website, lengtheningtheshadow.co.nz or .com, either will get you there. There's a process there that you can buy a book if you wish to and it just gets couriered to you. I don't believe it's in the shops in Australia.
Chris Bombolas:
Thank you very much to all our panel members for joining us. We have to wrap up the panel session there as we get towards the end of our summit for 2020. Of course the summit is put on by the Electrical Safety Office and it's the brain child and the baby of the Commissioner. And I'd like to welcome the Commissioner to say a few words and a wind down now summit for 2020. Please welcome Greg Skyring.
Greg Skyring:
Thank you Chris. Good morning everyone. And thank you all for registering. We've got a great line-up and we've got registrations from Weipa in the north, right through to Victoria in the South, across to New Zealand and I believe we've also got guests from Switzerland. Fantastic line-up. So I trust from this extraordinary line-up of speakers, you will all have a takeaway that will inspire you in your business. Can I also ask you to become involved in electrical safety week this week. Hold your own event, connect with the many programs available, share a safety moment, maybe online. As Chris said earlier, this event's been going for four years now. And back in 2017, leaders of industry, we had 40 leaders of industry that were invited to a Safety Summit breakfast, a little bit different to this at the Victoria Park Golf Club.
Greg Skyring:
Those leaders committed to inspire others to take action and to drive safety leadership at work through visible, impactful leadership. And in 2018 members subscribed to the safety leadership at work lead program. And we committed to develop, pilot and evaluate a safety culture toolkit for the electrical services industry. And in 2019, we delivered on the safety leadership pilot program. A program that was designed to measure and embed a safety culture in your business and across the electrical services industry. In that pilot program, we heard from participants about the benefits in motivating their workforce to behave in a way that prioritizes health and safety and that of their teams and mates through good leadership.
Greg Skyring:
That brings us to 2020, a year of many disruptions and impact on our wellbeing. It's where leadership, health and safety has taken on an even greater and present meaning. So through this webinar, our guest speakers have connected with and inspired us in their own way. So, Dave, thank you for coming. Dave's story has never been more relevant. Droughts, fires, a pandemic, and now a recession. And so how are you dealing with your world? Are you brave enough to ask the question of your mates? So thank you, Dave. It's been an absolute pleasure having you on. And I think a lot of your story will resonate with a lot of people in the industry.
Greg Skyring:
Donna, getting the balance between enforcement of legislation and education and engagement, it's not easy. The focus on rural and regional Queensland by bringing together community, industry and government organizations to improve electrical safety is commendable. It's a simple things like the safety switch education and the switch off before entering ceiling spaces. They're the things that will save lives. So thank you for today.
Greg Skyring:
Christine, you're a community voice to be listened to you. You turn words into actions. You did not hesitate when made aware that the safety switches on all circuits for the CWAs many aging properties would make rural and regional communities safe under your watch. Lots of great messages today. Back to basics, that's what we want to hear. Thank you, Christine.
Greg Skyring:
Michelle. Michelle has a real passion for electrical safety and a great advocate for regional Queensland. Michelle, as Chris said earlier, is on our electrical equipment committee. She keeps us informed on the benefits and the risks of emerging technology and the importance of staying current and in particular competent. Thank you, Michelle.
Greg Skyring:
And Leo, our contractor from Cairns and farmer. The message is clear. The many hazards working on rural properties, working remote and working alone. The elevated risk of working near overhead power lines. I particularly liked your description of the dead zones. Additional risks created where operations seldom occur, but can be mitigated by education, awareness. You might not have mentioned it, but certainly the Look up and Live app that is now out there, a great tool.
Greg Skyring:
Safety switches on all circuits, test regularly, turn the power off, do not work live, use qualified personnel. Simple clear messages. Thank you Leo.
Greg Skyring:
And Mel from the ESO. Reinforcing those priority risks in the rural sector. Contact with overhead lines, lack of safety switches, unsafe electrical equipment. Key messages, and clearly articulating the actions to manage those risks. Simple elimination, isolation, engineering and administration controls.
Greg Skyring:
Can I just thank the AU team, in particular, Elsje, Ella, Connie and Zoe, and particularly our MC Chris here as well and all the webinar participants for being here today. And in closing, I'd just like to leave you with this message. By attending this Safety Summit, you make a commitment. If each of you take one action for the health, safety, and wellbeing of your team, your workplace, and inevitably your family, then investment in your time here today will have been worthwhile. Thank you. Be safe. And I look forward to engaging again in 2021. Thank you.
Chris Bombolas:
Thanks Greg. You can see our Facebook details there. If you'd like to join us and follow us. Thanks to the Commissioner for making today possible. Thank you to our speakers, Craig, Dave, Donna, Christine, Michelle, Leo, and Mal. There are a number of ways you can get involved in electricity safety week, which is running through until the 11th. We're running a Facebook competition on our electrical safety office page every day this week. Send through the correct answer to the question and you could win one of five, $100 Trade Equipment gift vouchers.
Chris Bombolas:
Please join football legend, Mat Rogers at tomorrow's electrical contractors webinar. If you're an electrical apprentice or supervisor, you can click on to the apprentice and supervisor webinar. That's happening on Thursday morning, bright and early. You can visit electricalsafety.qld.gov.au to register for a webinar or to check out some of our really invaluable resources.
Chris Bombolas:
Today's webinar was recorded so you can watch it again and share it with your friends and colleagues. It will be available at electricalsafety.qld.gov.au, along with a range of other electrical safety information and resources.
Chris Bombolas:
Shortly, we'll email you a feedback survey. We really value your feedback. It helps us shape events like these in the future. Tell us what you like. Tell us what you didn't like. Tell us what you want more of. We'll take that all into consideration.
Chris Bombolas:
Finally, on behalf of the Office of Industrial Relations and the Electrical Safety Office, thank you for joining us for Electricity Safety Summit 2020. In the words of Dave Burt, our friend from across the ditch, "It's about mates helping mates. It's about being brave enough to ask the question, what's happening in your world?" I hope it's safe and I hope it leads us back to the Summit in 2021. Thanks for joining us. Be safe.
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