Electrical work on or near energised electrical equipment

When you woke up this morning you thought this would be a day like any other.

You've been called in to do a quick job, change a circuit breaker. No big deal. You've done it a million times before. You aren't going to rock the boat by asking for the power to be shut down. You'll just do it live. It'll only take a second.

What you don't know is in the six months since this panel was last opened, dust has built up between live parts. There's a loose screw waiting to drop at any minute, and the insulation on the bus bar is old, worn and about to crack.

But that doesn't matter. Whatever the reason, you're working on live, energised equipment, and this is about to happen.

[Large explosion]

So what just happened, you just experienced an arc flash.

An unexpected, violent electrical short circuit where current flowed between the phase conductors, neutral and earth. When that electrical arc fault occurred, the following things happened.

The arc caused a superheated ball of flame to erupt around you. A fireball that reached 20,000 degrees Celsius in a fraction of a second. That's four times hotter than the surface of the Sun. And it happened 30 centimetres from your face.

The copper conductors vapourised and expanded up to 67,000 times their original volume, culminating in a shower of molten metal flying directly at you.

The vaporised metals, smoke and burnt components formed a boiling, poisonous gas that engulfed you and went into your airways.

The pressure wave knocked you off your feet and into the wall behind you. Collapsing your left lung.

Thankfully, you survived.

Your hands took the bulk of the heat blast, causing third degree burns. You'll need skin grafts and months of rehabilitation. If you had worn the correct protective gloves, you could have reduced the risks and avoided serious burns.

Your front and back were badly burnt, with second degree burns across your chest from the initial blast, as well as a patchwork of first and second degree burns where your shirt caught fire. If you had been wearing the correct arc-rated protective clothing, it could have prevented the arc flash from setting your clothes on fire.

None of this would have happened if you had assessed the risks and deenergised the switchboard before you started work.

But it's too late now.

You will never regain the full use of your hands, so you may not be able to work as an electrician again. You'll be off work of any sort for months. On top of the injuries and lost wages, you'll also have fines to pay.

If there are energised parts; expect the unexpected and protect yourself against arc flash.

Always follow safe work procedures and wear appropriate PPE to reduce the risks of serious burns, injury or death.

Remember, the only way to eliminate the risk of arc flash is to choose not to work live.

Mark: I've been an electrician for about 18 years now and I'm very confident in what I do and I still ended up in hospital.

I got up that day, a standard day, not thinking anything of it I says that I'll bounce in and do that power quality assessment I had to do.

I'd assessed the work to be done live and I was very confident on what had to get done in response to do it live. All I need to do is clip on these four crocodile clips, which isn't a hard task, you know what I mean, I can see the bus bar.

I've clipped on the first one and then I went to clip on the second one, as soon as I touched it, it just went bffff - this white yellow flash, you know what I mean, on my face and just a really disgusting noise. I wasn't unconscious but I sorta realised what had happened and I could just smell all my hair had burnt and my skin was all burning, and I could see all my clothes were all burnt and things and my skin was hanging off and that, I was just all black.

Mel: So, when I first found out he had the accident I was at work but when I answered the phone I couldn't actually understand what he was saying, he was all gibberish and, but all I got was 'I'm in a bad way, I'm being taken to hospital'. I just, like, panicked, yeah.

Mark Pocock: In Mark's case while he was working in the switchboard, as a result of attempting to pull off two pieces of insulation, he exposed the risk of two separate electrical phases in bridging that out with his screwdriver he's created a large arc flash with high volt current available inside the switchboard, which has resulted in a large fireball which burnt Mark considerably

Mel: When I first walked in to see him, he was in a hospital bed and he was just black, black and his hair was singed and…

Mark: The injuries I actually sustained would have been, it was actually 12 per cent body burns so that involved skin grafts for that to heal they cut or they grind your skin off and then lay that on top of the burns.

Mel: So, the next day after the skin grafts, as soon as I walked into his room, in the burns ward, he was just head to toe in bandages, he looked like a mummy. I think that's when it hit me.

Mark: The first week was not an enjoyable time, I was in splints, full arm splints, leg splints, couldn't even pick my own nose. Every second day I had to get all my dressings took off, so you've got dressings stuck on to skin grafts or sticking to you so you need to go in your shower and get all wetted up to release like all the stickiness of it and then take it off and it just sticks to your skin and it's sore. I didn't know what I was going to look like.

In hospital for three weeks and, yeah, off work for three months and what I didn't realise then, during with what I was going through how it had hurt Mel and how it had emotionally strained her, mentally and emotionally. It's not a nice feeling, you know, that the person you love is obviously upset and hurt because of what's happened to you.

Mel: Mark definitely didn't realise how much his accident had affected me. The realisation of how serious it was. He could have died, yeah, just had no idea.

Mel: When Mark started having his rehab, that was hard because he had been in hospital for such a long period of time without moving, he was really happy when he called me that he told me he had walked for the first time, with a zimmer frame, so he still had to lean on it but I was really proud of him.

Mark: It was also a really big emotional burden that's getting put on your loved ones, whether it be your wife, you know what I mean, your family, your parents. Something like this puts an emotional burden on them.

Mel: He loves his work, he loves to be always, you know, keeping his mind active, so when he couldn't go straight back to work that also held some frustrations with some, I think some, a little bit of anger. I was really happy to see him back at work, I do want to be with him for the rest of my life so I am grateful that he is healed.

Mark Pocock: You can prevent arc flash by eliminating the hazard. Turn the power off and isolate the equipment, even if that means rescheduling the work for another time. Remember, working near energised parts can be just as dangerous as performing live work. Arc flash risk isn't just limited to large switchboards, they can also occur in smaller switchboards, electrical supply pillars and even large electrical equipment, so plan your work and always follow your safe working procedures.

Mark: Yeah I think one thing that I would like to get out there after my accident is just to all the other sparkies out there, just don't work live. Don't put yourself in situations where, like I was, just because you're trying to please the client, just because you're trying to get the job done faster.

If you've got a wife, kids, family, like, it's just not worth it. Nothing is worth your life.

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

Inspect the worksite

Look at:

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

Talk to workers

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

Review information already available

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Under work health and safety laws you must review controls:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Exposed means—

(a)  bare; or

(b)  not effectively insulated; or

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

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

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

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