A safety observer must be used when there is no reasonable alternative to performing energised electrical work (live work). The only exception to not requiring a safety observer is when the live work consists only of testing and a risk assessment shows there is no serious risk associated with the proposed work. Although safety observers…

Battery powered devices such as energy monitoring systems (pictured below), timeclocks or communication equipment, if not maintained, can leak an alkaline substance onto equipment located below, creating a potential electric shock hazard and damaging equipment. You should be aware of and control this risk when working on switchboards and meter panels near unmaintained battery powered…

In April 2019, a worker was seriously burned while attempting to decommission a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank from a motor vehicle at a workplace. It appears he was removing screws on the LPG tank using a battery-operated screwdriver which created an ignition source and started a fire. Preventing a similar incident Gas systems are…

Following yet another arc flash injury caused by failing to test a circuit before work started in a switchboard, the Electrical Safety Office is issuing an urgent callout to electrical workers – it’s time to reset your safety focus and test before you touch. The ESO is investigating three other serious electrical incidents where electrical…

The owners of buildings clad in potentially lethal combustible material have been left the bill after the Queensland government rejected pleas to help cover the repair cost. Following the Grenfell Tower fire in Britain in June 2017, which killed more than 70 people, flammable cladding was found on 237 Queensland buildings, including five owned by…

This question, though complex, in this article will be attempted to be distilled down to four main (along with various miscellaneous contributing factors) arguable contributing factors. One potential cause (and this article is in no way meant to cast aspersions on particular sections of the building and construction industry in Australia or more generally) is…

Firefighters have extinguished a blaze at Warwick East State School on Queensland’s Southern Downs, one of the oldest schools in the state, with a building that dates back to the 1850s. The fire broke out in one of the classrooms on Friday afternoon. All students and staff have been accounted for and there have been…

The first warning sounded in this country in 1995, but it took another 22 years for people to heed it. CSIRO testing first showed the dangers of combustible cladding in the year Qantas was privatised and Telecom changed its name to Telstra. Those dangers were dramatically revealed in November 2014 when fire raced up 13…

Paint tins were exploding into the air and flying onto the street as firefighters battled a massive fire that destroyed a paint factory and a house in Albion, in Brisbane’s inner north overnight. The blaze started at the factory, on Tate Street, just before midnight and when 30 firefighters and 10 trucks arrived, there were…

A website for Queensland building owners to register their properties to check for flammable cladding came under attack as the deadline loomed on Friday. The Queensland Building and Construction Commission’s Safer Buildings website had more than 20,000 registrations completed as owners rushed to comply with new legislation. The registrations are the first phase of a…