Safety regulator investigates roof space death

WA’s electrical safety regulator, Building and Energy, is investigating the tragic death of an electrical worker at a property in Nollamara.

The 24-year-old electrician was found deceased in the home’s roof space.

Western Australia’s Director of Energy Safety, Saj Abdoolakhan, extended his deepest condolences to the electrician’s loved ones.

“Our focus is on determining how this tragedy occurred and whether electricity was a factor,” he said.

Following the fatality, Building and Energy has issued a reminder to always switch off the mains power before entering a roof space. Roof spaces can present serious electrical hazards and the potential for electric shocks is high, the safety body warned.

By law, all tradespersons who need to enter the roof space at a property must turn off the power at the main switchboard/meter box prior to doing so. This applies to most work (not just electrical work) carried out in the roof space of residential and commercial premises.

Hazards can include:

• exposed live electrical conductors or wiring
• unenclosed joints in conductors
• deteriorated electrical cabling (often associated with older buildings)
• substandard and unsafe past electrical work by an incompetent person
• damaged cables (eg, chewed by rodents)
• metallised foil insulation which may have become energised due to poor installation practices.
   

“While it is not mandatory for homeowners to switch off the power at the main switch before they enter the roof space themselves, I strongly recommend that they do so as well,” Abdoolakhan said.

More information on working safely in the roof space can be found on the Building and Energy website: Working in the roof space.

Building and Energy is now distributing free safety stickers (pictured below) to be placed on manholes and switchboards as a reminder to turn off the main switch at the property’s switchboard or meter box before entering the roof space. The free stickers can be requested by emailing: EGPGeneralAdmin@dmirs.wa.gov.au.

Image credit: iStock.com/Arkadiusz Warguła