Death prompts further calls for electrical safety in Qld

Following the death of a 25-year-old man from a fatal electric shock last week, Master Electricians Australia (MEA) has implored the Queensland Government to strengthen the state’s safety switch regime.

While working in a roof space, the Sunshine Coast man came into contact with a metal structure that had been enlivened by the building’s lighting circuit. Under Queensland law, the lighting circuit was not legally required to have a safety switch installed.

The incident occurred less than a month after the Queensland State Coroner recommended the Queensland Government make safety switches compulsory on every circuit in every home.

“Until governments move decisively to require stronger protection from safety switches, these deaths will continue,” said MEA Chief Executive Malcolm Richards. “This most recent fatality should be all the proof the Queensland Government needs.

“Sadly, more than 20 years after safety switches become compulsory on power circuits in new homes, many houses still do not have them fitted, and very few have them on every circuit.

“The time has come for the state government to act on this issue as a matter of critical importance, before more lives are unnecessarily lost.

“There is absolutely no excuse for complacency regarding electrical-related injuries and fatalities when the solution is known.”