MEA calls for better electrical safety in Victoria

Master Electricians Australia (MEA) has called for all political parties in the upcoming Victorian election to lift electrical safety standards and introduce mandatory safety switches on all circuits on all properties.

This follows a spate of tragic deaths in Victoria over the past few years related to electrical safety. According to MEA CEO Malcolm Richards, 15 people are killed and 300 hospitalised in Australia every year because of domestic electrical accidents that could be prevented with safety switches. He said: “In most of the electrical deaths we have seen in recent times, a safety switch would almost certainly have saved lives.”

However, safety switches are not mandatory on all properties under the current laws, and Richards suggested Victoria has been left behind other states such as Western Australia and Queensland.

“The newly released Australian standard now requires safety switches on all circuits in homes; however, there is no requirement to upgrade existing homes, leaving many home owners unprotected,” Richards explained.

Most Victorian homes have safety switches on only one or two circuits, while some homes are only fitted with circuit breakers, which protect appliances and electrical fittings but not human beings.

“A safety switch will cut the flow of electricity faster than the critical phase of a heartbeat,” Richards said. “We again call on politicians and bureaucrats to lift the standards and require a safety switch on all circuits in all Victorian homes.”

Image credit: ©PhotocreoBednarek