Queensland electrical safety plan

Queensland’s first strategic five-year plan for improving electrical safety — the Electrical Safety Plan for Queensland 2003–2008, which complemented the state government's reforms into electrical safety — has now been replaced by the Electrical Safety Plan for Queensland 2009–2014, which was developed by the Electrical Safety Board in consultation with industry and the Electrical Safety Office to build on the achievements of the first plan and to further improve electrical safety for tomorrow’s Queensland.

The plan, which commenced 1 January 2009, outlines the high-level strategies, goals and targets to support improvements in electrical safety over the next five years.

Implementation of strategies contained in this first plan has seen many improvements, both in the increased awareness in electrical safety over the period and also in the range of programs and initiatives implemented to help combat electrical incidents. The five-year moving average of electrical fatalities decreased from 1.97 electrical fatalities per million population as at June 2003 to 1.19 as at June 2008. The Queensland rate also remained below the national average throughout the period.

The vision of the plan mirrors the purpose of the Electrical Safety Act 2002, which is directed at eliminating the human cost to individuals, families and the community of death, injury and destruction that can be caused by electricity.

The plan’s goal over the next five years is the elimination of all preventable electrical deaths. To address this goal, key concerns were identified and strategies developed using an evidence-based approach. The resulting priority areas are:

• powerlines
• electrical installations
• electrical equipment

Strategies have been developed under each of these areas to address the identified issues and grouped under common headings in the plan:

• Education and awareness
• Legislation
• Compliance
• Training
• Equipment design and innovation

The strategies in each area have been specifically chosen to address possible contributing or influential factors. This targeting is expected to make the greatest impact in reducing the overall number of electrical incidents.