Electrical industry says unsafe operators are the minority

The Western Australia chapter of NECA recently stated its agreement with the action taken against electrical contractors who were recently found to have acted inappropriately and unsafely in that state.

The General Manager of NECA Western Australia, Kyle Kutasi, was responding to an article that appeared in The West Australian that suggested that dozens of homes have live electricity running through them as a result of ‘botched work’ by Western Power and their contractors where polarities had been reversed on conductors.

“NECA represents over 4000 electrical contractors across the state and I can assure the community that we support action against those individuals that have done the wrong thing,” Kutasi said. “The industry is right behind the efforts of the government and EnergySafety to prosecute those who are not safe, but it should not be forgotten that these people are in a very small minority.

“Electricians are very aware of the tragic consequences of electrical accidents and how simple it is to prevent them by installing in the correct manner. They also are acutely aware of the need to perform the right checks and tests each and every time.

“The standard of electrical work in Western Australia is still very high and the electrical industry remains one of the strongest regulated of all the trades. The number of electrical contractors found to have acted inappropriately is very small and NECA acknowledges that on these specific occasions the community has been let down.

“No one likes when work falls below the accepted benchmark and with electrical work it is even more important than some other industries to get it right every time. However, we must remember that the reality is that there are over 20,000 electrical workers in the state performing over 1 million electrical installations every year.

“NECA has been working with EnergySafety and Western Power for many years to improve electrical safety standards and work practices in Western Australia and has every confidence in the systems that we now have in place to catch those whose work is not safe.”

For extra protection, householders should voluntarily get their properties retrofitted with residual current devices (RCDs), also known as safety switches. RCDs would prevent most electrocutions and electrical fires in the event of a polarity reversal.