Electrician pleads guilty over explosion risk

An electrician from Western Australia’s South West region has pleaded guilty to two charges under WA’s electricity licensing regulations and ordered to pay $11,000 in fines and costs for a dangerous installation that could have caused a hydrogen explosion.

In March 2021, the electrician attended a property in Scott River East, near Augusta and Nannup, to install inverter chargers in a standalone power system.

The system involved storing solar energy in a bank of vented lead–acid batteries, which produce potentially explosive hydrogen gas when they are recharging. The electrician installed the inverter chargers, which can be an ignition source for this gas, near the exposed lead–acid battery bank.

An investigation by WA safety regulator Building and Energy found that the electrician’s installation of the inverter charger did not comply with electrical wiring rules that require protection against ignition when electrical equipment is installed in areas where explosive gases may be present.

The electrician breached the Electricity (Licensing) Regulations 1991 by not adhering to the wiring rules and, additionally, by submitting an official compliance notice when the installation work was in fact incorrect.

WA’s Director of Energy Safety, Saj Abdoolakhan, said the dangerous installation could have resulted in serious injuries and property damage.

“In this case, hydrogen would have been produced regularly whenever the vented lead–acid batteries were charged by energy from the solar panels,” he said.

“It is pure luck that the chargers did not ignite the gas from the nearby exposed batteries before the danger was identified by a Building and Energy electrical inspector.

On 22 September 2023, Magistrate Andrew Maughan ordered the electrician to pay a global fine of $8000 and $2982.30 in costs. The electrician was granted a spent conviction due to factors such as the guilty plea and no previous electrical offences in a lengthy career.

Maughan urged tradespeople to accept the real potential for injury from hazards, adding that the incorrect notice charge was also a serious matter due to the diligence expected in self-regulation.

Abdoolakhan also stressed the importance of licensed electrical contractors and electrical workers taking responsibility for their work.

“They have to make sure the work they do complies with all the relevant technical safety requirements. They must also submit accurate notices that reflect compulsory checking, testing and compliance,” he said.

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