Under Worksafe New Zealand compliance, an employer must ensure that any risk of injury from electricity at a place of work is controlled by way of regular testing, maintenance and inspection to ensure they remain safe for use. An employer must ensure that a record is made and kept of all inspections and tests made and maintenance carried out on electrical items. However, there is a lack of education regarding these regulations, opening the door to substandard testing which could lead to further issues for an accommodation provider.
“Smaller accommodation providers just don’t know,” said Damian Lyons of Electrical Testing Services.
“Often it means that until someone comes and knocks on their door and makes them aware, they don’t know that it’s their legal requirement.”
If an accommodation provider fails to meet requirements, consequences can be dire.
“WorkSafe generally issues a warning, but if nothing is rectified on the second visit, there can be a quite a hefty fine. If someone is hurt as a result of not conforming to legislation, there can be a jail sentence."
Electrical Testing Services Ltd (ETS) is a privately-owned company with a head office based in Auckland and strategically located personnel in both islands of New Zealand. ETS has built a reputation of exceeding client’s expectations, and providing a professional, consistent, and
confidential service. ETS assists in ensuring workplace compliance to specific electrical and fire safety requirements, not only by providing relevant compliance information to clients but also by providing a highly focused service that exceeds recommended regimes.
ETS has a unique system where electrical tests are each assigned a barcode, the results of which can be accessed by the client online. This means that the client has a readily-accessible record of all the testing which has taken place on their site. In an industry where sub-standard electrical testing is a serious problem, this is an invaluable resource should any complications arise. Clients can see not only that an appliance has been tested, but the exact results of that test.
ETS not only does the test and tag but also offers Thermal Imaging and Electrical repairs. ETS field staff are not just all technicians – they also have qualified electricians. This means that they can identify and fix problems that may arise.
“Our team can also do emergency light testing and installation, as well as helping with portable fire compliance,” said Lyons.
For more information call Electrical Testing Services on 0800 30 49 59.
