Electrical Safety Management Schemes

Electricity Safety Management Schemes (ESMS) are a non-prescriptive form of regulation. They enable industry to improve efficiencies without compromising safety standards.

Legislation

The Electricity Safety Act 1998 (the Act) outlines the requirements for ESMSs submitted to Energy Safe Victoria. This includes both mandatory and voluntary ESMSs.

The Act is supported by the Electricity Safety (Management) Regulations 2019 (regulations). These regulations provide further detail as to what should be included in an ESMS.

Guidelines

The following guidelines aim to assist entities submitting ESMSs for acceptance.

They include the Energy infrastructure safety case guidelines, which apply to all energy infrastructure companies, and other industry-specific guidance. Entities should review all relevant guidance before submitting a safety case for acceptance.

The relevant guidelines are:

For all energy infrastructure companies

Energy infrastructure safety case guidelines

For MECs

Energy Safe Victoria's Guidelines for MECs on the Preparation and Submission of ESMS’s.
PDF 332.97 KB
(opens in a new window)

For voluntary ESMSs entities

VESMS Guideline - Preparation and Submission 2019
PDF 230.28 KB
(opens in a new window)

Classification of audit findings

ESTR_Classification_of_Audit_Findings_Guideline_Jan2021
PDF 88.28 KB
(opens in a new window)

Incident reporting guidelines for MECS

Regulations 28 and 29 require MECs to report serious electrical incidents. The reporting requirements are described in the Incident and safety performance reporting guidelines:

Electrical Safety Performance Reporting Guidelines Rev 05072022
PDF 1.42 MB
(opens in a new window)

Please note these reporting guidelines apply to MECs only. Voluntary ESMS entities must comply with their ESMSs or the Electricity Safety (General) Regulations 2019.

Date: 21/12/2024 13:00

Controlled document

The currency and accuracy of this document cannot be guaranteed once printed or saved to a storage device. If in doubt, please check the ESV website for the current version.

Reviewed