Supervised Workers

Overview

You have responsibilities as a Supervised Worker licence holder. This page outlines duties under the Electricity Safety Act 1998 and related Regulations.

You must

As a Supervised Worker you must:

• sign your Supervised Worker’s licence card when you get it
• notify us within 10 business days if you change
  • your name
  • your contact or address details
• ensure all electrical circuits are correctly isolated from supply
• take adequate precautions to prevent shock or injury.
  Note: guidance for safe work on low voltage is detailed in AS/NZS 4836.

You must also:

• comply with the requirements and procedures set out in regulations 508 to 511 of the Electricity Safety (General) Regulations 2019 whenever you are working on energised electrical equipment
• ensure your electrical installation work is safe to be supplied with electricity
• ensure your electrical installation work complies with Electricity Safety (General) Regulations
• ensure your electrical installation work complies with relevant Standards
• complete all mandatory tests on your electrical installation work as described in
  • the Electricity Safety Act
  • the Electricity Safety (General) Regulations
  • the Wiring Rules

You must also either:

• ensure that all electrical circuits handled when carrying out electrical work are isolated from supply
• take adequate precautions to prevent shock or injury.

Serious electrical incidents

You must call us if a serious electrical incident related to your work occurs. If this happens, call 1800 000 922(opens in a new window) as soon as practical.

A serious electrical incident causes, or has the potential to cause:

• the death of or injury to a person
• significant damage to property
• a serious risk to public safety.

You must submit an Electrical Incident Report form after an incident. The form is due within 20 business days of the incident.

Electrical Incident Report form
Electrical_incident_report_form-2018 DOCX 98.5 KB

Send the written report ^[1] to:

Electrical Incidents
Energy Safe Victoria
PO Box 262
Collins Street West VIC 8007

or

Email: info@energysafe.vic.gov.au

You must not

As a Supervised Worker, you must not carry out electrical installation work:

• without effective supervision by a licensed electrician
• unless your Supervised Worker’s licence is current.

You should

As a Supervised Worker, you should:

• know the expiry date of your licence
• produce your Supervised Worker’s Licence card (or details of your licence):
  • when carrying out electrical installation work
  • if requested by an Energy Safe Enforcement Officer
• maintain knowledge of the following documents, including updates to:
  • Electricity Safety Act (in particular Part 3)
  • Electricity Safety (General) Regulations
  • Electricity Safety (Registration and Licensing) Regulations
  • AS/NZS 3000 Wiring Rules and all other standards applicable to your work. This includes referenced sections of the Building Code of Australia (BCA)
  • Victorian Electricity Distributors' Service and Installation Rules
• ensure you have current copies of:
  • legislation
  • Australian Standards
  • Codes of Practice about electrical installation work
• understand your OH&S responsibilities
• wear appropriate protective clothing and equipment (PPE).

You should also understand that we may take disciplinary action against non-compliance.

This can include:

• suspending your licence
• cancelling your licence
• issuing infringement notices
• prosecutions.

Notes

The information on this page is for general use only. It's not a definitive guide to the law. You should read this page in conjunction with the Act and relevant regulations.

Also note the use of these words:

• ‘must’ indicates that legal requirements exist, which you must comply with
• ‘should’ indicates a recommended course of action
• ‘may’ indicates an optional course of action.

^[1] You are not required to notify or provide written reports to us if you have confirmed the the employer, workplace controller or relevant REC has notified us.