PAPER RELEASED ON ELECTRICAL SAFETY SWITCHES FOR ALL QUEENSLAND HOMES
Published Monday, 28 January, 2002 at 12:00 AM
Industrial Relations
The Honourable Gordon Nuttall
Premier Peter Beattie said the Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) was part of the Government's extensive reforms of the Queensland electricity industry announced in August last year.
"Queensland currently has the highest number of electrical fatalities in the home, of any state in Australia.
"More than 70% of all electrical incidents last year occurred in the home - from trying to fix a toaster or hanging a painting, to do-it-yourself wiring or children playing with cords and power points.
"Sadly, more than half the people killed in electrical incidents in Queensland last year could have been saved if a safety switch had been installed.
Mr Beattie said safety switches had been mandatory on new homes in Queensland since 1992.
"It's estimated up to 500,000 homes currently do not have a safety switch."
Industrial Relations Minister Gordon Nuttall said the RIS outlined 6 options including mandatory safety switches on both power and lighting circuits within 7 years; and mandatory safety switches on power circuits at the time a home is sold.
"Improving electrical safety in this state involves all Queenslanders. This is a significant opportunity for the public, industry and community groups to have their say in how to better protect their families from the dangers of electricity."
Mr Nuttall urged consumers to check their homes for a safety switch.
"Safety switches are NOT circuit breakers. Only a safety switch will cut the power in one-twentieth of a second - enough time to save a life.
The drive for safety switches in all Queensland homes is one of 39 recommendations being implemented by the Government as a result of last year's Review of the Electrical Safety Office and the Division of Workplace Health and Safety.
Those recommendations also include a new Electrical Safety Act, a new Electrical Safety Board and a new Investigation and Prosecutions Unit.
Mr Nuttall expected all recommendations to be implemented by the end of this year.
Ten people died in electrical incidents in Queensland last year - 6 involving domestic appliances. Another 43 people died in domestic electrical incidents between July 1992 and December 2000.
For every person who died in an electrical incident last year in Queensland, 140 others reported an electric shock.
Media: Steve Bishop on 3225 1214 or 0419 779 518 Leisa Schultz on 3225 2017 or 0419 746 093