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The risks in any workplace must effectively be managed by the company. The responsibility of defining the potential risks usually sits with the Duty holder.
The statutory document “Electricity at Work Regulations 1989″ came into force on 1st April 1990. The purpose of the Regulations is to require precautions to be taken against the risk of death or personal injury from electricity in work activities.
Under the Electricity at Work Regulations the Title by law, ‘DUTY HOLDER’ which is anyone involved with electricity, has a duty of care to persons, livestock and property.
Regulation 3(2)(b) of EaWR 1989 states that a ‘Duty holder’ must comply with the provisions of the regulations in so far as it relates to matters within their control.
This means that everyone who is involved with electricity, i.e. working on it, working with it and /or using it, from the engineer in the main switch room to the person on the shop floor plugging in any device.
The prime responsibility is placed on employers, directors and managers
(see Sections 2 & 37 HASAWA).
The reason why management are deemed to have the resources and the authority necessary to provide a safety management system.
Regulation 16 of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 states
“Persons Should Be Competent To Prevent Danger And Injury”
This regulation is in some ways the most important. It deals with competency.
Common considerations are;
Who defines competency and who is responsible for ensuring that only competent people are working on a task?
For a ‘Duty Holder’ there are three essentials for electrical safety:
This is a 1-day programme consisting of:
The one day Duty holder awareness programme will be delivered via PowerPoint and the candidates are encouraged to ask questions throughout the programme.
This is then underpinned via an end point assessment of a multiple-choice question paper.
All successful candidates will be awarded a City & Guilds accredited certificate.
The risk in any workplace can be lowered by undertaking a Skills Gap Analysis.
The skills gap analysis aims to identify the priority competencies and learning needs of the workforce. The skills gap analysis aims to identify the priority competencies and learning needs of the workforce.
Key points that should be considered as a part of this process are;
What skills do your staff require? What skills do you already have? Can staff be upskilled? Are roles clearly defined within a procedure manual?The skills gap analysis can ensure that staff are at a predetermined level prior to undertaking a task.