DGD13-018

Policy

Electrical Safety

Policy Statement

The ACT Health is committed to complying with the Electrical Safety Act 1971 which is designed to protect people and property from real and potential risk associated with electricity.

The responsibility for making sure all personal electrical items having been tested and tagged prior to bringing the items onto Health premises lies with patients and clients, visitors and contractors and individual staff members, in accordance with the Testing and Tagging SOP.

The onus is on all staff, reinforced by managers and supervisors, to verify that all electrical devices brought on site comply with this requirement. Information and fact sheets are readily provided to patients and clients, visitors and contractors upon entering all Health premises.

Purpose

This Policy provides guidance to all staff in ACT Health workplace sites, other related entities performing construction work onsite and any other visitors to workplaces, about compliance responsibilities with relevant legislation and regulatory requirements. This includes:

·  Business units’ compliance with the Safety Management System (SMS) and related Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) regarding electrical safety; Link to SMS below : http://acthealth/c/HealthIntranet?a=da&did=5369259&pid=0

·  Making sure all electrical equipment is safe, in good working use and has a current tag attached;

·  Provision of SOP’s regarding use and activities likely to involve the use of electricity and any disruption to services as a result of programmed works; and

·  Provision of arrangements for the safety of all people and property likely to be affected while electrical work is carried out.

Scope

This policy applies to staff in all divisions, branches and business units, contractors, volunteers, patients and visitors across all Health workplace sites.

If untagged items are brought on site, an immediate risk assessment must be carried out by Clinical and/or Area Managers of the electrical items. The person is then advised that the item must be tested and tagged before being used.

Roles & Responsibilities


Business & Infrastructure (B&I) Property Management and Maintenance are responsible for testing and tagging under the standard AU/NZS3760, maintaining ACT Health electrical systems and keeping records available as required.

Clinical Engineering is responsible for maintaining all clinical equipment, devices and systems as per the Australian Standards AS/NZS3551:2012 which includes technical management programs for medical equipment and electrical safety.

All Division, Branch and Unit heads are responsible for maintaining general and electrical safety within workplaces. This includes and applies to:

·  Timely risk assessment of equipment brought onto ACT Health sites by patients, clients, staff and contractors where required including visual inspections as described in the Safe work procedure “ Inspection of electrical cords” (90% of defects are detectable by visual inspection);

·  Identification of and timely request for such equipment and any new equipment to be tested and tagged; NB. New equipment needs to have the date of commissioning added to the device and cord at first use;

·  Enabling routine testing and tagging of relevant plant/equipment and provision for testing of portable safety switches to be conducted where required;

·  Making sure all hire equipment has a current tag prior to receiving the hire equipment onsite;

·  Making sure all repaired and serviced equipment has a current tag when reintroduced to service;

·  Making sure that any electrical works required are carried out through Property Management and Maintenance with their knowledge and inclusive of the correct induction processes;

·  Consultation with Property Management & Maintenance prior to commencing installation of new equipment so that the impact on the electrical supply load can be assessed;

·  No Residual Current Device boards should be brought into the organisation. All requests should be directed to Property Management & Maintenance if this is required.

All staff are responsible for complying with this policy, for securing the area and for reporting electrical hazards and incidents immediately.

All significant electrical incidents should be reported immediately to a supervisor, WorkSafe ACT by phone (02) 62073000 or by fax (02) 62050336 and the site preserved whilst maintaining the safety of patients, staff and visitors. A Riskman report should be completed.

Refer to the Critical Incident Checklist for details of the response required to a critical incident and timeframes. http://acthealth/c/HealthIntranet?a=da&did=5369259&pid=0

The Critical Incident Checklist is required to be available to staff in all clinical, operational and administrative areas as part of managing risks in the workplace.

Evaluation

Outcome Measures

·  Staff including contractors, comply with the requirements of the Electrical Safety Act 1971 and Regulations to prevent harm to people and the environment.

·  Staff including contractors, comply with the requirements of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and Regulations.

Method

·  Periodic inspections (as defined by the SMS) of work areas are conducted to ensure all electrical equipment is tagged and date current and cords are inspected.

·  Clinical areas and business units considered high risk must comply with the relevant legislation and the related Standard Operating Procedure Mobile Electrical Equipment including Clinical Equipment.

·  Regular audits are conducted of reported electrical incidents to assure the continuous quality improvement of electrical security.

Related Legislation, Policies and Standards

Legislation

Work Health and Safety Act (2011)

Electrical Safety Act 1971

Electrical Safety Regulation 2004 (the Regulations)

Standards

Australian/New Zealand Standard 3551:2012 Management programs for medical devices*

Australian/New Zealand Standard 2500:2004 Guide to the safe use of electricity in patient care

Australian/New Zealand Standard 3760:2010 In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment

Australian/New Zealand Standard 3003:2011 Electrical Installation in Patient Areas

Other relevant documents that will assist with meeting safety requirements for medical equipment are:

·  Australian Standard/New Zealand Standard 4513:1995 Medical Electrical Equipment – fundamental aspects of safety standards*

·  Australian Standard/New Zealand Standard 3200.1.0:1998 Medical electrical equipment – general requirements for safety – Parent Standard.*

·  Australian Standard 22437 – 1991 Safety in Laboratories Part 7: electrical Aspects

·  SOP – Mobile Electrical Equipment including Clinical Equipment

·  Biomedical Engineering SOP – Reportable Incident on Device

·  Biomedical Engineering SOP – Notification of Equipment for Repair or Replacement

·  Electrical Cord & Socket Safety Inspection and Reporting in Clinical Areas

·  ACT Health Workplace Safety Alerts 2012/01; 2010/04; 2010/05

·  Property Management & Maintenance Critical Incident Checklist

·  ACT Health Safety Management system

Definition of Terms (only use this section if needed, delete if not needed)

Current – (not electrical current) means the next test date with a tolerance time of two (2) weeks being acceptable.

Test and Tag - applies to all protectively earthed and double insulated equipment covered by AS3760 which excludes Clinical devices.

Testing - clinical and general areas equipment are tested and tagged every twelve (12) months. Commercial Catering facilities (main kitchen and servery TCH) testing must be carried out six (6) monthly. Testing of protectively earthed equipment is every six (6) months; and, double insulated equipment every twelve (12) months.

Taggers - trained and competent people with ability and skill to conduct testing and tagging of equipment.

Electrical Equipment - includes any machine powered by electricity and / or a component – for example a power cord, switch.

Residual Current Device (RCD’s) –is an electrical wiring device that disconnects the supply of electricity to the appliance or machine (also known as a circuit breaker. These devices are designed to disconnect quickly to prevent the risk of injury caused by an electric shock.

References

1.  The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards, The ACHS EQuIP4 Guide July 2006, Parts 1-4

2.  Griffith University Electrical Safety Policy 2008

3.  Work Health and Safety Act (2011)

4.  Electrical Safety Act 1971

5.  Electrical Safety Regulation 2004 (the Regulations)

6.  Australian/New Zealand Standard 3551:2004

7.  Australian/New Zealand Standard 2500:2004

8.  Australian/New Zealand Standard 3760:2010

9.  Australian/New Zealand Standard 3003:2011

Disclaimer: This document has been developed by ACT Health, <Name of Division/ Branch/Unit> specifically for its own use. Use of this document and any reliance on the information contained therein by any third party is at his or her own risk and ACT Health assumes no responsibility whatsoever.

Doc Number / Issued / Review Date / Area Responsible / Page
DGD13-018 / April 2013 / April 2015 / B&I / 5 of 5