Electricity at Work Regulations 1989

The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 expand on the rules regarding electrical safety in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

• They ensure all work activities using electricity are done safely, minimizing foreseeable risks.

• They allow for unregulated use of electrical equipment in the workplace.

• They focus solely on the installation of electrical systems without regard for safety.

• They require all electrical work to be performed by licensed electricians only.

Defense under Regulation 29

• Allows a dutyholder to defend against offences by proving due diligence.

• Provides immunity from prosecution for all dutyholders.

• Requires dutyholders to report all offences immediately.

• Mandates a fine for non-compliance with regulations.

EAW Regulations are statutory.

• They are enforceable by law and require precautions against electrical risks.

• They are optional guidelines for electrical safety.

• They are only applicable in certain industries.

• They are outdated and no longer relevant.

The Electricity at Work Regulations apply to every employer and self-employed person.

• They must ensure that electrical safety is maintained under the regulations.

• They can ignore electrical safety if they have insurance.

• They are only applicable to large corporations.

• They only apply to electrical engineers.

EAW regulations affect everyone who uses electricity at work.

• They are designed to prevent the risk of death or personal injury.

• They are only applicable to electrical engineers.

• They are optional guidelines for safety.

• They only apply to residential electricity use.

The regulations ensure that all foreseeable risks are assessed and minimized.

• This is crucial for maintaining safety in electrical work.

• This is optional for ensuring safety in electrical work.

• This is only necessary for high-risk electrical work.

• This is irrelevant to safety in electrical work.

Conditions for Regulation 14

• It must be unreasonable for the equipment to be dead and reasonable for a person to work on or near it while it is live.

• It is acceptable for equipment to be dead if it is safe to work on it.

• A person can work on live equipment if they have proper training only.

• It is always safe to work on equipment that is not in use.

Regulation 13 - Precautions for work on equipment made dead

• Precautions must be taken to prevent electrical equipment that has been made dead from becoming live during work.

• It is safe to assume that all equipment is dead once it has been turned off.

• No special precautions are necessary when working on dead equipment.

• Only trained professionals should work on electrical equipment, regardless of its status.

Regulation 16 - Persons to be competent to prevent danger and injury

• Employers must ensure that only fully trained or supervised persons undertake work related to electrical systems.

• Employers can allow any employee to work on electrical systems regardless of training.

• Only supervisors are required to be trained in electrical systems.

• Training is optional for employees working with electrical systems.

Regulation 4(1) - Inspection and Testing

• Specifies the requirement to ensure that new electrical installations and circuits are inspected, tested, and commissioned before being put into service.

• Mandates that all electrical installations must be completed within a week.

• Requires that only commercial electrical installations need to be inspected.

• States that inspections are optional for residential electrical circuits.