Product Overview

Summary: This Electrical Design Review Safe Operating Procedure provides a structured, defensible process for assessing electrical designs before they reach construction or commissioning. It helps Australian businesses identify safety, compliance, and reliability issues early, reducing rework, project risk, and the likelihood of electrical incidents in the field.

Electrical designs sit at the heart of safe and reliable operations, but gaps in documentation, coordination, or compliance can lead to costly redesigns, construction delays, and serious WHS risks. This Electrical Design Review Safe Operating Procedure sets out a clear, repeatable methodology for reviewing electrical drawings, calculations, and specifications before they are approved for issue. It guides your team through a disciplined assessment of safety, functionality, constructability, maintainability, and compliance with Australian Standards and WHS legislation.

Developed for the Australian context, this SOP supports organisations working across construction, mining, manufacturing, utilities, and commercial property. It helps you evidence due diligence under WHS laws by demonstrating that foreseeable electrical hazards have been considered and controlled at the design stage. By embedding this procedure into your design lifecycle, you create consistent review practices, reduce design-related incidents on site, and improve coordination between engineers, WHS professionals, contractors, and asset owners.

The document also addresses practical challenges such as managing design changes, documenting review outcomes, tracking actions, and ensuring that lessons learned are fed back into future projects. Whether you are an in‑house engineering team or a consulting practice, this SOP provides a robust framework that supports safer, more compliant, and more cost‑effective electrical designs across your portfolio.

Key Benefits

• Ensure electrical designs are systematically reviewed for safety, compliance, and constructability before approval.
• Reduce the risk of electrical incidents on site by identifying and controlling hazards at the design stage.
• Streamline collaboration between engineers, WHS practitioners, contractors, and asset owners through a common review framework.
• Demonstrate due diligence and compliance with Australian WHS legislation and relevant electrical standards.
• Improve project outcomes by minimising design-related rework, delays, and cost overruns.

Who is this for?

• Electrical Engineers
• Design Managers
• WHS Managers
• Project Managers
• Electrical Supervisors
• Engineering Consultants
• Compliance and Risk Managers
• Asset Owners and Facility Managers
• Principal Contractors
• Quality Assurance Managers

Hazards Addressed

• Electric shock and electrocution from inadequate protection or isolation provisions
• Arc flash and arc blast due to poor fault level analysis or protection coordination
• Overheating and fire risks from undersized conductors, overloaded circuits, or inadequate ventilation
• Explosive atmosphere ignition in hazardous areas from non-compliant equipment selection or installation concepts
• Inadvertent energisation during construction, commissioning, or maintenance due to unclear isolation and labelling design
• Trip hazards, crush hazards, and access issues arising from poor equipment layout and cable routing
• Reliability and safety risks from single points of failure or inadequate redundancy in critical systems
• Ergonomic and manual handling risks associated with poorly located switchboards, control panels, and heavy equipment

Included Sections

• 1.0 Purpose and Scope
• 2.0 Definitions and Abbreviations
• 3.0 Roles and Responsibilities
• 4.0 Applicable Legislation, Standards and Reference Documents
• 5.0 Overview of the Electrical Design Review Process
• 6.0 Pre‑Review Requirements and Inputs (Drawings, Calculations, Specifications)
• 7.0 Design Safety and WHS Risk Assessment Criteria
• 8.0 Compliance Review (Standards, Codes, Client Requirements)
• 9.0 Technical Review (Load Flow, Fault Levels, Protection Coordination, Selectivity)
• 10.0 Layout, Access and Maintainability Review
• 11.0 Hazardous Area and Special Location Considerations
• 12.0 Constructability and Commissioning Considerations
• 13.0 Documentation of Findings, Actions and Approvals
• 14.0 Management of Design Changes and Revisions
• 15.0 Communication and Consultation with Stakeholders
• 16.0 Records Management and Version Control
• 17.0 Training, Competency and Review Team Composition
• 18.0 Continuous Improvement and Lessons Learned
• 19.0 Review Frequency and Audit Process

Legislation & References

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) and corresponding state and territory WHS Acts
• Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 and state/territory equivalents (including provisions for electrical safety and managing risks)
• Safe Work Australia – Code of Practice: Managing Electrical Risks in the Workplace
• AS/NZS 3000: Electrical installations (Australian/New Zealand Wiring Rules)
• AS/NZS 3012: Electrical installations – Construction and demolition sites
• AS/NZS 4836: Safe working on or near low-voltage electrical installations and equipment
• AS/NZS 3007: Electrical equipment in mines and quarries (where applicable)
• AS/NZS 60079 series: Explosive atmospheres (for hazardous area electrical design)
• AS/NZS ISO 31000: Risk management – Guidelines