Electrician fined $10,000 over exposed live switchboard in classroom
04 Apr 2024•BlueSafe Team•Source: WorkSafe QLD
An electrical contractor has been fined $10,000 after leaving an exposed live switchboard unattended in a Sunshine Coast classroom, putting students who were present at significant risk.
The contractor was installing air conditioning units at a school when he was told to stop work in one of its temporary classrooms. He disregarded that instruction and began live testing on the switchboard inside.
He then left the switchboard unattended for a short time with its escutcheon panel removed and live terminals exposed. QBuild officers at the school saw the open switchboard and reported the matter to Workplace Health and Safety Queensland.
The defendant pleaded guilty to offences under the Electrical Safety Act, including failing to conduct his business in an electrically safe way and exposing people to a risk of death or injury.
The presiding magistrate described the offence as serious, noting that school children were “naturally inquisitive” and “unpredictable beings” who could easily have been exposed to risk.
The court considered the defendant’s early guilty plea and the fact that this was his first offence. As an expression of genuine remorse, he also voluntarily agreed to undertake retraining and further courses mandated by the Electrical Licensing Committee, at a cost of $1000.
Magistrate McLaughlin indicated that, after considering those mitigating factors, he would ordinarily have imposed a fine between $15,000 and $20,000. However, the defendant’s very limited income over several years, which the magistrate equated to minimum wage earnings, led him to reduce the fine to $10,000. No conviction was recorded.
How Blue Safe can help: Our free WHS self-check can help you review your business’s approach to workplace health and safety and identify areas that may need attention. Take the free WHS self-check