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#143232 06/10/05 04:06 AM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 3
Trumpy Offline OP
Member
My thanks to kiwi posting the fact that the EWRB(Electrical Workers Registration Board) is looking to be a wee bit more friendly to the people here that actually work "on the tools".
We've had a problem with getting a Line-Mechanic registered here and personally, one phone call did it all.
I'm sure that most of us guys would be down on any Government department, that gave us the run-around, but when my Boss called the EWRB up today, he nearly fell over with the amount of help he got!. [Linked Image]
But on the serious side of things, would any of our NZ or Australian members care to comment on the way that our Regulations are going?.
Is this the right way?.
How does it compare with the Reg's when you first started?.
If you had a chance to tell the people that make the rules/standards/ECP's, what would you recommend?.
The ball is in your court folks.
Or even with the Refresher Courses that we have to do here in NZ, to keep our Registration.
I'll sign it over to you guys.

#143233 06/11/05 07:32 AM
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 354
K
Member
I may be wrong here but I'm not seeing absolute consistency in the fines handed out to electrical workers as detailed in the "Electron" gazette.

I recently read of a case of an electrician fined $2000 ( $1250 fine and $750 costs ) for not providing a compliance certificate to a householder. This is lot of money for a tradesman and I think it was excessive.

In another "Electron" gazette, an electrician was found to have issued a false certificate of compliance, and was not fined or ordered to pay costs.

The Disciplinary investigations and hearings are certainly a necessity and most of the fines are justifiable. But, I think the fines scale needs to be examined by an independent body and made public so that we all know how much the fine will be for what type of offence.

The Government has spent a lot of money standardising the regs and legislating for the whole disciplinary process, which is excellent news for the public as far as electrical safety is concerned, but electrical workers must be vigilant to guard against blatant revenue gathering by the EWRB.

This may be getting off the thread a bit Trumpy but in NZ at the moment, Joe Sparky can be held accountable and fined for not doing his job properly. A couple of years ago a prisoner who was paroled after a sentence for a violent crime repeatedly breached all of his parole conditions and then murdered three people ( the Panmure RSA murders ).

The Parole board official in charge of this case who failed to recall the prisoner after the parole breaches, received one month fully payed "stress leave" after the murders and is still employed at the same position today.

If an electrician makes an error and someone gets hurt, the electrician will lose his license and his job ! !

Whats going on there then ?

As for the refresher courses Trumpy, I am booked in to do mine this month. I am doing the new "site-safe" refresher course. I will let you know if it isn't a total yawn-fest.

#143234 06/13/05 10:44 PM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 3
Trumpy Offline OP
Member
kiwi,
Quote
I may be wrong here but I'm not seeing absolute consistency in the fines handed out to electrical workers as detailed in the "Electron" gazette.
I don't actually think that there is an arbitrary "scale" for fines vs. offence.
I think that the Electricity Regulations come into it somewhere along the line.
To a certain extent, I think that Regulations 51 and 100 would be a starting point for any disciplinary actions.
In my own opinion, I reckon that laying to waste the Electrical Codes of Practice that we had only just got used to using here, was a tad short-sighted.
Also, given that the Standards Authority here went into a joint agreement with thier Australian counterparts to develop joint standards between the two countries and then "pulled the plug" (so to speak) half way through the process, due to lack of funding on this side of the Tasman. GRRRR.
Standards are, in my opinion, just far too expensive, when you can have an ECP do the same thing for a fraction of the price.
Often times, the ECP is more helpful, by having been written with Industry consultation, not merely a bunch of legislators, who I doubt some of the time have any idea about what they are regulating against.
Just a note about the COC system kiwi, I've never really been a fan of this system and others around here have more than likely heard me rant and scream about this system before today.
The COC system only punishes the Electricians that use it in the first place.
Filling out and signing a COC, certifies that you have for a start installed all of the work that you have listed on the form safely and also that you have once finished the work you have tested the said work to check that it is safe, before it is connected to the Supply.
Now, to not have installed the work safely or not tested it and then blindly filled in the COC, leaves you wide open to all sorts of nasty things, should there be a fault in the installation down the track.
BTW, it has been PoCo policy here for a couple of years now that if an Electrician blows a Pole/Pillar fuse while working in a house, an Inspector is required to be notified by the Faultsman.
Silly yes, but, it has cut down on the number blown fuses by Electricians, using the "230V Megger".
With regard to Refresher Courses, I did mine last year so I don't have to go back until next year. [Linked Image]
Mind you, I have 2 of the things to go to, the Line-Mechanic one takes a whole day!. [Linked Image]

#143235 06/14/05 07:17 AM
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,803
Member
It's the Good the Bad and the Ugly.

The good, by their nature, get it in the shorts when it comes to fines, petty bureaucrats, traffic cops, putting up with petty aggravations with a smile, etc. Lack of consistency is all part of the game.

The bad, by their nature, continue to be bad whatever we do. Their big advantages are;
1. They don't give a d**n.
2. They get judged by the good.

And the ugly? Can't say it's ever bothered me!

Alan


Wood work but can't!
#143236 06/17/05 03:10 AM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 3
Trumpy Offline OP
Member
One thing that quite a few of us in the Trade here have tried to lobby for here, is this:
Let the Industry govern itself.
We know what is best for us, we know the Regulations and (should know) all the rules that pertain to our work.
Why then do we need a Spoon-fed Bureaucracy to tell us what is best for us?.
And then when a programme on TV (Target) can pull us up, in the public eye, doing work that Joe Homeowner is more than likely doing anyway, for not certifying the work that they do.
Come on, all I'd like to have is a truly level playing field, because at the moment we certainly don't have that here. [Linked Image]


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