Electricity is something we all use every day and take for granted. But according to Safe Work Australia risk of death or injury from electricity is strongly linked to where and how it is used. Consumers Federation of Australia (CFA) supports representatives to Standards Australia Technical Committees working on the development of electrical energy standards and ensuring the consumer issues are considered in the process.
The recently published AS/NZS 3000 Amt 2:2021 Wiring rules includes changes that are relevant to consumers. For example the standard identifies that Switchboards above 125 amps often located in commercial properties or housing estates will be required to be built to the AS/NZS 61439 series of standards to ensure suitable protection to persons and property. The amendment will see the change to using type A RCD’s, which accepts that many appliances have a DC component in their operation and this type of RCD will reduce the amount of nuisance tripping that currently occurs with the existing type of RCD.
The Queensland Government, Electrical Safety Office booklet Electricity in the home explains some of the simple things you can do to make using electricity in your home as safe as possible, such as installing safety switches, maintaining your electrical equipment and making sure everyone in your home understands how to be safe with electricity
Find out more about the CFA Standards Project where CFA Standards representatives talk about their experiences in the video. CFA Standards Representatives add value to the work of the committee, bringing the consumer stakeholder contribution to the process and ensuring a robust standard of benefit to the community.
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