Electrician SSSP
A site-specific SSSP for electrical work, built around live-service and working-at-height controls.
A electrician SSSP is a Site-Specific Safety Plan for one job on one site. It sets out the electrician hazards, the controls in the order required by reg 6 of the General Risk and Workplace Management Regulations 2016, task analyses for the higher-risk tasks, and how you meet your duties under HSWA 2015. It is what a New Zealand main contractor checks before your crew starts.
What a electrician SSSP must cover
- •HSWA 2015 section 36: the PCBU must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of its workers and anyone else affected by the work
- •WorkSafe New Zealand Good Practice Guidelines for Working at Height: eliminate the fall risk first, then use scaffolds, edge protection or a total restraint system before fall arrest
- •General Risk and Workplace Management Regulations 2016 reg 6: apply the hierarchy of control measures, eliminating the risk so far as is reasonably practicable before minimising it
- •AS/NZS 3000: electrical installations (wiring rules) as applied under the Electricity (Safety) Regulations
- •AS/NZS 3012: electrical installations on construction and demolition sites (temporary power, RCDs, testing)
- •AS/NZS 1891: fall-arrest systems for roof and ceiling-space work
- •HSWA 2015 section 34: consult, co-operate and co-ordinate with the main contractor and the other PCBUs on site (the 3Cs)
- •Asbestos and electrical work: the Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 lines that follow (demolition and refurbishment) apply to electrical work only where the job is refurbishment that disturbs the structure itself (for example cutting or drilling into walls, ceilings, soffits or floors to run cables, or removing or replacing an old switchboard or meter board and its backing panel) in a structure or plant the application line covers (constructed or installed before 1 January 2000, or where asbestos has been identified or is likely to be present). Minor or routine maintenance work, and other minor work, is excluded. On a job that does not disturb the structure in such a building, do not state these duties as applying
- •Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 reg 19: the asbestos duties for demolition and refurbishment (reg 20 to reg 26) apply to the demolition or refurbishment of a structure or plant that was constructed or installed before 1 January 2000, in which asbestos has been identified, or in which asbestos is likely to be present from time to time. Demolition or refurbishment does not include minor or routine maintenance work, or other minor work. Where these duties apply they are law, never good practice
- •Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 reg 20: the PCBU who intends to carry out the demolition or refurbishment must not carry it out until the structure or plant has been inspected to determine whether asbestos or ACM is fixed to or installed in it, and must ensure that the determination is undertaken by a competent person. It must assume that asbestos or ACM is fixed to or installed in the structure or plant if the competent person is, on reasonable grounds, uncertain, or if part of the structure or plant is inaccessible and likely to be disturbed. If asbestos or ACM is determined or assumed to be present, it must inform the occupier and the owner of the home or, in any other case, the PCBU with management or control of the workplace
- •Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 reg 25 and reg 26: all asbestos that is likely to be disturbed by the refurbishment must be identified and, so far as is reasonably practicable, removed before the refurbishment is commenced. For a home this is the duty of the PCBU carrying out the refurbishment (reg 26); for any other workplace it is the duty of the PCBU with management or control of the workplace, or of the structure or plant (reg 25)
Common electrician hazards
- Electric shock and arc flash from live equipment
- Working near services that cannot be fully isolated
- Falls from ladders, EWPs and into ceiling spaces
- Ceiling and sub-floor cavity work (heat, confined access)
- Underground and in-wall service strikes
Task analyses included
Your SSSP comes with task analyses for the higher-risk tasks. The Trade Pack (NZ$149) includes the full library below plus a toolbox talk set.
- ✓Working on or near live electrical installations (test-before-touch)
- ✓Switchboard installation and upgrades
- ✓Cable installation and cable-tray work at height
- ✓Ceiling and sub-floor cavity wiring
- ✓Temporary power and site supply installation
- ✓Underground cable trenching and conduit
- ✓EWP and ladder work for high-level installation
- ✓Testing, fault finding and commissioning
What the main contractor expects
- •An SSSP that shows how you isolate, lock out and test before touching
- •Task analyses for any live work that cannot be avoided
- •Registration and current practising licence details for the electrical workers
- •Working-at-height controls for ceiling space and roof runs
- •Coordination with other trades under section 34 before power is energised
Get your electrician SSSP, sorted in minutes
Answer a few questions about your site and crew. We write your SSSP against HSWA 2015 and the General Risk and Workplace Management Regulations 2016, check it, and email it, ready to hand over.
SSSP Pack
NZ$89 one-time
A personalised SSSP with your hazard register, task analyses and emergency plan.
Trade Pack
NZ$149 one-time
The SSSP plus the full task-analysis library for your trade and a toolbox talk set.
One-time payment in NZ$. No subscription. Free revisions within 24 hours.
Electrician SSSP: common questions
Does an electrician need an SSSP for a residential site?
If you are working as a subcontractor under a main contractor, they will almost always require an SSSP before you start, on residential and commercial sites alike. It is how you demonstrate you have identified the electrical and height hazards and put controls in place under section 36 of HSWA and reg 6 of the General Risk and Workplace Management Regulations 2016.
Do I still need it if the work is low-risk?
Even lower-risk electrical work usually involves live services and work at height, which are exactly the hazards a main contractor wants to see controlled. A right-sized SSSP that names your real tasks is quicker to accept than a generic template the main contractor has to send back.