Teams doing electrical work on site

**ians** · 26-Jan-22, 05:31 PM

I am informed by the ECA that every electrical contractor registered with the ECA is suppose to display or at least carry a card with their skill level.

Why are they not doing it ?

Who is responsible for making sure the person working on site has this card with them at all times. The customer ??? because they are responsible for the electrical installation and it should be up to the responsible person to make sure all workers have the correct safety gear and identification? What a load of crap.

If a contractor arrived on my property and expected me to check their staff ... I would throw their a$$ off site.

in fact ... I would insist before they even arrive on site ... that every person who will be working on my property is identified and a list with their qualification emailed to me prior to them arriving on site ... with how long they have worked for the company to prevent walker being dumped on site.

**ians** · 26-Jan-22, 05:35 PM

Why identifying people who will be working on your property is so important ... you can upload them into your CCTV system so that they dont set off alarms ... it can them track them all day while they are working and if they go into areas they shouldnt be an alert will be set to your phone

**GCE** · 27-Jan-22, 05:23 AM

Originally Posted by ians

I am informed by the ECA that every electrical contractor registered with the ECA is suppose to display or at least carry a card with their skill level.

That' s news to me , where/who did you get that info from

**ians** · 27-Jan-22, 06:56 AM

ECA technical adviser in JHB.

This seems to be the biggest problem in the industry ... nobody actually knows much about anything .. .then the responsibility is passed on to the customer.

The property lawyer representing the owner in the meeting didnt know that the person renting the property is suppose to keep the COC ... as the responsible person, he indicated that there is no such law ... yet its covered in the OSHACT and electrical regs ... if a property lawyer doesn't even know this, how on earth do you make the customer responsible for the electrical installation ?

It seems everyone knows a little about certain parts.

Then you have companies who drop off staff, who know even less and are unskilled or qualified to be doing most of what they do ... while the responsible person is off driving around doing other things ... collecting material etc.

We end with a situation like we did the other day ... where a classroom full of students are exposed to open DB's and plugs hanging off the wall ... no isolation at the DB ... no barriers to prevent anyone from coming into contact with the live electrical parts ... this industry is a F%^&ken joke.

**ians** · 27-Jan-22, 07:44 AM

Originally Posted by GCE

That' s news to me , where/who did you get that info from

Your company is registered with the ECA ?

I made a point of asking why their members are not informed about it ... I was told all ECA members are informed.

Check with your local ECA and let us know.

**Dave A** · 30-Jan-22, 07:52 AM

Originally Posted by ians

ECA technical adviser in JHB.

When was this question asked?
Anthony or Chris?

**ians** · 31-Jan-22, 07:37 AM

Originally Posted by Dave A

When was this question asked?
Anthony or Chris?

Last week ... Anthony.

Is the information incorrect?

**ians** · 31-Jan-22, 07:45 AM

My question is where does the public get the correct information ... considering they are responsible for the electrical installation ... maybe a toll free number

**ians** · 31-Jan-22, 07:48 AM

Who is responsible for creating a platform with the relevant details who can advise all these responsible people ? The DOL ... the ECA ... maybe the ECB ... the electrical contractor ?

**ians** · 31-Jan-22, 08:25 AM

If this is not true ... how is the responsible person on the site suppose to know if the person doing the work is qualified to do the they are doing on site?

As we are aware ... not all test reports and COC's are done by licensed inspectors ... is that ok ... can a labourer be dropped on site and do the repairs on a live installation and carry out the tests and provide the test results to the inspector who may not live in the same province?

Another scenario ... I go to site which is going to happen today ... my company will have a licensed registered person on site ... how do I identify the qualification of the other 3 companies will be working in the same building at the same time. What happens if they isolate part of the installation with a piece of tape over the breaker and I switch it on?

How do I know if the person has the qualification to understand correct isolation procedure? Surely the person working on what will be a live installation .. .will be at least a qualified electrician with some form of identification (as I have done ... forwarded a copy of my skill level .. the card we are issued by the DOL) ... because we are going to site to identify circuit ... which means the power will be switched on and off all day long.

It seems the more I think about this ... the more ridiculous this note sounds.

NOTE 1 In terms of South African legislation, the user or lessor is responsible for the safety of the electrical installation