- SURVIVING AN ELECTRIC SHOCK FROM OVERHEAD POWERLINES – JASON’S STORY
- FEMALE APPRENTICES THRIVING IN RAC TRADE
- NCVER: INTERNATIONAL ONSHORE VET QUALIFICATION COMPLETER OUTCOMES 2020
- UPDATES TO WIRING RULES
- STANDARDS FOR VET ACCREDITED COURSES 2021 RELEASED – ASQA
- INDUSTRY’S ROLE IN VET GOVERNANCE
- ELECTRICAL INCIDENT – TEST BEFORE YOU TOUCH (SHARING THE KNOWLEDGE)
- SAFEWORK NSW SAFETYCAST EPISODE 11 – FORMWORK
- THE LEN DRURY PODCAST – MANUFACTURING CONVERSATIONS
- ENERGY NETWORKS AUSTRALIA (ENA) NETWORKS UPDATE
- WALCHA GONNA DO ABOUT TRANSMISSION?
- ENDEAVOUR ENERGY – EARLY FAULT DETECTION TECHNOLOGY
- $103.3 MILLION APPROVED TOWARDS THREE COMMERCIAL-SCALE HYDROGEN PROJECTS
1. SURVIVING AN ELECTRIC SHOCK FROM OVERHEAD POWERLINES – JASON’S STORY
The Queensland’s Electrical Safety Office has released a powerful new film, Jason Daniels’s story – surviving an electrical shock from overhead powerlines. The film takes a candid look at how quickly life changed for Jason’s family when the grain auger he was moving contacted an overhead powerline.
“Jason was just 17 when the serious electric shock he received from the powerline gave him horrific injuries. He spent two weeks in an induced coma, had nine operations, lost four toes and was in hospital for two months. Jason’s mother Di Daniels recalls the impacts the incident has had on her family and what it is like to stand by someone you love as they struggle through their recovery.
Jason and Di share their experience in this raw and real film to raise awareness about having a safe system of work in place before starting work and urging employers to listen when young workers speak up with safety concerns.”
Visit the Electrical Safety Office’s website to view the film and share it with you colleagues, stakeholders and friends.
2. FEMALE APPRENTICES THRIVING IN RAC TRADE
On the heels of last week’s report of Broadcast Services Australia’s (BSA’s) engaging their first female apprentice in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Editor Sandra Rossi at Climate Control News (CCN) reports that Woolworths Group too, are leading the field in employing more female apprentices. The article states, “Katie Hammill-Lovett is one of only four female apprentices selected from nearly 500 applications to begin a RAC apprenticeship at the Woolworths Group.
After just six short months, Hammill-Lovett is thriving in her new trade career and said that her experience so far at Woolworths has been amazing.”
3. NCVER: INTERNATIONAL ONSHORE VET QUALIFICATION COMPLETER OUTCOMES 2020
NCVER has released its latest publication, reporting on the outcomes of international onshore students who completed their VET qualification in Australia in 2019. students were surveyed as an additional component to the 2020 National Student Outcomes Survey.
Major highlights of the report
- 69.0% of international onshore qualification completers undertook training for employment-related reasons, 26.7% for personal reasons, and 4.2% for further study reasons
- The main reason for training reported in 2020 was to ‘develop or start my own business’, up 3.2 percentage points from 2019. To ‘get a job’ decreased by 4.5 percentage points from 2019.
- 87.7% achieved their main reason for training, down 1.1 percentage points from 2019.
- 53.7% had an improved employment status after training, down 4.0 percentage points from 2019.
- Of those who were employed after training, 68.3% had their hours reduced after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 83.7% were satisfied with the overall quality of training, down 0.8 percentage points from 2019.
Overall, 15 521 international onshore VET qualification completers responded to the survey.
For more information visit: INTERNATIONAL ONSHORE VET QUALIFICATION COMPLETER OUTCOMES 2020
4. UPDATES TO WIRING RULES
Standards Australia reports that the Wiring Rules, also known as AS/NZS 3000:2018, Electrical Installations, has been updated. Kara Chan, Engagement Manager at Standards Australia said, “The Wiring Rules are an integral part of modern Australian life. It is of interest to industry, government and community for the standards to be continuously updated, setting the benchmark for electrical installations. They play an important role in keeping the broader community safe by providing guidance to the design, construction and verification of electrical installations”.
Amendment 2 to the Wiring Rules, includes:
- A transitional period of 2 years will be introduced for industry to implement Type A Residual Current Devices (RCDs) (sensitive to AC and DC waveforms), moving away from the use of Type AC RCDs, (sensitive to AC waveforms), due to a number of DC voltage appliances and photovoltaic systems (PV) in use currently by industry.
- Clarifications surrounding the meaning and application of alterations and repairs in regard to RCD installation.
- An exception for “not testing an RCD if there is no power available” has been removed. All RCDs will be required to be tested as part of the installation verification process.
- Clarification of access requirements for switchboard within switchboard rooms.
- AS/NZS 61439:2016, Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear assemblies, series is now mandatory in design, manufacture and verification for switchboards greater than 125A, or greater than10kA prospective short-circuit current.
- Figures for generator connection have been updated to align with AS/NZS 3010:2017, Electrical Installations – Generating sets.
- “Polarity” and “correct circuit connections” have been combined into one clause to provide clarity.
…
AS/NZS, 3000:2018, Electrical Installations, Amendment 2, is available through Standards Australia’s website and directly from SAI Global and Techstreet.”
5. STANDARDS FOR VET ACCREDITED COURSES 2021 RELEASED – ASQA
The latest ASQA Update advises that new Standards for VET Accredited Courses 2021 came into effect on 23 March 2021. The Updated states, “Key changes—course monitoring and evaluation processes—are now included within the course standards, as well as updates to the course document and unit of competency template.
If you are a course owner or developer who has commenced development of a course, we encourage you to refer to the updated standards, application form and templates to ensure the courses are developed against the new Standards.”
ASQA invites interested stakeholders to visit its website for further information and to access the updated forms and templates.
In the update the CEO of ASQA states, that “ASQA has continued to implement improvements to our regulatory operating model over the last month and this Update is a good summary of the work we have launched recently and what is to come.
Managing risk well is a cornerstone to supporting quality VET. I encourage you to read our recently released Regulatory Risk Framework …
Education is an important part of ASQA’s regulatory approach, and, with recent success of the Spotlight On series, our education program is proving of value. The recent webinar completing the first Spotlight On series had over 2500 registrations with more than 200 questions posed during the interactive session.”
…
“This webinar formed part of the first Spotlight On series, which featured five weeks of dedicated content about trainers and assessors.
If you’ve missed a chapter of the first series, each chapter is available on ASQA’s website.
6. INDUSTRY’S ROLE IN VET GOVERNANCE
NCVER News reports on the latest publication on VET governance. The report states, “Industry representation and governance in the VET sector have undergone several transformations in the past and continue to do so in the present.
Social partnerships negotiated between governments, employers, unions, and training providers, where each partner is highly valued and willing to take responsibility for their part, is the key to effective VET governance and, ultimately, improve outcomes for learners.
This research summary brings together findings using primarily international country comparisons on industry’s role in VET over the last decade.”
URL REPORT: INDUSTRY’S ROLE IN VET GOVERNANCE: USING INTERNATIONAL INSIGHTS TO INFORM NEW PRACTICES
7. ELECTRICAL INCIDENT – TEST BEFORE YOU TOUCH (SHARING THE KNOWLEDGE)
Learnings on the importance of ‘test before you touch’. The NSW UE ITAB has learnt of an incident where a phase failure relay gave false indication of the Phase verification LEDs that were installed at the point of supply. The NSW UE ITAB has been given permission to relay the incident.
“One of our electricians attended a fault on blower fan at the Tomago storage area a few weeks back. Upon inspection of MCC cell the motor had tripped the overload. All 3 Phase validation lights located on motor’s MCC cell were on indicating 3 phase supply was still healthy. The O/L was reset then the fan was attempted to be started in Local at the local Stop/Start panel. The motor did not rotate, just hummed in a stalled state then stopped. Upon checking, the motor was free to turn but at the MCC cell the overload had tripped again. All 3 Phase validation lights were still on.
Upon further inspection it was found that the centre, White phase fuse in the Switch Fuse holder was blown, so in fact the motor was 2 phasing hence the motor overload tripping. There was no Phase Failure alarm on the SCADA alarm page.
Investigation then went to why the centre white phase validation light was on even though the supply fuse was blown??
The Validation lights for this cell are wired as per the attached diagram. Upon further testing it was determined that the PFR was outputting 235v from the centre white phase to neutral hence the White Phase validation light being on).
The PFR installed is a Carlo Gavazzi DPA01DM48 (see attached photo of PFR schematic). We also have PFN brand PFRs as well. Both are 3 wire units with no neutral connections.
This is a concern regarding the integrity of our validation lights when fault finding (Note: the validation lights work correctly for whole current isolation of all three phases). While Test before Touch is mandatory and well adhered to here at KBF, I doubt that any of our electricians would expect to find a voltage present from the white phase terminal of the PFR under the circumstances of the white phase main supply fuse being blown.
We initiated testing of a number of other MCC cells with PFR’s recording the results for an individual phase failure for each of the phases. See attached table. As you will see the outcomes were not consistent.
We have initiated an engineering review to determine a PFR type that will give consistent results.”
PFR – Investigation and Replacement
NHP conducted testing on the particular PFR model and simulated the problem. They confirmed the voltages are present via the internal measuring circuit and its level is suitable to illuminate the indication light. A voltage of approximately 200VAC was measured between the PFR de-energised terminal and neutral. This voltage reduced to approximately 30VAC once an LED was connected across the terminals. The LED was still dimly illuminated.
The PFR unit passed all other testing in regard to phase loss and the activation of the unit’s output contacts for indication/system control.
The PFR product manual contains detail on the associated problem when the model is used with indication lights containing a neutral connection. The manual suggests using a different model with a neutral connection.
NHP conducted testing on the recommended model (from the manual “W4”). The testing found that voltage was still present between the de-energised terminal and neutral however the magnitude was less. The voltage measured was approx 180VAC which reduced to approx 17VAC when the LED was connected. As there was still voltage present/measured, NHP suggested the use of 240VAC LED light variants with this PFR unit model as an option (and as recommended in the manual).
The KBF installed indication LED’s were confirmed to be the 240VAC rated versions and not the wide range variant.
Currently alternative PFR equipment options and solutions are being considered to eliminate the problem.
The NSW UE ITAB sincerely thanks Tomago Aluminium Company Pty Limited for allowing it to recount the incident to assist the industry and RTOs in developing case studies or show casing real incidents.
8. SAFEWORK NSW SAFETYCAST EPISODE 11 – FORMWORK
SafeWork NSW has released Episode 11 in its pod SafetyCast series. The Episode covers Formwork. The promotion for the episode states, “Did you know that during 2018-19, there were more than 250 incidents in NSW involving form workers, with over 50 per cent resulting in serious injury. The Formwork Code of Practice gives clear and practical advice on how to safely work with formwork.
It will help you understand and adopt best practice measures to minimize the risks associated with formwork. Everyone in the construction industry must implement consistent safety standards across all worksites.
In this episode of the SafetyCast, our host Ryan Tinker talks all things Formwork Safety with Andrew Komisarczuk, Assistant State Inspector, Metropolitan Construction North.
Find the Full episode at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1344256/8447675
The Takeaway at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1344256/8447682”
9. THE LEN DRURY PODCAST – MANUFACTURING CONVERSATIONS
Leon Drury, Executive Officer at Manufacturing Skills Australia (NSW ITAB) has released MSA’s latest podcast episode of conversations with a senior advisor from Ai Group – David Tiller. David Tiller is an Ai Group Senior Adviser, Workplace Relations, Hunter Office
With strong connections to the manufacturing industry and previous experience in engineering, David understands the challenges faced by many in the industry at a practical and technical level. David provides Ai Group members with advice and solutions on a wide spectrum of Workplace Relations’ issues. This includes procedure and policy development, employee classification, performance management, dispute resolution and enterprise bargaining.
Manufacturing in Australia is a major employer and a key economic drive. In this series of podcasts Leon interviews people that he has met over the years that have inspired him and or been mentors. The subjects that are covered are everything from Skills and Careers to technology and the future of making things in Australia.
You can simply type into your browser “The Leon Drury Podcast” and you will find it on Spotify and iTunes.
10. ENERGY NETWORKS AUSTRALIA (ENA) NETWORKS UPDATE
ENA had two very interesting articles in its latest Energy Networks Update, one covering an innovative new Early Fault Detection Technology (EFT) developed by Endeavour Energy and another related responding to the need for more transmission. The articles and links are paraphrased below.
10.1. WALCHA GONNA DO ABOUT TRANSMISSION?
“The Grattan Institute recently released a Go for net zero report which identifies a path to achieve net zero emissions while seeking to retain an acceptable electricity reliability though the transition. Grattan finds more transmission is needed, but how does this get paid for? Is a joint venture to build a private transmission line across the Walcha plateau a case of ‘Back to the future?’
We take a look. READ MORE.
10.2. ENDEAVOUR ENERGY – EARLY FAULT DETECTION TECHNOLOGY
Endeavour Energy sought to demonstrate the potential for Early Fault Detection (EFD) technology to improve service, reliability and safety for customers living in rural, bushfire prone areas. The trial showed the EFD system provides early warning of developing faults with high sensitivity, precisely locating them for repair to avoid outages and potential safety events.
The results have shown that EFD can greatly enhance network health visibility on high and low voltage assets. This trial formed the basis for Endeavour Energy’s submission to the ENA 2020 Network Innovation Awards.
11. $103.3 MILLION APPROVED TOWARDS THREE COMMERCIAL-SCALE HYDROGEN PROJECTS
Sean Carrol, Editor at Electrical Connection reports on the latest developments regarding commercial scale hydrogen projects. The article states, “The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), on behalf of the Australian government, has conditionally approved $103.3 million towards three commercial-scale renewable hydrogen projects, as part of its Renewable Hydrogen Deployment Funding Round.
The first of the three successful projects is a $42.5 million towards Engie Renewables Australia’s 10MW electrolyser project in consortium with Yara Pilbara Fertilisers at the existing ammonia facility in Karratha, Western Australia.”