Unlicensed Electrical Contractor Fined.

$16,000 fine for unlicensed electrical contractor. 

An unlicensed electrician who advertised an air-conditioning business on Facebook has been fined $16,000 in the Brisbane Magistrates Court.

The electrical contractor had never held an electrical contractor license or held an electrical work license authorising him to conduct business or perform electrical work in Queensland.

He was charged under the Electrical Safety Act 2002 for the installation of two air-conditioning units at properties in Regents Park and Victoria Point.

The charges included unlicensed electrical contracting, unlicensed electrical work and failing to ensure that the electrical installation complied with the wiring rules. The work was inspected by Electrical Safety Office Inspectors, who found that he wasn't licensed to undertake the electrical work and that the work fell short of the standard required by the wiring rules.

Magistrate Nolan referenced the fact that this was not the first time the defendant had been issued with a fine and an improvement notice for performing unlicensed electrical work and contracting.

Head of Electrical Safety Office, Donna Heelan, said 'Carrying out unlicensed electrical work is life threatening. Members of the public should rightfully be protected by our electrical safety laws.'

Read the original article on the WorkSafe Qld website.

Report finds Qld mine explosion caused by risky practices. 

Poor planning and repeated overproduction led to a dangerous gas build-up that left six workers hospitalised with severe injuries after an explosion at a Queensland coal mine.

The explosion at Grosvenor Coal Mine at Moranbah on May 6, 2020, was caused by 'spontaneous combustion' as a result of repeated methane gas build-ups or high potential incidents (HPIs) at longwall mine 104 (LW 104).

An inquiry into the disaster from the Queensland Coal Mining Board said despite management being aware of the risks, coal production regularly outstripped the mines gas drainage capacity of 70,000 tonnes per week.

A second report from the inquiry found that the mine's management failed to install an adequate gas drainage system before production started on March 9, 2020.

The report also found there was a perception among labour-hire and contract workers employed by the mine that raising safety concerns may jeopardise their jobs.

40 recommendations have been made by the Queensland Coal Mining board, including that coal mine operators review gas drainage to avoid a similar disaster happening again.

The full story can be found on the 7News website.