Some shocking work practices have sparked warnings in South Australia. 

SafeWork SA says it has received numerous notifications in recent months, including electric shocks to two apprentices in October.

On October 28, a first-year apprentice was carrying a purlin along the working deck of a scaffold and made contact with the powerline causing an electric shock.

Initial enquiries indicate the modular scaffold breached the safe clearance distance to a 11kV powerline by approximately 1.6 metres at the time of the incident.

On October 11, a second-year apprentice lifted a metal purlin above his head, touching a low voltage powerline, which resulted in an electric shock.

While no serious injuries were sustained in any of the recent incidents, they all had the potential to cause major trauma or death.

A further three incidents involved equipment or materials striking an overhead powerline.

In one of these incidents, SafeWork SA suspended a vehicle loading crane licence after the operator struck powerlines while delivering material to a residential construction site.

SafeWork SA and the Office of the Technical Regulator (OTR) are reminding builders and contractors in the residential construction sector to ensure workers and their equipment do not go over safe clearance distances.

The agency also launched a state-wide campaign in October in response to a rise in electric shock incidents in 2021-22.

In 2021-22, SafeWork SA issued 239 statutory notices associated with electrical risks across all industries, up 26 per cent on the previous year.

SafeWork SA Executive Director Martyn Campbell said the agency aims to proactively drive change across all industries to ensure the risks associated with electrical equipment are managed.

“Our inspectors will be turning up on sites across the state to make sure businesses are complying with their obligations,” he said.

“To help eradicate serious and potentially fatal injuries, my Inspectors will take a stronger approach to compliance by issuing expiation notices.

“We have had too many serious injuries caused by electric shocks that were entirely preventable.”

Australia-wide there were 16 deaths caused by contact with electricity from 2016 to 2020.