Electrical businesses fined nearly $1m for apprentice death
Energy Safe Victoria released the following statement, highlighting the importance of effective supervision of electrical apprentices.
Two lift companies have been convicted and fined a combined total of $930,000 following separate investigations by Energy Safe Victoria and WorkSafe Victoria into the death of an apprentice electrician working unsupervised in 2021.
Both faced Victoria’s Supreme Court and were ordered to pay $30,000 and $20,000 after pleading guilty to four and six charges respectively under the Electricity Safety Act 1998 and Electrical Safety (General) Regulations 2019. The offences include the failure to effectively supervise the apprentice and illegally working on energised electrical equipment.
The companies were fined a further combined $880,000 after they pleaded guilty to additional charges, under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. These offences relate to failing to provide the systems and necessary supervision for safe work.
In sentencing, Justice Gorton highlighted the seriousness of these offences and the risk when unsupervised apprentices undertake electrical work.
“The risk… is obvious: the risk is of death,” he said.
His Honour emphasised the importance of supervision by a licensed electrician for the safety of apprentices, because “due to their inexperience, [they] may be more likely to overlook or ignore the safety precautions they have been taught”.
“It is the risk of their being careless or taking short cuts that must be guarded against, not just the risk of their engaging in work with insufficient knowledge,” he said.
His Honour also stressed that his sentence should “not to be seen, in any way, as putting a value on the life” of the apprentice.
On 22 March 2021, Energy Safe and WorkSafe both opened their investigations after emergency services alerted them to the death of a 21-year-old apprentice electrical worker who had been electrocuted while repairing a faulty car lift at the back of a West Melbourne apartment block.
According to facts tendered to the court, a senior technician had instructed the fourth-year apprentice to attend the site and report back after the lift doors got stuck open. The apprentice made attempts to source a spare part and repair the lift on his own. After nearly seven hours, the man’s body was found on top of the car lift.
Energy Safe Compliance Officers who attended the scene found the electrical equipment had not been isolated and the apprentice was carrying out installation work on energised equipment without supervision.
“This incident is tragic reminder that apprentices are the most vulnerable of all electrical workers and there is no excuse for leaving them unsupervised,” Energy Safe CEO Leanne Hughson said.
Energy Safe Victoria has just introduced updated apprentice supervision requirements that come into effect on 1 September 2025, including changes to supervision levels and ratios, and any electrician, company or contractor that breaches these rules can face penalties.
“Our supervision requirements for electrical apprentices are focused on improving safety outcomes to prevent an incident like this occurring again.”
More information on apprentice supervision requirements can be found in the safe working guidelines for electrical workers and apprentices.
