The Electrical Safety Office is running Electrical Safety Fortnight from 1 to 15 September 2026, with events and campaign activity aimed at keeping people safe from electrical hazards at work, at home and in the community. For Gold Coast businesses, particularly those in construction, hospitality, and any workplace with ageing fit-outs or heavy equipment use, it's a useful trigger to actually check what your current electrical safety documentation looks like, rather than assuming it's fine.
Why electrical risk gets overlooked
Electrical hazards don't get the same day-to-day visibility as something like working at height or manual handling. Wiring, switchboards and fixed installations are mostly out of sight, which means problems can sit unnoticed for years unless someone is specifically checking for them. A campaign like Electrical Safety Fortnight exists precisely because this category of risk tends to fall through the cracks between more visible hazards.
What should actually be in an electrical safety audit
A proper WHS audit covering electrical risk for a Gold Coast business should look at test and tag currency for portable electrical equipment and leads, the condition and testing history of RCDs and switchboards, whether temporary electrical work on construction or event sites is being properly planned and supervised, signage and isolation procedures for any live work or maintenance access, and whether contractors doing electrical work hold the correct licences for the work being performed.
Gold Coast's mix of hospitality fit-outs, ageing commercial buildings and active construction sites means electrical risk profiles vary a lot between businesses, so a generic checklist often misses site-specific issues that a proper inspection would pick up.
Using the campaign as a prompt, not a deadline
Electrical Safety Fortnight isn't an enforcement deadline, but it's a useful reminder that electrical risk needs the same structured attention as any other hazard category. Where electrical work meets the definition of high-risk construction work, such as work involving energised electrical installations or services, it needs to be covered by a compliant SWMS, not just left to the electrician's judgement on the day. For electrical work outside that specific category, the same discipline still applies through proper safe work procedures, isolation practices and licence checks, even where a formal SWMS isn't a legal requirement.
Booking an audit
If it's been a while since your electrical systems and documentation were properly reviewed, this fortnight is as good a prompt as any.
Book a site inspection and we'll walk through what your electrical risk profile actually looks like.