Electrical Safety Office
The Electrical Safety Office (ESO) is part of the Queensland Government's Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. It develops and implements legislative, compliance and enforcement frameworks to improve electrical safety in Queensland, Australia.
The ESO enforces standards for electrical safety and promotes strategies for improved electrical safety performance across the community.
Stakeholders include employers, workers, designers, suppliers and importers of electrical equipment and the community at large.
The Electrical Safety Act 2002
The Electrical Safety Act 2002 established the Electrical Safety Board. The board gives advice and makes recommendations to the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations about policies, strategies and legislative arrangements for electrical safety.
The new legislation had a measurable impact on serious electrical injuries and fatalities from people coming into contact. Queensland's five-year average of electrical fatalities per million of population has declined from 3.6 in 2001 to just 1.24 as at 30 June 2005 — well below Australia's national average.
In the period July 1996 to June 2002, 65 fatalities were reported. In the three years following, there were only ten.