‘Could be electrocuted’: NSW school electricians told to stop safety upgrade

Electrical contractors were told to cease all work on upgrading NSW primary and high school switchboards to current safety standards on Monday morning, creating fears students could be electrocuted.

Multiple schools across the state do not have adequate safety switches. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

Electrical contractors were told to cease all work on upgrading NSW primary and high school switchboards to current safety standards on Monday morning, creating fears students could be electrocuted.

Multiple schools across the state do not have adequate safety switches installed with many switchboards last upgraded in the 1970s. The previous government had contracted multiple companies to upgrade them to make them safe.

On Monday multiple businesses were sent an email by NSW Public Works and the Department of Education, seen by this masthead telling contractors to cease all work, with some contractors told verbally there was no longer any money in the budget.

“No further works are to proceed on a school site. Contractors are to ensure that all work areas are left clean and tidy, that no materials or tools are to be left on site and that all areas of the site are safe and infrastructure is fully functional,” the email read.

This comes after Education Minister Prue Car announced on Friday the government had found $1.4 billion in savings from redirecting funds elsewhere in the Education Department.

Education Minister Prue Car announced on Friday the government had found $1.4 billion in savings from redirecting funds elsewhere in the Education Department., Picture: NCA NewsWire / Julian Andrews

A spokesman for Education Minister Prue Car said none of the budget savings identified came from school maintenance cuts.

“Any savings will come from improvements to waste and inefficiency in the bureaucracy so that it can be poured back into classrooms including paying our teachers properly,” he said.

Yet in an extraordinary same day backflip a spokesperson from the Department of Education told The Daily Telegraph on Monday evening they would now honour electrical maintenance contracts where work had commenced on-site after having questions put to them by this masthead.

An email obtained by The Daily Telegraph.

The Daily Telegraph spoke with five electrical contractors who had been sent the ‘tools down’ email on Monday morning despite having already spent millions of dollars on custom switchboard parts and additional staff. Between them they had been contracted to improve the safety standards of over 450 schools across the state.

Multiple contractors, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said they were worried the switchboards would not be safe for students and staff as many did not have safety switches and were overloaded.

One Sydney-based contractor said he would be afraid to send his kids to those schools judging from the state of the switchboards.

Futher emails.

“It’s shocking and it’s very unsafe,” he said.

“If a child was to put something in a power socket as there are often no safety switches there is a chance the kid could be electrocuted.”

Opposition Education spokesperson Sarah Mitchell said with multiple cuts to contractors in the budget, the government had opened itself up to put students and staff at risk. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

The contractor said many additional staff had been hired to do the work over the next school holidays, as often the switchboards are so old they’re encased in asbestos which needs to be professionally and safely removed.

Another contractor based in Sydney tasked with looking after schools in regional NSW had approvals to upgrade over 100 schools.

“There are plenty of boards in these schools that are not safe,” he said.

“They are overloaded, they’ve got things all hanging off them and many are connected to industrial equipment.”

Master Electricians Australia chief executive said safety switches were the only element of the electrical system that protects human life and it was therefore very important to have them installed in schools.

“There is a much higher risk in a school where children can get up to mischief … it only takes one inquisitive mind to poke something in the wrong spot,” he said.

“There is a certain level of deterioration of electrical components and as such there is an increased risk over time.”

Opposition Education spokesperson Sarah Mitchell said with multiple cuts to contractors in the budget, the government had opened itself up to put students and staff at risk.

“You’ve got hard working small businesses compromised and student and teacher safety at risk,” she said.