Electric shock fears as contractors forced to stop school safety upgrades

There are electric shock fears as contractors in charge of upgrading NSW primary and high school switchboards say they have been told there is not enough money to continue the rollout.

Electrical contractors in charge of upgrading NSW primary and high school switchboards to current safety standards say they have been told there is not enough money to continue the rollout, creating fears students and teachers could be at risk of electrocution.

Hundreds of schools across the state currently do not have adequate safety switches installed, with many switchboards last upgraded in the 1970s. The previous government had contracted multiple companies to replace them with switchboards containing Residual Current Devices (RCDs), which are designed to shut off before delivering an electric shock.

Yet multiple contractors responsible for upgrading the switchboards say the work has dried up, with Schools Infrastructure refusing to provide new work orders to allow for the sparkies to finish the rollout, even though their contracts have yet to end.

Education Minister Prue Car. Photo Jeremy Piper

This comes after The Daily Telegraph revealed in September last year that the Department of Education had sent an email to contractors asking them to cease all safety upgrade work. The move was reversed after questions were put to the Department by this masthead.

This month multiple businesses with contracts to upgrade the switchboards said they had been told over the phone by department bureaucrats that work on new schools could not continue because they were still waiting for funding.

The Daily Telegraph spoke to five separate contractors under the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisals, who say they have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, with many having to let staff go due to a lack of work.

Emails sent by multiple contractors to Schools Infrastructure and seen by The Daily Telegraph, asking for explanations as to why very few work orders have been given, received no response.

An example of an outdated switchboard at a NSW public school.

One contractor who was responsible for upgrading schools in the Sydney area said the business had more than $100,000 worth of switchboards sitting in garages which they had bought for the projects.

“We’ve been given a list of schools that need doing but we can’t start any work because they won’t send us a work order,” the sparkie said.

“Sometimes they’ll send over draft work orders which we’ll sign and return but then they never come back to us.

“We’re constantly calling (the Department) to ask what is going on and they tell us there is nothing in the budget for it or that the funding has been channelled elsewhere.”

Another contractor said the government had yet to pay some of the previous invoices for work completed despite no new work orders for school upgrades being sent.

“They keep telling me there’ll be new orders next week, and then the next week but nothing happens,” the contractor said.

“They keep saying the budget has still not been figured out.

“I don’t understand what is happening, I think they’re trying to kill (the program) off.

“This will all hit the fan if a kid ends up dying because the work hasn’t been done.”

Education Minister Prue Car said it was her expectation that departments use budgeted school maintenance funding to keep schools safe. Photo Jeremy Piper

A Department of Education spokesperson said no contract had been cancelled on the electrical safety program and that all planned maintenance would continue to be delivered on budget.

“The department continues to release work to inspect and upgrade electrical switchboards and circuits at schools across the state,” the spokesperson said.

“Department electrical contractors undertake work as required and are not guaranteed continual work.”

It is understood there are currently 14 major school electrical renewal projects approved for delivery in the next financial year, which will go out for tender in the coming months.

A third contractor that was responsible for upgrading schools across the state said there were safety concerns for students and teachers if the upgrades were not done.

“There is an imminent safety risk if the switchboards aren’t upgraded,” the contractor said.

“Otherwise there are no safety tripping devices on the switchboards if a teacher or a student touches it.”

Master Electricians Australia field support manager Ross Lockhart said the safety switches or RCDs were the “only thing protecting life”.

“Currently if old switchboards just have circuit breakers, they only protect against fire,” he said.

“That’s why RCDs are mandatory in new builds.

“It’s about lowering the risk and providing a safe place to work and go to school – everybody needs that protection.”

Opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Mitchell accused the Minns government of quietly trying to end the switchboard maintenance program. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dylan Coker

Education Minister Prue Car said that it was her expectation that the department use budgeted school maintenance funding to keep schools safe.

“Electrical upgrades for RCDs are part of this vital safety upgrade work, and I expect that any safety concerns are immediately addressed,” she said.

Opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Mitchell accused the Minns government of quietly trying to end the switchboard maintenance program.

“It shows a total lack of awareness for the students and teachers who have been put at risk, and also for the hardworking small businesses that have been left out of pocket,” she said.

“Instead of constantly making the same mistake and then buckling to pressure, the Education Minister needs to step up and ensure this important maintenance is funded and can be carried out in our schools.”