Perth Magistrates Court has fined an electrical company and two workers after failing to install a switchboard safety component that left occupants in three Pilbara homes exposed to potentially fatal hazards.

Karratha electrical contractor Minbaringu Services Pty Ltd and two electrical workers all pleaded guilty to breaching WA’s electricity licensing regulations following a prosecution by Building and Energy.

The company was fined $50,000 and the electricians were fined $10,000 each for the offences which included incorrect certifications that their work was safe and compliant.

Western Australia’s director of energy safety Saj Abdoolakhan says the cases should remind electricians why checks and tests of their work are mandatory.

“There is simply no excuse for cutting corners with any area of electrical work when people’s lives can be at risk. Had these defects not been discovered by the designated electrical inspectors they could have led to serious injuries or death,” he says.

“Electrical contractors must drive a culture of compliance among their employees to ensure proper processes are followed at every job. In this case, the contractor obviously failed to adequately review photographs of its electricians’ work before signing the notice.”

The court was told that the workers were employed by Minbaringu in late 2021 when they upgraded switchboards at properties used by mining workers in Tom Price and Wickham.

Electrical workers and designated electrical inspectors from the electricity network operator, Rio Tinto, later found a key safety component, the multiple earthed neutral (MEN) connection, had not been installed in the switchboards at three properties.

The Tom Price home was occupied and hazardous for two months between Minbaringu’s switchboard work and the discovery and rectification of the missing MEN. The same risk was present for a month at the Wickham properties.

The court was also told that Minbaringu submitted official notices of completion for all three properties, which incorrectly certified that the electrical installation work had been checked and tested for safety and compliance.

The MEN error would have been easier detected if the company’s electricians had carried out the compulsory checks and tests, including reviewing photographs attached to the notice that clearly showed the fault.