CURRENT NEWS FROM THE ELECTRICAL SAFETY AUTHORITY JANUARY 2010

www.esasafe.com 1-877-esa-safe

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS

OF WORKING TOGETHERSAFELY

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS

OF WORKING TOGETHERSAFELY

In this edition ofPLUGGED-IN look out for:

Tamper-Resistant Receptacles - page 4

Provisional ContractorLicence Updates- page 5

Audit of Licensed Distributors

- page 8

David Collie, ESA President & CEO (centre) meet with Fernando Campea, Riviera Electric (right), and Dave Busato Senior Inspector, Central Region (left).

2 OUR MISSION: TO IMPROVE ELECTRICAL SAFETY FOR THE WELL-BEING OF THE PEOPLE OF ONTARIO.

In this issue of

Message from VP & 2General Counsel

CEO Update from 3David Collie

Tamper-Resistant 4Receptacles

Asbestos Awareness for 4Contractors

Registrar’s Report 5on Licensing

Business Scorecard 6

Enforcement Update 6

Product Safety News 7

Utility Regulations Update 8

Upcoming Events 8

Coming in the next issue:

Electrical Trades Safety

Contractor InformationSessions Feedback

I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak directly to the electrical industry and provide information and my own insights into the contractor licensing system from the legal perspective.

ESA worked with the electrical industry to change the landscape of licensing to recognize the qualifications of electricians, introduce a level playing field for the

industry, and advance consumer protection

Message VP & General Counselfrom Chris Jodhan

The ESA was given the responsibility by the province to administer licensing of electrical contractors and master electricians in 2007. As I understand it, the ESA worked with the electrical industry to change the landscape of licensing to recognize the qualifications of electricians, introduce a level playing field for the industry, and advance consumer protection - a bold undertaking with divergent interest groups. Under the old licensing system the municipalities across Ontario had control over licensing and some of the municipalities relied on the Electrical Contractor Registration Agency (“ECRA”) to advise on qualified persons to receive a license. ECRA itself had no statutory authority to issue a license. To maintain continuity in the industry an earlier ECRA platform established by the Electrical Contractors Association of Ontario was transferred to ESA.

Today, ECRA is now formally part of the ESA with a defined mandate to provide

policy advice to the ESA Board on licensing matters as it relates to its overall safety mandate. The ECRA Advisory Board is structured using a balanced interest model to provide a 360o view

of licensing issues. The Advisory Board is comprised of representatives that include Electrical Contractors, Consumers, Government and Safety Representatives. The ECRA of today ensures that the interests of various stakeholders that are impacted by the licensing regulation are represented and their opinions are considered in the formulation of ESA policy related to licensing. ECRA forms part of the governance structure for the province-wide licensing of electrical contractors and master electricians. ESA, with the support of ECRA, has operationalized a province-wide licensing system of more than 13,000 licensed electrical contractors and master electricians. A recent contractor survey identified that 66% of licensed electrical contractors believe that this initiative has positively impacted their business. In addition, support for targeted industry campaigns has resulted in decreased worker incidents and fatalities. This is quite an accomplishment for business and consumers in a relatively short period of time. Our commitment going forward is to continue to engage the ECRA Advisory Board on new initiatives that will benefit electrical contractors, public electrical safety and consumer protection. At the end of the day, what matters most is protecting those that perform the work (licensed electrical contractors), and those affected by the work (general public) from getting seriously injured or even killed. This is the lens through which the work of ESA and ECRA should always be viewed.

Chris Jodhan, VP & General Counsel

3OUR VISION: AN ONTARIO FREE OF ELECTRICAL FATALITIES AND SERIOUS INJURY, DAMAGE OR LOSS.

CEO Update

During my first six months at ESA I am pleased with the tremendous progress that has been made with the province- wide Contractor Licensing initiative and the successes we have achieved. We have received and processed almost double the anticipated licence applications. As of November 30, ECRA/ESA has issued well over 13,000 Electrical Contractor Licences and Master Electrician Licences.

ECRA/ESA held two Licence Holder Meetings in 2009. The first meeting was held in Mississauga on September 23, 2009 with over 150 electrical contractors and master electricians in attendance. A second meeting was held in Ottawa on October 22, 2009 that was attended by over 100 contractors. The meetings outlined several important messages including ECRA/ESA’s enforcement of unlicensed contractors (underground economy & those working outside the system).

The ECRA Advisory Board is an important vehicle for ESA to obtain input and feedback from its members on Contractor Licensing issues and policy direction. In an effort to advance the effectiveness of the Contractor Licensing, ESA established the ECRA Advisory Board. The board was established using the “Balanced View” by having electrical contractors and users of electrical services represented is an excellent model. The multi stakeholder group represents electrical safety, and consumer and public interests. It also incorporates a consensus model whereby members have an excellent opportunity to impact the policy decisions regarding contractor licensing.

The ECRA Advisory Board is an important vehicle for ESA to obtain input and feedback

from its members on Contractor Licensing issues and policy direction.

In an effort to support our electrical contracting community ESA and ECRA have made a commitment to contribute $25,000/year for the next five years to the Ross Tilley Burn Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Unit, and St. John’s Rehabilitation Hospital unit. The funds will be contributed through ECRA contractor licensing fees to the burn unit that will

directly impact the electricians and victims of electrical burns. The program headed by Dr. Joel Fish is the leading centre of expertise in Canada for medical research, maintaining clinical & incident data and driving treatment options for individuals who have sustained an electrical burn injury. It not only focuses

from David Collie President & CEO

on the research and treatment of electrical burns it works to help victims of electrical injuries rehabilitate themselves. The program has made significant strides in not only identifying the visible effects of an electrical injury but it has also recognized the injuries that are not always visible and works towards providing treatment options for these types of injuries.

David Collie, President & CEO

5OUR VISION: AN ONTARIO FREE OF ELECTRICAL FATALITIES AND SERIOUS INJURY, DAMAGE OR LOSS.

Registrar’s Report on Licensing

Asbestos Awareness for Contractors

www.esasafe.com 1-877-esa-safe4 OUR MISSION: TO IMPROVE ELECTRICAL SAFETY FOR THE WELL-BEING OF THE PEOPLE OF ONTARIO.

Increased vigilance is required by contractors to address the serious concern of inadvertent exposures to the general public and workers to airborne asbestos fibers resulting from construction activities that disturb asbestos.

Asbestos on Construction Projects and in Buildings and Repair Operations, Regulation 278/05, under the

Occupational Health & Safety Act has resulted in more stringent requirements for the management of asbestos in buildings. The regulation requires proper removal, respiratory protection, and formal training requirements for workers and supervisors. An assessment must be done prior to conducting any work activities at buildings or homes which were built prior to 1981.

If your work activities involve the removal or disturbance of asbestos containing material you must make ESA aware prior to an inspection to avoid delays or cancellation due to an unsafe work site.

Resources:http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_050278_e.htm

When requirements are implemented in the Code, did you ever wonder why these rules are implemented?

Rule 26-712 (g) states that “except as provided for in item (h), all receptacles of CSA Configuration 5-15R and 5-20R shall be tamper-resistant receptacles and shall be so marked; and (h) receptacles dedicated for microwaves, refrigerators, freezers, or kitchen counters or those receptacles located in an attic or crawl space shall not be required to be tamper resistant.”

Children like to experiment and explore, and receptacles capture their attention, unfortunately they also try to insert keys, pins and other objects in electrical outlets. This could result in electrical shocks or painful burns which can be traumatic for children.

Based on information by the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP)

• 2/3 of all electrical injuries were sustained by children 5 years of age or less.

• 44.1% of the injuries were due to inserting a conductive item or finger into an electrical outlet.

• 27.5% of those injured by placing a conductive item into an electrical outlet required admission to a hospital.

• It is important to note that 78.9% of the electrical injuries took place in a home.

The solution to mitigate these injuries is a tamper-resistant receptacle. It is designed to prevent contact with live electrical contacts when an object, other than a plug, is inserted into one of the receptacle slots with a built in shutter system.

ESA is working with industry and the Ontario Provincial Code Committee to identify which receptacles will require tamper-resistant receptacles.

(The focus is on receptacle locations that put children at risk). Once the final requirements are identified these will be communicated to the industry.

Tamper-Resistant Receptacles

Renewals of Provisional Electrical Contractor Licences

Category A: Contractors who perform Commercial/ Industrial/ Residential type electrical work

Licences were issued to businesses that applied for their licence during the transition period in 2006 and had been in operation for 5 years or more. Depending on the expiry date of the licence, the last year for renewals of these licences will be in 2010 and not beyond. Effective January 1, 2012, only companies that have employed and designated a master electrician or have been issued an Electrical Contractor licence will be permitted to operate their businesses. Any company who has not met this requirement by January 1, 2012, will no longer be licensed to operate an electrical contracting business in the province of Ontario. For more information on designating a Master Electrician to your company, please call 1-877-372-7233, prompt 3.

Category B: Contractors who perform High Voltage/ Pole Line/ SubStation Maintenance/ Street Lighting/ Civil type electrical work

The current contractor licensing regulation 570/05 does not recognize the “certification” for electrical work involved in High Voltage/ Pole Line/SubStation Maintenance/Street Lighting/Civil type electrical work. The recommendation and proposal for how to recognize a master electrician requirement for companies who perform this work, was put forth by three working committees and is currently going through the approval process. If an individual working in this area of the electrical industry wishes to write the Master Electrician Exam and they meet the criteria shown on page 3 of the document titled “High Voltage (HV), Pole Line (PL), SubStation (SS) Final Recommendations, Apr 8, 2009”, available on the www.esaecra.info

home page, they may apply to be considered to write the exam. If you would like to speak to someone directly regarding the criteria, please contact Cynthia Magill at 905-712-5383.

Master Electricians

All Master Electricians are now permitted to use the “ME” or “Master Electrician” marks at the end of their name (e.g. John Smith, ME or John Smith, Master Electrician). Please send examples of the use of the mark to the attention of: Patience Cathcart, 155A Matheson Blvd West, Suite 200, Mississauga ON, L5R 3L5, so we may use your examples in our consumer awareness campaigns. The more you use these marks, the more they will be recognized by the general public!

ONTARIO

M A S T E R E L E C T R I C I A N L I C E N C EThis LICENCE is only valid if accompanied by photo ID card.

Effective Date

Expiry Date

Licence Number

Your Designation

99999999Your Name

Your Address

ONTARIO

MASTER ELECTRICIAN PHOTO ID

Effective DateExpiry Date

Licence Number

Your Designation

99999999Your Name

Photo ID only

Business Scorecard

En ment Updateforce

6 OUR MISSION: TO IMPROVE ELECTRICAL SAFETY FOR THE WELL-BEING OF THE PEOPLE OF ONTARIO.

698 Enforcement Complaints generated this activity:

Notices of Violation (administrative penalties) 366

Enforcement inspections have been conducted 291

Complaints still active, pending further investigation 164

Unlicensed persons are currently under investigation, 84

involving sites 100

Prosecutions against unlicensed persons have now been completed, 19

consisting of charges of working without an EC License 19

Prosecutions currently underway 18

April 1, 2009 - September 30, 2009

# of Licensed Contractors

# of Licensed Master Electricians

# of calls answered at the Customer Service Centre

# of inspections

# of defects recorded

# of Hazard Investigation Requests (Z7)

# of General Inspection requests

# of ACP contractors

% of notifications created electronically

through the On-Line Application system

SCORECARD STATISTICS (April 1, 2009 - September 30, 2009)

7,6129,045133,787125,42258,1535,1755,7002,445

28.89%

7OUR VISION: AN ONTARIO FREE OF ELECTRICAL FATALITIES AND SERIOUS INJURY, DAMAGE OR LOSS.

Product Safety News

Just over a year ago, the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) established an independent Product Safety department to respond to complaints, concerns, and enquiries regarding electrical product safety. The department’s activities and procedures are governed by Ontario Regulation 438/07, in addition to

the Final Industry Guidelines for the Management of Electrical Product Safety. The Guidelines were originally published on ESA’s website on June 15, 2008 and revised on July 14, 2008.

In addition, ESA has conducted several meetings with industry representatives

including manufacturers, retailers, professional societies and trade associations. The objectives of these meetings were to establish a consistent understanding of the Regulation and the reporting threshold, and to collect stakeholder feedback on the experience of working with ESA.

ESA has also committed to reviewing the Industry Guidelines with its stakeholders on an ongoing basis. To that end, in early October ESA invited all accredited certification and inspection bodies to attend an interactive workshop with the Product Safety staff. Eight agencies sent representatives to the meeting,

the intent of which was to review the investigative process and explore ways to cooperate more efficiently and effectively. The outcome of these successful efforts will be revisions to the Industry Guidelines, expected to appear by the end of 2009. ESA is thankful to all the representatives for

their attendance and participation.

Please contact the Product Safety Group at 1-877-esa-safe or email: product.safety@electricalsafety.on.ca with any concerns or questions about electrical product safety issues or electrical product approval requirements.

The most recent product safety alerts and recall notices are also posted on the front page of the ESA website. For a complete list of the affected products visit www.esasafe.com

ESA has conducted several meetings with industry representatives including manufacturers, retailers,

professional societies and trade associations.

RCL09-60 Applica Canada

Recalls Black & Decker

Brand 8-Cup Thermal

Coffeemaker Due to

Possibility of Overheating

The coffeemaker can overheat,

could melt and / or may cause a fire.

Approximately 77,066 units were

sold in Canada.

RCL09-65 Siemens Initiates Safety

Upgrade Program for Circuit Breakers Due to potential

Safety Hazard

It has been discovered that the handle shield of the affected products

may break with potential access to live internal parts.

RCL09-67

OJ Electronics A/S

Recalls Thermostats

Used in Under Floor

Heating Systems

The recall involves thermostats that

have a built-in GFCI and are designed

for use in under-floor heating systems.

Thermostats included in the recall are

connected to 208-Volt or 240-Volt power

supplies (120V units are not included in

the recall). They were sold under the brand

names of Britech, Copal, Danfoss, Momento,

OJ Microline, Warmly

Yours, Raychem

and True Comfort.

The brand name is

located on the front

of the thermostat.

Approximately

13,000 affected

units were sold in

Canada.

The last “Plugged In” Utility Regulation Update discussed how the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) uses Due Diligence Inspections to assess a utility’s compliance with Ontario Regulation 22/04. Another way that compliance is assessed is by an annual audit.

Independent auditors who are approved by ESA or meet requirements laid out in Regulation 22/04 are hired by the utility to review and report whether the utility has processes in place to comply with five key sections of the Regulation, and also if the utility staff follow the processes.

Upon ESA’s request the utility must submit the report accompanied by a management response that provides action plans for any areas where non-compliance is found during the audit. ESA reviews the audit report and action plan and provides feedback to the utility regarding its overall compliance based on the Audit and Due Diligence Inspections.

Having experienced auditors with independence from the utility and ESA lends enormous credibility to the process. It allows the Utility Regulation department to focus on administering the Regulation. There are currently nine auditors approved by ESA, providing the utilities with options and ensuring that the audits can be completed in a timely fashion. The auditors have a range of skills including technical and industry knowledge; however, two equally important qualifications are auditing skills and independence ensuring that the audits are delivered in an impartial and consistent manner.

Utility Regulations Update

8 www.esasafe.com 1-877-esa-safe

We’d like your input. Please send your comments or story ideas to:plugged.in@electricalsafety.on.ca

To Electrical Safety Authority customers,

Customer Service Centre 2009 Holiday Season Hours of OperationHere are the CSC hours of operation during the 2009 December holiday season:

Thursday, December 24 – 7:00am to 12:00pmFriday, December 25 - closedMonday, December 28 – 7:00am to 4:30pmTuesday, December 29 - 7:00am to 4:30pmWednesday, December 30 – 7:00am to 4:30pmThursday, December 31 - 7:00am. to 4:30pmFriday, January 1 - closed

Normal business hours resume (7:00am. to 4:30pm) on Monday, January 4, 2010.

Thank you for your support.

Important Links for Contractor Licensing

Independent Auditors Audit Licensed Distributors

S M T W T F SJANUARY 2010

1

S M T

W T

F S

DECEMBER 2009

25

Upcoming Events

If you’re interested in finding out more information on Contractor Licensing or the Licensing Regulation please visit the ECRA/ESA website at :

www.ecraesa.info

For specific information on Ontario Regulation 570/05 please click on the link below.

http://www.esaecra.info/site/002.php?s=3