Industry updates, standards news, and insights from our hazardous area training experts.
Extend Training has updated all relevant course materials and assessments to reflect the new state of play. Our online refresher course covers the latest changes AS/NZS 60079.14, and is available for enrolment.
Extend Training holds a public ‘Remote Delivery’ Hazardous Area Classification and Design Course every 6-8 weeks.
To wrap up another year of safety, here at Extend Training we thought we’d review the best safety boots of 2022. Taking into account comfort, safety features and of course style, these are our top picks…
To wrap up another year of safety, here at Extend Training we thought we’d review the best safety boots of 2022. Taking into account comfort, safety features and of course style, these are our top picks…
TRAINING PACKAGE ENDORSEMENTS Skills Ministers have endorsed the latest releases of the Maritime, Transport and Logistics (Rail), Defence and Electrotechnology Training Packages. Qualifications contained in these packages have been reviewed and developed to align to changing work practices, new technologies and regu…
Hi there! Welcome back to Extend Training’s blog series on hazard areas. For this instalment we’re going to have a quick look at some of the other competency schemes that exist around the world for demonstrating competency for hazardous area electrical work. In Australia we are most familiar with ASNZS4761 and the U…
Hi there. A big welcome back to all the Haz Area masochists out there. I know you’re excited to hear our rant about compound barrier glands, so I’ll get right to it. In our experience there is a common misconception about the reasons for using barrier glands in an installation. Lots of people associate them…
Hi there, and welcome to our follow up vlog on the difference between competency and licensing. As promised, we’ll be slaying the sacred cow that says a person must always hold an Australian electrical licence to work on hazardous area electrical equipment in this country. Let’s start by saying that we’re not comple…
Hi and welcome to Extend Training’s video blog series on hazardous area issues. I can’t help but wonder sometimes if the inventors of the internet would have gone ahead with it if they knew what it would be used for, but here we are in 2017 and I don’t own a cat, so we’re reduced…
We’ve had a great response to our blog post, “Ex e Terminal Box Practicalities,” including some good questions that we thought it would be worth addressing in a follow up post. Steve, a senior electrical engineer working in refrigeration dropped us a line to ask about spare terminals. Steve writes: “I read your arti…
Standards drive a lot of the differences between onshore and offshore installations, but some things are simply down to preferences, or established industry practices. Some of the biggest noticeable differences with offshore installations are: 1. Cables – braided armour is more common, low-smoke, zero-halogen (LSZH)…
If you want to get into the offshore game, you will almost certainly need to hold a dual electrical/instrumentation trade. Accommodation is limited on offshore facilities so electrical personnel are expected to also handle instrumentation. You’ll need some maintenance experience in your CV too – not just constructio…
Onshore it is likely that AS/NZS 3000 will apply, often together with other industry-specific standards such as the AS/NZS 3007 series. Even if the legislation that applies allows some freedom for the facility owner to nominate different standards to control electrical risk, it is rare that that will do so. Australi…
The legislation covering the Australian offshore industry is a Commonwealth (federal) Act: The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Safety Act (OPGGSA). That means the law is the same whether you are in Bass Strait, the North West Shelf or anywhere else in Australian waters. The industry regulator is the National O…
MYTH 5: Refresher training is required every 2 years. False! This may come as a surprise, but there is actually no specified interval requirement when it comes to ‘refresher training.’ Did you know that the AS/NZS/IEC 60079.14 only states that “appropriate continuing education or training shall be undertaken by pers…
MYTH 4: Training and assessment to AS/NZS 4761 or to national units of competency are the only ways to prove competency. False! It may often be the easiest way to prove your competency, but it is certainly not the only path you can take. In fact, the units of competency in AS/NZS 4761 are actually…
Myth 3: An Australian Electrical License is required in order to demonstrate EEHA competencies. False! As we mentioned in regards to MYTH 2, holding a license and demonstrating competency are two entirely different things. You do not need to hold a license in order to prove your competency; there are other options! …
Myth 3: Is an Australian Electrical License Compulsory In Order to Work On Australian Projects? False! Unlike Myth #1, this is much less convoluted. Yes, if you’re planning on working within Australia on these projects then you will need to hold an Australian Electrical Licence in order to do so. That being said, no…
MYTH 1: EEHA Training is mandatory when conducting any EEHA electrical work. False. The requirement is about demonstrating the competence to safely complete your work. Does this mean you have to attend training in order to receive this competence? No, not necessarily. It’s true that in Australia state law requires e…
Extend Training and our partner Bureau Veritas Korea are pleased to announce a new partnership agreement with Trainor Korea. This new partnership will allow our customers to access training and assessment services for both IECEx CoPC and EEHA Competencies to AS/NZS 4761 in an efficient and cost-effective way. Under …
In our previous blog post on changes to IEC 60079.14, we noted that the EEMUA had expressed some serious misgivings about the new criteria for determining whether a compound barrier gland was required on Ex d cable entries. And it seems that they are not alone – the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has…
Ex e Terminal Box Practicalities One of the EEHA areas in which we have noted a tendency towards what we’ll refer to as “over-compliance,” in recent times, is in the verification that power dissipation inside Ex e terminal boxes is within allowable limits. Don’t get us wrong, we’re all about compliance and documenta…
We’re excited to announce that we’ll be offering courses in Perth in the new year! We’ve formed a partnership with the nice folks at ERGT Australia to use their awesome training facility at Jandakot, which is perfect for running our practical sessions with maximum realism. ERGT Australia’s purpose is to provide acce…
Edition 5.0 of IEC 60079.14, the text that governs our working lives here at Extend Training, was published by the IEC almost two years ago now. The committee process to adopt the IEC text as an AS/NZS standard typically takes around that long, so it’s quite likely that there will be a new AS/NZS 60079.14…
