Emergency services were called to a business on Billington Place in Emu Plains on Friday afternoon at 1:30pm after reports that a man had suffered an electric shock while performing maintenance on the building. Paramedics treated the man, believed to be aged in his 40s, but he died at the scene.
The man is yet to be formally identified. Police attached to Nepean Police Area Command established a crime scene, and a report will be prepared for the coroner. The incident is not being treated as suspicious.
SafeWork NSW has been notified and will conduct an investigation into the circumstances. Billington Place remained closed to the public while inquiries continued at the scene.
Electrical safety in the workplace
The death highlights ongoing concerns about electrical hazards in Australian workplaces. Since 2020, SafeWork NSW has recorded more than 1,000 incidents and nearly 600 injuries from electrical work, with three workers dying from electrical incidents.
Under NSW workplace law, electrical work must not be carried out on electrical equipment when it is energised; before touching any equipment, every circuit and every conductor must be tested, and equipment should never be assumed to be de-energised. The biggest dangers from electrical work include shock, arc flashes and arc blasts, which can reach temperatures of 19,000°C.
Business operators have a legal duty to manage electrical risks. Electrical equipment must be regularly inspected and tested by a competent person to identify damage and detect faults, particularly when equipment is used in environments where normal operation exposes it to moisture, heat, vibration, mechanical damage, corrosive chemicals or dust.
The investigation by SafeWork NSW will determine what safety measures were or were not in place at the time of the incident and whether any breaches of workplace health and safety law occurred.