 
2. AS/NZS 3760:2003 (testing of electrical equipment)
The following text has been provided by Standards New Zealand
In-service testing is necessary for the safety of persons using the
equipment and for the proper discharge of the obligations of
employers and employees, as listed in legislation covering
occupational health and safety matters. This Standard specifies in-
service safety inspection and testing protocols and criteria that
satisfy these obligations, and provides a cost effective approach to
safety without jeopardizing personnel safety or involving excessive
equipment downtime.
The philosophy of the document is to provide an inspection and
testing regime capable of implementation with only simple
instrumentation, and performed by a person not necessarily having
formal qualifications or registration, but who has the necessary
practical and theoretical skills, acquired through training,
qualification, experience or a combination of these, to correctly
undertake the tasks prescribed by this Standard.
The methodology of the inspection and testing process is defined.
The frequency of repetition of that process is determined not by the
equipment type, but by examination of the environment in which
the equipment is used or working in. For indicative purposes a
number of environments are provided with associated inspection/
testing frequencies prescribed. These are based on the perception
of the level of hazard and the degree of abuse to which the
equipment is typically exposed. However, there will usually be
multiple sub-environments within any location and the inspecting/
testing frequency will be arrived at by an assessment of the actual
environment in which the equipment is placed or used.
Introduced in this edition is the possibility of allocating the
frequency of inspection/testing by undertaking, implementing and
documenting a risk assessment.
The test and tag intervals prescribed for hire equipment are
aligned with the intervals for environments such as construction
and demolition sites.
In-service Testing of Electrical Equipment is to supersede
AS/NZS 3760:2001.
The in-service safety inspection and testing requirements in this
Standard do not cover testing for the design and approval of
equipment (which is covered separately in other Standards).
Changes to AS/NZS 3760:2001
incorporated in this Standard include the following:
- The environment for frequency of inspection and test has been revised to be more usage based, rather than specific site based;
- Customized solutions based on risk assessment are now allowed;
- The "Responsible Person" has been defined and the qualifications of a "Competent Person" clarified by notes;
- Guidelines to the knowledge of electrical principles with which a Competent Person is likely to be familiar have been added as an Informative Appendix, applicable in New Zealand only;
- Additional definitions have been formulated;
- The inspection and test responsibilities of the hirer and hiree are now stated and the inspection, test and tag intervals for the hirer clarified;
- Numerous minor text changes.
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