Pursuant to Regulation 87 of the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010 (“Regulations”), I, Mark Stephen Wogan, Manager, Energy Safety, WorkSafe New Zealand, give the following notice:

Notice

1. Short title and commencement

This notice is the Electricity Regulations (TPS – Cable Supply and Installation) Notice 2018.

This prohibition is to take effect the day after publication of this notice in the New Zealand Gazette.

2. Prohibited equipment

The manufacture, importation, sale (including an offer to sell) and installation (not including use) of the electrical fitting, being TPS (tough plastic sheathed) cable marked with Certificate No.EESS-150102-0, as described in this notice, is prohibited.

3. Description

The fitting meeting the definition of a TPS cable marked with Certificate No.EESS-150102-0 to which this notice applies is further described below:

a) The prohibited cable has known markings that include or are marked with the following (or similar) “Certificate No.EESS-150102-0” and “AS/NZS 5000.2” and “ELECTRIC CABLE” and “450/750V” and “V90” and a “MX” mark with X being a number and “Twin+EXXX” with XXX being the size of the cable.

b) Characteristics of the prohibited TPS cable are below:

• The cable is 2 core plus earth, annealed copper conductor
• V-90 polyvinyl chloride (PVC) insulation
• 3V-90 PVC oversheath
• Rated to 450/750 V
• Features the EESS number-150102-0
• The cable has been identified in sizes ranging from 1mm² to 6mm².

c) The image below shows a view of one sample of the prohibited TPS cable for identification purposes.

d) The prohibited TPS cable has been installed in electrical installations.

e) The TPS cable may have been imported and/or may have been installed by Lyon Electrical or others.

4. Reasons for prohibition

The TPS cable described in this notice is an electrical fitting that is, or may be, electrically unsafe, in that there is significant risk that a person may suffer harm as a result of dangers arising from use of, or passage of electricity through, the fitting.

The TPS cable described in this notice is, or may be unsafe as the TPS cable failed testing conducted on the ageing of the cable undertaken in accordance with AS/NZS 3808:2000+A1:2001+A2:2004 Table 5, Tests A&B and Table 6. Tests A&B are referenced by AS/NZS 5000.2.

• This test means that with time the cables will become brittle and live conductors may become exposed.
• This poses the risk of electric shock and fire due to arcing.

The TPS cable is non-compliant in that:-

• The TPS cable does not comply with Regulation 83 of the Regulations as it does not meet the relevant standard AS/NZS 5000.2 as listed in Schedule 4 of the Regulations.
• The TPS cable does not comply with Regulation 59 of the Regulations as it does not meet the relevant standard AS/NZS 3000.

Dated at Wellington this 12th day of February 2018.

MARK STEPHEN WOGAN, Manager, Energy Safety, WorkSafe New Zealand.

The following does not form part of the prohibition: This prohibition is related to the information held in the WorkSafe – Energy Safety database ESI 180117-05.