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ELECTRICAL FIRES. During tie year there were thirteen fires attributed to electrical causes and reported to the Department by electrical-supply authorities as per list below. The corresponding figures for 1932 and 1931 were sixteen and twenty-three respectively. The sources of this year's electrical fires included the following: — Electric irons .. .. • • • • • • .. 4 „ radiators ... .. • • • ■ .. 2 „ radios .. .. • • • • • • .. 1 Other electrical appliances .. .. • ■ .. 2 Defective installations .. .. .. • • .. 4 Total .. .. •• •• •• •• 13 REGISTRATION OE ELECTRICAL WIREMEN. For the year ending 30th June, 1933, forty-nine reports of breaches of the Act and nineteen reports of defective work were received. There were at the 30th June, 1933, forty-five current endorsements for defective work, and the Board decided during the year that four endorsements be removed. During the year there were two appeals lodged against the decision of the Board, one being for endorsing certificates and the other for cancelling registration. In both cases the Board's decision was upheld. There has been further evidence during the year of the dangers incurred by work carried out by unskilled and unregistered persons. One fatal accident occurred in which the work carried out by an unskilled person was the direct cause, and in connection with another fatal accident it was found that the fuse-link had been replaced with a wire of about five times too large a carrying-capacity. There have been cases of shock and of fire from work done by unqualified persons. In an endeavour to see that all wiring in theatres was being carried out in accordance with the Act a letter was sent to all theatre-proprietors in 1926, and, as a result of reports indicating defective wiring in some cases, a further letter was prepared in 1933 ; supplies were forwarded to the supply authorities and they were requested to deliver a copy to the proprietor of each theatre in their respective areas. Copies were forwarded direct to all theatres outside the areas covered by the supply authorities. The introduction of mains-operated radio receiving sets presented a difficult problem in that a class of experts had grown up in the radio trade during the time battery-operated sets had been in use, and the number of registered electrical wiremen who were conversant with the radio side of the set was comparatively small. In the interests of public safety it was necessary to see that the small amount of electrical-wiring work associated with a radio set was carried out properly, and the only apparent way in which this could be done without causing considerable inconvenience to the user of the radio set was to grant registration to carry out such work. The facilities placed at the disposal of the radio trade whereby limited registration is granted to persons who pass an examination have been very fully availed of during the year. The large number of candidates who failed to answer satisfactorily the simple practical wiring questions, together with the reports received of sets having been improperly installed, shows the necessity for the examination and registration. The limited registration which is granted covers the following : — (1) The installation and connecting of any earthing conductor used for any radio apparatus. (2) The connecting of a flexible cord to any radio apparatus, or to any plug-top, ceiling-rose, or other connecter used between the fixed wiring and such apparatus. (3) The replacement of any flexible cord used for supplying electrical energy to any radio apparatus and used between the fixed wiring and such apparatus. (4) The replacement of a fuse-link on any subcircuit used to supply electrical energy to any radio apparatus. (5) The removal and/or replacement of any radio apparatus as a whole or in part and which is connected to the fixed wiring by means of a flexible cord. The qualifications necessary for this limited registration are that the applicant must be not less than nineteen years of age, must have passed an approved examination, and must prove to the satisfaction of the Registration Board that he has had not less than three years' experience in such work. There have been 974 candidates and of these 584 failed. To assist the supply authorities in the difficult task of regulating the installation of radio sets a list of men to whom limited registration had been granted was prepared and circulated in April, 1933. Examinations for wiremen were held in September, 1932, and March, 1933. The number of candidates sitting for the examination continues to show a decrease from the maximum in September, 1929. The results in the written part show a marked improvement in the last examination, but up to then they had been very unsatisfactory. The results in the practical part have remained practically steady for the last four examinations and are equal to the average percentage of passes for all examinations. Provision was made in the 1928 Amendment to the Act for all wiring done for any Department of State to be inspected, tested, and approved by a person directed in that behalf by the Chief Electrical Engineer of the Public Works Department. The Inspectors of the supply authorities were appointed to undertake this work, and, in addition, several qualified persons were appointed to undertake the work on behalf of the Government Railways and the Public Works Department. The appointments on behalf of the Railways and the Public Works were necessary because in the former case there is a considerable amount of special apparatus not found in other installations, and every care has to be

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