Electricity and gas industries will have to follow a new risk-based standard that is intended to help them reduce risk and improve public safety.

Standards New Zealand has published NZS 7901:2014 Electricity and gas industries – Safety management systems for public safety. The standard helps electricity generators, distributors, and owners or operators of gas supply systems to develop and maintain safety management systems for the facilities and equipment they operate. The aim is to prevent harm to the public or property.

Peter Berry, chair of P 7901 committee, says the committee took on board the changing demands on electricity and gas supply industries to manage risks to public safety associated with the presence or operation of their industries’ assets.

“We’ve updated the standard to include current risk management practices and aligned it with planned reforms to health and safety legislation,” says Berry.

NZS 7901 now includes a risk-based approach with principles and guidelines from AS/NZS ISO 31000 Risk management – Principles and Guidelines. This approach helps operators to assess, manage, and reduce significant risks from electricity and gas supply industry assets.

Operators need to document and monitor their safety management systems to show continuous improvement of safety levels. They also need to have these systems regularly audited by accredited certification bodies.