Battery Isolation and Jump Starting Safe Work Procedure

Suits automotive workshops, transport and plant fleets, farms, civil and earthmoving businesses, and anyone who changes, charges or jump starts vehicle and plant batteries. It puts the maker’s manual first and keeps high voltage work with trained persons.

What Is Included In Our Battery Isolation and Jump Starting Safe Work Procedure?

• Safe work procedure with an approval sign-off
• Why isolate, and how to isolate and reconnect
• Jump starting steps, with the maker’s manual first
• Checking for cracked, swollen, leaking or frozen batteries
• Hydrogen gas, sparks and ignition sources
• Lifting, charging, storing and recycling batteries
• What is electrical equipment and licensed electrical work on vehicles (Electrical Safety Act ss 14, 18 and 55)
• Hybrid and electric vehicles: trained persons only
• Acid splash first aid and incident reporting
• Records, training and review

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld): s 19 (primary duty of care), s 26A (approved codes of practice), s 28 (duties of workers), ss 35 to 38 (notifiable incidents, including s 36(b)(iv) and s 37(b)), ss 47 and 49 (consultation)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 34 to 38 (risk management), s 39 (information, training and instruction), s 44 (personal protective equipment), ss 51 to 53 (hazardous atmospheres, ignition sources), s 60 (hazardous manual tasks), s 213 (maintenance of plant), s 328(4)(a) and s 357 (batteries in plant and spill containment), s 392 (lead process, named for scope)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): s 14 (meaning of electrical equipment, including s 14(2) for vehicles), s 18 (meaning of electrical work), s 55 (requirement for an electrical work licence)
• Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld): s 133 (employer’s duty to report an injury)
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024 (Qld): appendix 5, tractor safety, including jump starting. Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (Qld): appendix I, battery charging and hydrogen gas. Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021 (Qld). First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (Qld): section 3.3. All are approved codes of practice, and a business must follow an approved code or manage the risk in a way that gives an equivalent or higher standard (WHS Act s 26A)
• The sections and codes listed here give no order for connecting jump leads and no steps for hybrid and electric vehicle high voltage work. The lead order here follows the maker’s manual and common practice, and high voltage work is left to trained persons following the maker
• This document is general information for Queensland workplaces and is not legal advice

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (6 pages), A4 portrait
• Business details and document control typed once and filled in on every page, plus a space for your logo
• Purpose, scope and a policy statement with an approval sign-off
• Definitions, and responsibilities for each role
• A step-by-step procedure that says who does what
• Records, training, monitoring and review, related documents and a revision history

Review it and adjust it to suit your business, your sites and the way your team works, and talk it through with your workers. If you have any trouble downloading this template, you can contact us at any time. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading.