Hiring Out Battery Operated Lights - Australian Standards?

[Thommo]

Hi! Newbie here so please be gentle!
I have been chasing my tail trying to find out if there are any legal issues involved in hiring out battery operated light up signs in my Wedding and Event Hire business. They were purchased from a retailer in the USA and are LED lights strictly powered by AA batteries and cannot be connected to mains power. I can't find anything on the net that tells me if there are Australian Standards for battery powered lights and neither could the ACCC, so they recommended I contact a business lawyer.
Thanks in advance for any insight!

 

[rebeccag]

G'day Thommo,
Have you checked out the ACMA "Battery powered devices" Fact Sheet? It appears to cover this issue.

 

[winston wolf]

Is you concern, that you insurance may not cover these lights for personal injury? Or that they may not comply with Australian standards?

 

[Thommo]

Thanks for the replies, I had checked out the acma website but all I could tell from that was that battery powered lights are low risk and their hyperlink to the battery operated devices doesn't work.
My public liability insurance does cover me hiring out lights - assuming they are to Australian standard. I'm lost as to find out how these overseas purchased ones conform?

 

[John R]

Hi Thommo,
From ACMA's Archive Site, is this the Battery Powered Devices Fact Sheet you were looking for?

 

[winston wolf]

Unfortunately I think that you would have to get the lights checked to see if they comply with Australian standards. Of course this may cost what you saved getting them direct from the US?
This may also helphttp://www.erac.gov.au/images/Downloads/EESS Guide(English).pdf.
I would start calling some of the bodies mentioned and get some guidance. Hopefully you may be exempt from some or all of the more onerous compliance requirements.

 

[Tim W]

To grossly oversimplify, if they are AS Compliant then they will have a sticker attached to say so.
If they don't then, they aren't.
Equipment doesn't get this sticker unless it has been tested (by an accredited laboratory) and certified as compliant.
Compliance decals from other countries (eg CAL-OSHA, or CE) are irrelevant.

An enquiry with Standards Australia may be helpful. http://www.standards.org.au/Pages/default.aspx

 

[Thommo]

Thanks everyone for your help, I didn't realise how much was involved in finding out if they were suitable for use here. I've decided it simpler to replace the US fairy lights with locally made ones which conform to Australian standards and hopefully that will fix my issues.