You did the course. You’ve got UETDRRF018 sitting in your wallet, current, no dramas. Then you turn up to site and the inductor pulls your glove bag out of your kit and has a look. Wrong class rating. Or right class, but the retest tag lapsed three months back. It doesn’t matter that you passed the training with flying colours. You’re standing at the gate having a conversation you didn’t budget time for, and the ticket alone hasn’t got you through the door.
That’s the bit a lot of blokes miss. Low voltage rescue PPE isn’t the same gear as your general electrical PPE, and it’s not some optional extra you bolt on top of your training once you’ve ticked that box. It’s its own defined spec. Insulated gloves rated to the right class. Non-conductive footwear. Rescue tools that actually meet AS/NZS standards. And all of it has to be checked and current, not just chucked in the back of the van and forgotten about until someone asks.
This guide lays out exactly what’s required, what “compliant” actually means when it comes to inspection and replacement, and how it all ties back to the Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld) and Electrical Safety Regulation 2013 site requirements. So you’re not guessing on the day, and you’re not the one holding up the job because your gloves are out of date.
What Voltage Rating Do LVR Insulated Gloves Need?
Here’s the straight answer, because this is the one question every electrician chasing this ticket types into Google first.
For low voltage rescue in Australia, insulated gloves need to be Class 0, rated up to 1000V AC under AS/NZS IEC 60903. That’s the standard you’ll see cited across every compliant Australian LVR rescue kit, and there’s no wriggle room or alternative rating that “should be fine.”
Before every single use, gloves need to be:
- Visually inspected for cuts, punctures, or signs of perishing
- Air-tested to check for pinhole leaks
- Confirmed current against the manufacturer's retest and inspection interval, typically every 6 months
- Stored away from direct sunlight, oil, and sharp edges that can degrade the rubber
And this is the part that catches people out. A glove that’s the right voltage class but sitting past its retest date, or with a nick in it you’ve been meaning to sort, doesn’t meet the standard. Full stop. Inspection currency is as much a compliance requirement as the rating stamped on the glove itself. Plenty of blokes have the right gear in the bag and still get knocked back because nobody’s been checking it.
🧰 Five-item spec: Insulated gloves, insulated matting, rescue hook, arc-rated clothing, insulated footwear. All five need to be compliant and current, not just present in your kit.
The Compliant PPE Checklist for Low Voltage Rescue
Before we get into the details on each item, here’s the core list. Five things, and every one of them has to be right, not just present.
- Insulated gloves: Class 0, AS/NZS IEC 60903, in-date and undamaged
- Insulated matting: rated, inspected, and free of contamination or damage
- Rescue hook: non-conductive, correct length, with no cracks or delamination
- Arc-rated clothing: genuine arc rating, not just hi-vis or standard FR workwear
- Insulated footwear: dielectric rated, with soles and cap intact
That’s the checklist. Five items, all compliant, all current, or you’re not actually covered for a rescue scenario.
One thing worth being blunt about here: rescue-specific PPE is not the same as your general site electrical PPE. You might have a perfectly good pair of insulated gloves for switchboard work, general LV tasks, day-to-day stuff on the tools. That doesn’t automatically mean they’re rescue-rated. Different spec, different application, different consequences if you get it wrong. If you’re still not a hundred percent sure on the difference between your everyday electrical PPE and what’s specifically required for a rescue scenario, we’ve got a plain-English breakdown of that on our Low Voltage Rescue PPE Requirements Explained page.
Get the five items right, keep them current, and you’re not the guy standing at the gate explaining why your gear doesn’t match your ticket.
🧤 Don't mix kits: A glove rated for general LV switchboard work isn't automatically rescue-rated. Rescue gloves are marked "RESCUE USE ONLY" for a reason.
Insulated Gloves: Class Ratings, Inspection & Replacement Rules
Which Class Covers LVR Voltage Ranges
Class 0 gloves, rated up to 1000V AC under AS/NZS IEC 60903, are the standard here. That’s confirmed across multiple current Australian rescue-kit suppliers, and this isn’t a grey area or something that varies site to site.
A couple of things worth knowing so you’re not caught out:
- Rescue gloves are typically size 11 and marked "RESCUE USE ONLY." This marking helps prevent them from being mixed with everyday work gloves and used for general tasks that could cause premature wear or compromise their condition.
- A glove rated for general LV switchboard work isn't automatically rescue-rated. The same voltage class doesn't necessarily mean the same application, as rescue gloves are treated as dedicated equipment with specific care and usage requirements.
Pre-Use Inspection & Air Test
Every time, before you use them:
- Visual and tactile inspection: run your hands over the gloves and check for cuts, punctures, thinning rubber, or signs of perishing
- Air-test using the roll and squeeze method: roll the cuff to trap air inside, then squeeze and feel or listen for any leaks
- Check the retest interval is current, typically every 6 months, and make sure the inspection is logged through your or your employer's WHS system as required
When to Retire a Pair
Any one of these disqualifies the gloves, no “close enough” call to make on-site:
- Cuts
- Punctures
- Perishing
- UV damage
- Lapsed retest date
Doesn’t matter if it’s a small nick or the retest lapsed by a week. Out means out.
Glove Class Reference
Class | Max Voltage (AC) | Typical Colour | LVR Application |
Class 00 | 500V | Beige | Not standard for AU LVR rescue kits |
Class 0 | 1000V AC | Red | Standard AU rescue kit glove, AS/NZS IEC 60903, size 11, “RESCUE USE ONLY” |
Class 1+ | 7,500V+ | White/other | Not applicable to low voltage rescue scope |
Rescue Hooks, Matting & Non-Conductive Tools
You already know why these tools exist from your training, so this isn’t a re-run of the technique. Just the spec you need to have covered.
Rescue hooks need to be made from fibreglass or a non-conductive composite material, and they need to meet a minimum length. That length isn’t arbitrary. It’s what keeps you, the rescuer, outside the arc or contact zone while you’re pulling someone clear. Too short and you’re putting yourself back in the danger zone you’re meant to be working around.
Insulated matting needs to be rated for the job, not just “some rubber matting we had lying around.” Store it away from anything that’ll perish or contaminate it, same principle as your gloves. Check it before use for visible damage, and if it’s compromised, it’s not doing its job when you need it to.
Keep this kit separate from general site gear where you can, inspected the same way you inspect your gloves, and you’ve covered this part of the spec.
🦺 Common mix-up: Hi-vis is not arc-rated. General FR or hi-vis workwear was never tested against cal/cm² incident energy, so don't rely on it for rescue protection.
Arc-Rated Clothing & Insulated Footwear
Arc Rating vs General Workwear
Here’s a misconception that catches a lot of blokes out: hi-vis does not equal arc-rated. Your standard FR or hi-vis workwear is built for general site visibility and basic protection. It is not the same thing as clothing carrying an actual arc rating, measured in cal/cm².
Arc rating tells you how much incident energy that clothing can take before it fails to protect you in an arc flash event. General workwear was never tested against that standard, so it doesn’t give you that protection, no matter how tough it looks or how many safety features it’s got stitched into it. If your gear doesn’t carry a genuine arc rating, treat it as general workwear, not rescue PPE, because that’s what it is.
Dielectric Footwear Requirements
Your footwear needs a dielectric rating, and it needs checking the same way as everything else on this list. Watch for:
- Sole wear
- Exposed steel cap
- Water damage
Any of those compromise the dielectric protection, even if the boots still look fine from the outside. A cap that’s started to show through, or soles worn thin from months on-site, isn’t doing what it’s rated to do anymore.
Inspection, Testing & Replacement Schedule
This is probably the single most useful thing in this whole page for you, so pay attention here. A lot of head contractors these days aren’t just asking whether you’ve got the gear. They’re asking for evidence of an inspection register, proof you’ve actually been checking it, not just owning it. That’s the difference between getting through an audit and getting held up by one.
Here’s the full schedule in one place:
Inspection Schedule
Item | Inspection Frequency | Retirement Trigger |
Insulated gloves | Before every use + 6-monthly retest | Cuts, punctures, perishing, lapsed retest date |
Insulated matting | Before every use | Visible damage, perishing, contamination |
Rescue hook | Before every use | Cracks, delamination, contamination |
Arc-rated clothing | Before every use | Tears, contamination, fading beyond rating |
Insulated footwear | Before every use | Sole wear, exposed cap, water damage |
Get in the habit of running through this before every job, not just when you remember. It takes a couple of minutes and it’s the difference between having the right answer when someone asks to see your register, and scrambling to remember the last time you actually checked your gloves.
Will Your PPE Get You Signed Off On-Site?
This is where it all ties back to why any of this matters. Everything above needs to line up with the Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld) and the Electrical Safety Regulation 2013, and with the standard site induction and compliance checks you’ll come up against on most sites.
Here’s what a site inductor is actually able to check on the spot:
- Visible rating labels on your gear
- In-date tags
- No visible damage
What they generally can’t check on the spot is your retest paperwork. That’s on you to bring. Turn up with your inspection log, and you’ve closed off the one thing they can’t verify just by looking at your kit. That’s exactly the difference between a quick nod-through and a longer conversation at the gate you didn’t have time for.
First Aid Alive is RTO 31106, Nationally Recognised Training, and the UETDRRF018 course is built around exactly this spec, not just the rescue technique, but the PPE requirements that go with it on-site.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, this comes down to one simple thing: the ticket gets you trained, but the gear gets you covered. You can walk out of your course knowing exactly how to do a live low voltage rescue and still get knocked back at the gate because your gloves are out of test date or your footwear’s got a worn sole nobody noticed. Both things need to be right, not just one.
The good news is none of this is complicated once you know what you’re looking for. Five items, checked before every use, retired the moment any one of them shows damage or lapses on its retest date. Keep an inspection log, know your Class 0 gloves from your general LV gear, and don’t let hi-vis fool you into thinking it’s arc-rated when it isn’t. Five minutes of checking your kit before a job is a lot cheaper than a lost day standing at the gate.
Head contractors are asking harder questions these days than they used to. It’s not enough to own the right gear and hope nobody looks too closely. Sites want to see that you’ve actually been checking it, and that habit is what separates the blokes who get waved through from the ones who get held up explaining themselves.
Get your PPE spec right, keep your paperwork current, and this whole side of the job stops being something you have to think twice about. You’ll walk onto site knowing your gear matches your ticket, and that’s one less thing standing between you and getting on with the day’s work.
Book Your First Aid Training Now
Fast, affordable, and nationally accredited training delivered by professionals who care
Frequently Asked Questions
Making first aid training more affordable for
every classroom
We believe every student deserves access to life-saving first aid knowledge. That’s why we offer specially reduced pricing for schools and educational groups. Whether you’re booking for a single class, a year group, or your entire school, our flexible packages make training more accessible and cost-effective — without compromising quality.
