Training for the trade

To ensure the safety of electrical workers and the public, electrical workers shall receive training on the new cable colour code (CCC). From January 2007 onwards, electrical workers should have basic knowledge on the new CCC before registration for new, renewal or change of registration as registered electrical worker (REW). When an application for registration as a REW is received, EMSD will check the CCC training record of the applicant before processing his application. This requirement has the support of the Working Group on the Review of Cable Colour Code in Hong Kong and the Electrical Safety Advisory Committee.

Currently electrical workers can join four types of training: web-based self-learning training at the EMSD web site, mass scale training sessions or train-the-trainers workshops arranged by EMSD (or co-organized by EMSD and other organizations), distributed training classes conducted by trainers who have attended the train-the-trainers workshops and training provided at EMSD Customer Services Office. EMSD will continue the collaboration with the trade and industry to provide CCC training.

For training provided at EMSD Customer Services Office at 3 Kai Shing Street, Kowloon, appointment booking service has been launched to facilitate electrical workers' registration application submission and the use of CCC training facilities. The opening hours of the Cable Colour Code Training Centre are: Monday to Friday - 9:00am to 4:45pm, last admission at 4:15pm; Closed on Saturday, Sunday and public holiday.

REWs can complete the web-based self assessment training [Note 1]. Provided that the minimum requirements are met, the exercise will be recorded as a valid training record. Electrical workers can also attend other appropriate training. It is not necessary for the training courses to be recognized by EMSD. However, to ensure the quality of the training courses and to keep a record of those who have received training, a valid training course should be conducted by qualified trainers (e.g. trainers who have attended the train-the-trainers workshops, members of the Working Group on the Review of Cable Colour Code in Hong Kong, etc.). For a training record to be valid and recorded by EMSD, a REW should complete a valid training course, fill in the attendance record properly (e.g. with his/her name and registration number), and handed it to the course organizer. The organizer should then pass the record to EMSD.

REWs can check his/her CCC training record through the "Training Records" webpage [Note 2].

EMSD will not keep the training record of non-registered electrical workers. As non-registered electrical workers may not possess sufficient qualification and experience when they received the training, the effectiveness of the training cannot be confirmed. All electrical workers applying for new registration are required to receive training in the Customer Services Office, or complete a valid training later.

If trade members have difficulties in arranging new cable colour code training, they may contact relevant unions and associations (e.g. the Hong Kong and Kowloon Electrical Engineering and Appliances Trade Workers Union and the Hong Kong Electrical Contractors' Association, etc.) or EMSD to inquire about the arrangements for the mass-scale training seminars and the train-the-trainers workshops. They may also arrange for their staff to receive the web-based self-learning training available on the EMSD web site.

Note 1: New REW applicant can now join the web-based self assessment training by logging in the exercise with his/her application receipt no. and Date of Birth. (The requirements of the exercise are the same as those for REWs.)

Note 2: The CCC training record shown in the "Training Records" webpage is the record kept in EMSD. It shows if a REW has completed the web-based training/other valid training course/training at EMSD. For training records submitted to EMSD by training organizers, it may take two weeks or more after completion of the training for the records to be shown on the webpage. REWs are advised to request the training organizers to submit their records to EMSD as soon as possible.