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Project 30, Call for Industry Volunteers: Help Shape the Future of the SMEI
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Project 30, Call for Industry Volunteers: Help Shape the Future of the SMEI
Call for Industry Volunteers: Help Shape the Future of the SMEI
The Safety Manual Electricity Industry (SMEI) is undergoing a significant transformation to ensure it remains clear, relevant, and user-friendly for everyone in New Zealand’s electricity supply industry. As part of this important update, the Safety Standards and Procedures Group (SSPG) is inviting volunteers from across the industry to join a working group that will review and refine the proposed new SMEI structure and content.
What’s Involved?
* As a volunteer, you’ll collaborate with peers from Generation, Transmission, and Distribution sectors to analyse the new SMEI structure and rules.
* Your insights will help ensure the revised manual is practical, comprehensive, and meets the needs of field staff and technical teams
* The commitment is approximately 3–4 hours per week over the next 8 weeks. This includes reviewing and cross-referencing existing rules with the new content to confirm that all essential guidance is retained and clearly presented.
Your participation will directly influence the clarity and usability of the SMEI, supporting safer and more effective operations across the industry. If you’re interested in contributing to this vital project, please get in touch to express your interest.
Please send your expression of interest to hayley@eea.co.nz and graeme.johnson@omexom.co.nz
Project 30 – SM-EI Review
Project Summary
Project 30 aims to review and update the Safety Manual Electricity Industry (SMEI) to ensure it remains relevant, clear, and user-friendly for the New Zealand electricity supply industry. This review is intended to improve structure and layout, and enhance usability based on industry feedback over the last five years. The revised SMEI is intended to be released for wider industry consultation in July 2026, with final publication scheduled for December 2026.
Introduction
The Safety Manual Electricity Industry (SMEI), first published in 1995, was designed as a centralised reference at a time when access to external sources of operational information was limited. Since then, SMEI has undergone regular five-yearly reviews. The 2020 review saw a major restructure of the rules and the associated document digitisation providing online only access but with a printed version available if required. However, this version did not fully meet the wider industry expectations for a clear and user-friendly and safety focused reference document.
SSPG Review
Because the SMEI is such important document the SSPG is continually reviewing the content and has identified outdated content, reflecting industry changes and improved access to external resources.
SMEI no longer needs to serve as an exhaustive repository for all operational information. Instead, it will focus on core electricity supply industry content, referencing authoritative external sources where appropriate—for example, Chainsaw Safety now falls under its own code of practice.
User Experience
Feedback from the 2020 SMEI highlighted confusion caused by dual digital views and loosely grouped rules. Field staff and technical teams indicated a preference for a printed version and clearer structure.
SSPG proposal
In response, the SMEI has been redesigned. Individual rule numbers have been removed, and content is now organised into coherent subject areas with logically structured paragraphs.
This format should improve clarity and ensures users understand good practice within their operational context, reflecting input from all ESI sectors.
To provide this clarity the SMEI is proposed to be restructured into clearly defined topic sections.
Industry Engagement
Industry experts from the three ESI sectors—Generation, Transmission, and Distribution—will review the initial revised SMEI concept, concentrating on the structure and layout for both print and digital formats.
Following this initial review, the same group will carry out a gap analysis between the 2020 SMEI and the proposed version to pinpoint any missing, inconsistent, or unclear rules.
Feedback gathered from these early engagement activities will be assessed by the SSPG and incorporated into further adjustments of the SMEI as needed.
Project Timeline
· Reviewing SMEI’s structure and layout. COMPLETED (April 2025 – December 2025)
· A gap analysis will identify missing or unclear rules. Jan 2026 – March 2026 (Now)
· Feedback to be assessed by the SSPG and used to refine SMEI. March 2026
· Updated digital and printed versions will be produced for communication and adoption.
· These versions will be withdrawn after the review period to ensure only finalised guidance remains.
· Revised SMEI will be released for consultation at the EEA HS Conference in July 2026.
· Consultation will run through September 2026 via webinars and in-person meetings.
· Final SSPG review will occur in October–November 2026, with public release planned for December 2026.
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