ERM founder appointed to chair the Board of Master Electricians

ERM Power Chairman, Trevor St Baker, has been appointed as an independent director and elected as Chairman of the Board of Master Electricians Australia Ltd.

Mr St Baker brings more than 50 years’ experience in the electricity industry to the Master Electricians and hopes to contribute to the ongoing success of the organisation and its push to improve safety, quality and energy efficiency in electrical contracting services throughout Australia.

Mr St Baker has been a director and Chairman of five companies formed by ERM Power and its partners, to construct five major power stations in Queensland, NSW and Western Australia over the past five years.

He is currently Chairman of three of those companies, now operational: NewGen Power Kwinana, NewGen Braemar 2 and NewGen Neerabup.

“I have been intimately involved in overseeing company boards’ responsibilities for delivering the highest standards of safety management in relation to some 3.2 million hours worked (exposure hours), in which safety reporting was our first priority at every board meeting, with a pleasing outcome of zero permanent injuries and only five lost time injuries,” Mr St Baker said.

“I look forward to passing on that knowledge and experience in both energy efficiency and safety to such a worthy organisation as the Master Electricians Australia.”

As one of the true grassroots success stories of Australian business Mr St Baker founded ERM Power in 1980 and is proud of the company that holds the title of Australia’s largest privately owned energy business.

In his role with the Master Electricians, Mr St Baker will be working with the group to improve the safety of electrical contractors and their staff and apprentices.

“Master Electricians counts safety as one of its priority areas, and was instrumental in bringing the issue of safety problems with foil insulation to public attention in 2009,” Mr St Baker said.

“Nothing is more disruptive to a company than a serious accident involving one of its employees, and safety management starts with ensuring that any ‘near miss’ is investigated to learn from such an incident - we owe it to the employee, and to their families and loved ones.

“With a safe workplace everyone wins,” Mr St Baker said.

Media Contact: Cole Lawson Communications (07) 3221 2220