Scottish power fined after electricity cable death

Date:

13 December 2010

Release No:

WM295/10

The death of a young man who spent his last moments warning motorists about a live electricity cable has prompted the prosecution of a power company.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has taken action against Scottish Power UK plc after 20-year-old Simon Lines, from Prees, was killed in Shropshire on 2 January 2007. The energy provider was fined £130,000 and ordered to pay £48,000 costs at Shrewsbury Crown Court today after pleading guilty to contravening Regulation 4(2) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.

Mr Lines was killed after he went out on to Whitchurch Road in Prees to warn motorists that a power cable had sagged because of high winds. The cable was then struck by a passing van and fell on to the road where a car drove over it, causing it to fly up into the air. The cable hit Mr Lines in the face, seriously injuring him.

He was taken to hospital but died eight days later from the injuries caused by being struck by the cable, rather than by electric shock.

An HSE investigation into the incident showed the cable had been attached to a wooden block on the side of nearby Holly Farm House. John Steed, an HSE specialist electrical inspector, said the block was found to be partially rotten and the deterioration led to the cable becoming detached. Since the incident Scottish Power has removed this type of fixing arrangement from its network.

Inspector Mr Steed said:

"Mr Lines was trying to make sure others weren't injured and in doing so, received injuries so severe they killed him. Those who knew him may take small comfort from the fact that he died while acting in such an honourable way, but the fact that it could have been prevented makes the death of such a young man even more tragic.

"The failure to maintain the wooden block led to the cable anchors detaching from the building, and set in motion a chain of events with a tragic outcome. Whilst some of the links in that chain of events could not have been prevented, what could have been prevented was the securing of the cable to the building by Scottish Power in what turned out to be an inadequate way.

"The fact they have now replaced wooden blocks with more effective metal brackets means the chances of something like this happening again will be reduced. But overhead power lines can be dangerous and need to be treated with caution, especially if they appear to be damaged."

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement.
2. Regulation 4(2) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 states: "As may be necessary to prevent danger, all systems shall be maintained so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, such danger."
3. Visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg382.htm for a free leaflet about road safety at work.

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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News & PR (West Midlands)