Warning to construction sites after high voltage incident

Date:

19 February 2010

Release No:

YH/061/09

A high voltage shock which fried the mechanics of a tipper truck and endangered the lives of workers today (19 February) led to successful prosecutions by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The 66,000 volt surge was caused when a tipper truck's flat bed was raised and it touched overhead power cables on 5 December 2007.

Sheffield-based contractor JF Finnegan, of Ecclesall Road, Ecclesall, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £17,500 and ordered to pay £2,126 costs at Doncaster Magistrates Court.

Saxby Surfacing Contractors Ltd, from Butterthwaite Business Park in Ecclesfield, Sheffield, were sub-contracted by JF Finnegan. The company pleaded guilty to contravening regulation 34(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £708 costs.

Both companies were involved in building a private road in Doncaster at First Point Business Park. During the work, a tipper wagon, which was in its raised position, touched a high voltage overhead cable. The 66,000 volt shock passed through the wagon, resulting in severe damage to the pneumatics and the hydraulics.

The court heard this was the third similar incident at the site, yet HSE inspectors found a lack of suitable signage warning of overhead danger or height restricting posts in operation.

After the hearing HSE Inspector Stephen Hargreaves said:

"In this instance, had the driver of the tipper wagon left the vehicle when contact was made with the power line, it would almost certainly have proved fatal. Luckily he remained in the vehicle and he escaped without injury.

"But it wasn't only the driver who had been put at risk - anyone else standing in close proximity could also have been killed or seriously injured. Had there been appropriate signage in place, as well as height restricting goal posts this, incident could easily have been avoided."

The dangers of working on overhead power lines are well known within the construction industry and around a third of this type of incident results in a fatality. In 2007, nine people were killed and many more injured in the workplace due to contact with overhead power lines. In total, around 1,000 electrical incidents at work are reported to HSE each year and about 25 people die of their injuries. Visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/electricity/ for guidance on electrical safety at work.

Notes to editors

1. Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety."
2. Regulation 34(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 states: "Where there is a risk from electric power cables - (a) they shall be directed away from the area of risk; or (b) the power shall be isolated and, where necessary, earthed; or (c) if it is not reasonably practicable to comply with paragraph (a) or (b), suitable warning notices and (i) barriers suitable for excluding work equipment which is not needed, or (ii) where vehicles need to pass beneath the cables, suspended protections, or (iii) in either case, measures providing an equivalent level of safety, shall be provided or (in the case of measures) taken."
3. More information on health and safety can be found online www.hse.gov.uk

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Issued on behalf of the HSE by COI Yorkshire and the Humber