Worker seriously burned after exposure to 11,000 volts

Date:

31 January 2011

A high voltage electrical engineering company was prosecuted after an employee suffered serious burns from equipment carrying 11,000 volts.

Powersystems UK Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after Stephen Martin Edwards, 52, a high voltage cable jointer of Bedminster, Bristol, was injured while working in Stroud on 18 September 2009.

Cheltenham Magistrates' Court heard on Thursday how Mr Edwards was working under the supervision of an electrical engineer to connect a cable between a circuit breaker on a ring main unit and a nearby transformer. He was told the cable connection box he was working on had been isolated and earthed, but had been told to open the wrong box by mistake. The three terminals inside the box were in fact still live at 11,000 volts.

When Mr Edwards began work, the current arced between one of the live terminals and his spanner, and the resulting flash ignited his clothes. He was badly burned on his hands, arms and chest and has been unable to return to work.

The HSE investigation found a number of failings by Powersystems UK. Mr Edwards' supervisor allowed him to start work on a part of equipment he believed to be dead, without first checking with suitable test equipment that it actually was. It was in fact a different part of the equipment, which had not been isolated. Mr Edwards should also have been wearing suitable personal protective equipment, particularly flameproof overalls.

The company had also failed to carry out a risk assessment for the work, to pass on detailed information about the system, and to make sure the person supervising Mr Edwards' work had adequate knowledge and understanding of how to work safely on the system.

HSE inspector, Dawn Lawrence, said:

"The failings by Powersystems which led to Mr Edwards' injury could easily have been avoided. However, because basic precautions for safe work on electrical systems were not taken, Mr Edwards suffered burns which are so serious that he has not yet been able to return to work and, when he does, he is unlikely to be able to continue in his former role.

"The type of work meant Mr Edwards could have easily received a powerful electric shock, resulting in further serious injury or even death."

Powersystems UK Ltd, based in Badminton Road, Yate, pleaded guilty to one charge of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work Etc Act 1974.

The company was ordered to pay £5,000 in fines, plus £8,000 in costs.

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) 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. Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974 states that: 'It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.'
3. The court also ordered the defendant to pay a separate £15 victim surcharge, the proceeds of which will be spent on services for victims and witnesses.

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