Scunthorpe firm in court after worker scarred for life

Date:

16 November 2011

Release No:

Y&H/172/11

A construction company has been prosecuted for safety failings after a young worker was left permanently scarred when he struck an underground cable during digging work.

Richard Baisley, 26, of Scunthorpe, received severe burns to his hands, arms, face and chest when he drilled through concrete and pierced a 415 volt cable. The location of the cable was not established by the company before the digging work started.

Scunthorpe Magistrates' Court heard Mr Baisley and a fellow employee had been instructed by a director of Kim Barker Construction Ltd to dig two holes outside their site entrance so they could erect a new company sign. The sign needed two large holes for the steel posts.

Part-way through the job, the two workers hired a drill to break through some concrete and took it in turns to use it. During Mr Baisley's turn, the concrete gave way and he pierced the cable, resulting in an electrical explosion.

Mr Baisley, of Burringham, Scunthorpe, was in hospital for three days for treatment to his burns. He is unable to return to his original career as a welder because of the affects of heat on his skin and for some six months after the incident in October 2009 he was unable to ride his motorcycle or play sport.

Kim Barker Construction Ltd, of Flixborough Industrial Estate in Scunthorpe, pleaded guilty to a breach of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 after an investigation was mounted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). They were fined £13,000 and ordered to pay £2,039.10 in costs.

Inspector John Dutton said:

"This is an example of how a simple job, no matter how straightforward it may seem on the face of it, can have serious, if not fatal, consequences if not properly planned.

"There are lessons from this case that are relevant to many companies who decide to carry out work such work. First and foremost, when digging where underground services may be present, a firm needs to carry out an investigation to locate those services.

"It also highlights the need to make sure every job is planned, undertaken and supervised using trained workers and the right tools.

"Had the company followed industry guidance and best practice when this happened back in 2009, Mr Baisley would not be bearing the long-term scars of their failings today."

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related 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. www.hse.gov.uk
2. Regulation 4 (3) of The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 states: that every work activity, including operation, use and maintenance of a system and work near a system, shall be carried out in such a manner as not to give rise, as far as is reasonably practicable, to danger.

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