Following a UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution, a retail company was fined £1,000,000 after an electrician suffered serious burns to 15 per cent of his body when he was caught in an explosion.
The incident
The HSE reports that an electrician was using a metal spanner to repair an electrical fault at a supermarket warehouse. The spanner he was using came into contact with a live busbar (metallic strip) linked to the power distribution causing an electrical explosion.
The electrician sustained serious injuries which included burns to his arms, hands, thighs, legs, and face. He was placed in an induced coma for two weeks and had to undergo several skin grafts. As a result of the incident the electrician was unable to work for five months.
Probable cause
An HSE investigation found that:
- The electrician had been attempting to connect a generator to a low voltage supply in order to allow his employer’s client to operate some of its core site functions whilst high voltage maintenance was being undertaken;
- The work was complex involving several contractors and required co-ordination of different working parties with specific time limited requirements;
- There was insufficient planning between parties beforehand including who was in charge of each site, coordination of work and exchange of relevant documentation;
- The client (the retail company) had failed to appoint a suitably competent person to plan and carry out the work to connect temporary generators to their distribution board at the premises
- The electrical contractor’s work methods fell well below the required standards.
