Prosecution following workers injured by power cables

The HSE has successfully prosecuted following live electricity cables causing injury to two workers  - 17th April 2008

The risk of injury at work from live power cables on construction sites must be managed safely the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned. This follows the successful prosecution after two workers were injured following a cable explosion.

The two workmen were involved in the accident at work in March 2006 at Great George Street, Liverpool, when one of them tripped and fell onto a live cable. This caused the cable to explode with one of the men catching the full force in his face and neck causing him to be set alight and needing to run out of the building to extinguish the flames in a puddle some 40 metres away. The other man was knocked to the ground with the force from the explosion.

Some six months prior to the accident SP Power Systems Ltd attended the site when a pipe was seen sparking and a live cable was identified to be the cause during demolition work. The end of the cable was subsequently sealed but remained live; this was not communicated to the site management who believed the cable to be dead and so allowed work to continue.

A guilty plea was made by SP Power Systems Ltd to the charge that they failed to take reasonable steps so that persons not in their employment were not exposed to risks under the Health and Safety etc Act 1974 Section 3 (1). They received a fine £32,000 and had to pay £15,000 for costs.

This workplace accident could have been avoided by better communication between SP Power Systems Ltd and the site management team. The consequences from this accident at work for the two workers although tragic, could have been fatal and highlights the need for better risk management where live electricity cables are present.