Firm to pay £70,000 for electric accident
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A company must pay £70,000 after a worker was knocked out and left with burns and bruising from an electric shock.
The man, a sub-contractor from Benfleet, came in contact with a live cable while replacing lights in a Southend car park.
South Eastern Electrical, based in Hainault, London, was fined £50,000 and told to pay with £20,000 costs at Basildon Crown Court.
The firm was found guilty of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Following the incident, the Health and Safety Executive issued the company with a warning about the importance of having proper guidelines in place.
Dominic Elliss, the Health and Safety Executive inspector, said: "The risks of working with electricity are well-known and this incident could easily have been avoided. Effective identification and isolation of the electrical supply, together with clear instruction and supervision from the very beginning and throughout such work, are essential.
"By failing to implement simple and well-documented controls over such work, electrical contractors place not only themselves, but others who may come into contact with their work, at risk of very serious injury."
The investigation into the incident, on Sunday, July 23, 2006, found no circuit diagrams had been made available by South Eastern Electrical.
This led to confusion and work beginning even though power to one lamp post had not been isolated.
As it got dark, a light sensor was activated, which turned the power on without the worker's knowledge.
The worker, who has not been named, received the shock when he went back to grab the cable, which had consequently become live.
http://www.southendstandard.co.uk/news/southend/4181563.Firm_to_pay___70_000_for_electric_accident/
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