Health and Safety Prosecutions

01 April 2019

An electrical contractor whose employee suffered electrical burns & being in a coma for three weeks has just been prosecuted and fined a total of £225,000 and ordered to pay £10,662.56 in costs for breaching Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 after a serious incident where the employee was working on a live electrical system that had not been isolated.

The employee was unbolting a terminal when his tool made contact with a live terminal close to it causing the incident which led to the employee’s clothes catching fire.

Electrical safety is of paramount importance, employees should not be put at risk of coming into contact with a live conductor in this way.

Electricity at Work Regulations 1989

Section 14 of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 requires that employees do not work on or near a live conductor unless it is unreasonable for it to be dead, it is reasonable to work on it live under the circumstances and additionally suitable precautions are taken to prevent harm.

Section 12 of the regulations requires a suitable method of isolating the electricity supply to allow work to be completed safely. This is also a requirement under section 19 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) which expands wider than just isolation of electricity supply but to prevent equipment starting up without warning / a colleague starting something up (think of a powered saw for instance, whilst changing a blade a colleague inadvertently starts it up).

Electrical Inspection

Some key things to remember are:

  • A suitable point for locking off the equipment should be provided.
  • Clear communication must be maintained especially when conducting work that could be affected by others.
  • When working on any equipment which requires guarding to be removed, the equipment must be locked off before this commences.
  • A uniquely keyed “lock off” padlock / device should be used, with a clear tag stating it should not be started up and identifying the person who has locked the equipment off.
  • For machinery that has multiple persons requiring it to be locked off, a multi lock-off hasp should be used which allows each person to apply their lock to the hasp which can only be removed once the last person has removed their lock.
  • A check that there is no stored energy (pressure built up etc)
  • Ensure electrical circuits are checked to ensure they are dead using a suitable meter / testing device.
  • Once isolated and locked off, a final verification should take place to confirm this before work takes place.
  • The lock off should only be removed once the equipment has been returned to a safe state (guard / covers back in place & all persons have withdrawn from the danger area)

We can help you by auditing your safety management system to help identify gaps in it and provide practical advice on steps you can take to improve your overall safety management system.

Don’t forget we also offer a range of training courses to support your business including safety management responsibilities, COSHH awareness, manual handling and much more.

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