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Contractor fined £300k after workman electrocuted
Mitie Engineering Services (Edinburgh) Ltd have been fined £300k by the Dundee Sheriff Court after a 26 year-old electrician died whilst working on a construction project in August 2005. The cable he was working on was live although it was marked ‘not in use’. It had not been safely and securely isolated from the supply. Mr Adamson was not provided with necessary test equipment to prove the cable was dead, nor the means to securely isolate the circuit. Two company directors and the project manager were at an earlier hearing acquitted of charges under Section 37 of the HSW Act 1974.
Principal Inspector Jim Skilling commented after the case: “HSE has found that across the electrical contracting industry there is widespread violation of the safe working practices. Managers and supervisors in this industry must take active steps to ensure that their electricians work safely.” SELECT (Scotland’s trade association for the electrical, electronics and communications systems industry) and others have published targeted guidance on safe isolation procedures in the electrical contracting industry.