Trainees Electric Shock Sees Leeds Firm In Court
A firm in Leeds has been fined for failings on grounds of safety, after a trainee technician required skin grafts upon receiving an electric shock while using unsafe testing equipment. The Bradford man, who is 22 years old and doesn’t want to be named, had to spend five days in hospital due to his extensive injuries to both his arms and chest after the incident on February 18th last year at Wilson Power Solutions Ltd in Westland Square, Beeston.
Last Friday (24th January), the Leeds Magistrates heard that, the trainee electrical test technician had to have skin grafts to both his hands, and since the time of the incident has been unable to return to work. The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) investigated and prosecuted Wilson Power Solutions after discovering a series of safety failures both in the equipment provided or being used, and in the working practices at the firm. The court was informed that the trainee was testing a transformer but the test equipment had exposed conductors at 415 volts. When he came into contact with a connector he received an electric shock. HSE found other equipment at a safer low voltage which could have been used, however, it was broken.
HSE also identified he had been working inside a test enclosure where the interlocking mechanism had been defeated so power was not cut off when he entered. In addition to this, emergency stop buttons were broken and therefore unusable during the incident. HSE upon these findings then served a prohibition notice on Wilson Power to halt similar work on site until the firm improved its safety procedures and measures. Wilson Power Solutions Ltd of Westland Works, Westland Square, Leeds, was fined £6,500, with £647 in costs after admitting a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
After the case, HSE Inspector Julian Franklin said, “This young trainee was given unsafe, inappropriate and poorly maintained equipment to test an electrical transformer with no training or supervision. As a result he suffered a painful injury because his employer displayed a serious disregard for safety in what can be a hazardous working environment. We found a range of safety features had been defeated or fallen into disrepair and the system of work in place at Wilson Power Solutions was sub-standard. The firm failed to ensure that risks from a known hazard were controlled and allowed equipment to fall into disrepair, resulting in a potentially life-threatening incident.”