Scottish Power fined £130,000 after live cable kills young man
15:04 - 20/12/2010
Scottish Power fined £130,000 after ...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted major national energy provider Scottish Power UK Plc after a young man was killed while trying to warn motorists about a sagging power cable.
Simon Lines, aged just 20, was killed in Shropshire on 2nd January 2007. He had been attempting to warn motorists on the Whitchurch Road in Prees that a live electricity cable had drooped as a result of high winds, when a passing van hit the cable and a following car ran over it, causing it to fly into the air. The cable struck Mr Lines in the face.
He was taken to hospital with serious injuries and died eight days later. Doctors explained that his death was as a result of injuries caused by being hit by the cable, rather than being caused by electric shock.
Scottish Power pleaded guilty to breaching the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 at Shrewsbury Crown Court. They were fined £130,000 and ordered to pay a further £48,000 in court costs. The court heard that the wooden block that the cable had been attached to was partially rotten and that it was this deterioration that resulted in the cable becoming detached.
HSE Specialist Electrical Inspector, John Steed, explained: “The failure to maintain the wooden block led to the cable anchors detaching from the building, and set in motion a chain of events with a tragic outcome. While some of the links in that chain of events could not have been prevented, what could have been prevented was the securing of the cable to the building by Scottish Power in what turned out to be an inadequate way.”
Scottish Power has now eradicated this method of attaching cables from its network and this will hopefully prevent a similar incident occurring in the future. However, the HSE stress that electrical cables should always be approached with due care and caution.
First Response Training is one of the largest providers of health and safety training in the UK. They offer a wide variety of training courses that help companies to ensure that they are complying with health and safety legislation and are able to identify and address all risks posed by their work.
Perry Leeks, Managing Director at First Response, says: “Every year, there are thousands of preventable deaths that occur simply because an organisation has allowed safety standards to lapse. Sometimes following unsafe work practices leads to employees becoming seriously injured or even losing their lives, and sometimes innocent by-standers and members of the public become the victims. That is why it is so important to make sure that you and all your staff members receive the correct safety training, in line with workplace activity.
“We offer a wide range of health and safety training courses, including over 40 e-learning titles. Our online training suite includes Electrical Safety, which is ideal for any worker exposed to electricity and electrical equipment at work. Course content includes the dangers of working with electricity and how to assess the risks involved.”
Call First Response on 0800 310 2300 to find out more.
Simon Lines, aged just 20, was killed in Shropshire on 2nd January 2007. He had been attempting to warn motorists on the Whitchurch Road in Prees that a live electricity cable had drooped as a result of high winds, when a passing van hit the cable and a following car ran over it, causing it to fly into the air. The cable struck Mr Lines in the face.
He was taken to hospital with serious injuries and died eight days later. Doctors explained that his death was as a result of injuries caused by being hit by the cable, rather than being caused by electric shock.
Scottish Power pleaded guilty to breaching the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 at Shrewsbury Crown Court. They were fined £130,000 and ordered to pay a further £48,000 in court costs. The court heard that the wooden block that the cable had been attached to was partially rotten and that it was this deterioration that resulted in the cable becoming detached.
HSE Specialist Electrical Inspector, John Steed, explained: “The failure to maintain the wooden block led to the cable anchors detaching from the building, and set in motion a chain of events with a tragic outcome. While some of the links in that chain of events could not have been prevented, what could have been prevented was the securing of the cable to the building by Scottish Power in what turned out to be an inadequate way.”
Scottish Power has now eradicated this method of attaching cables from its network and this will hopefully prevent a similar incident occurring in the future. However, the HSE stress that electrical cables should always be approached with due care and caution.
First Response Training is one of the largest providers of health and safety training in the UK. They offer a wide variety of training courses that help companies to ensure that they are complying with health and safety legislation and are able to identify and address all risks posed by their work.
Perry Leeks, Managing Director at First Response, says: “Every year, there are thousands of preventable deaths that occur simply because an organisation has allowed safety standards to lapse. Sometimes following unsafe work practices leads to employees becoming seriously injured or even losing their lives, and sometimes innocent by-standers and members of the public become the victims. That is why it is so important to make sure that you and all your staff members receive the correct safety training, in line with workplace activity.
“We offer a wide range of health and safety training courses, including over 40 e-learning titles. Our online training suite includes Electrical Safety, which is ideal for any worker exposed to electricity and electrical equipment at work. Course content includes the dangers of working with electricity and how to assess the risks involved.”
Call First Response on 0800 310 2300 to find out more.
Make your selections below and enter your postcode (if applicable). This will provide you with information about a course in a location convenient to you
