House Building Firm Fined for Health and Safety Breach
A house-building firm has been prosecuted after a worker was almost killed by an electric shock. The 42 year old hacked into a live electricity cable last year after Wain Homes (North West) Ltd breached several health and safety regulations.
A Health and Safety Executive investigation found that Wain Homes had not taken the appropriate precautions to ensure the cable had no power running through it. The worker believed it was not live when he cut through it and was subsequently thrown from one side of the room to the other and knocked unconscious.
“This was a serious incident which has left one worker with psychological scarring, but it could have easily have resulted in several people being badly injured or killed,” HSE Inspector Thomas Merry revealed.
The victim had been employed as a casual labourer by Wain Homes and was helping to refurbish an old farmhouse when the incident occurred in Wigan. The firm was fined £8,000 and told to pay costs amounting to £2,095 earlier this week after admitting to breaches of the 1974 Health and Safety at Work etc. Act and 2007 Constructions (Design and Management) Regulations.
“Building firms carrying out work on sites where there are existing power supplies must make sure they are located and tested before starting work. It’s astonishing that Wain Homes failed to do this, especially after a gas pipe was damaged on the site more than two months before the incident because the company hadn’t carried out the proper checks.”
