An electrical firm has been fined a total of £50,000 after a subcontractor was electrocuted and left unconscious.
South Eastern Electrical (SEE) was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs at Basildon Crown Court after an electrician working on a supermarket refurbishment in Essex touched an exposed live cable.
The accident happened while the worker was fitting replacement lighting columns at the site in July 2006. He lost consciousness after the shock, and suffered burns and bruising.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found no circuit diagrams had been available, and no attempt had been made by SEE to produce one.
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HSE inspector Dominic Elliss said: “The risks of working with electricity are well known and this incident could easily have been avoided. By failing to implement simple and well-documented controls over such work, electrical contractors place not only themselves, but others who may come into contact with their work, at risk of very serious injury.”
The company, based in Hainault, was found guilty of breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, namely failing to protect those not in its employment.
