DS accident with electricity at work

[Pocketfullofdogtreats]

DS is a self-employed builder, currently working for a small building company renovating an old house. He was up some scaffolding, rendering (plastering) the outside of the property when he got a huge electric shock. He had moved a cable in order to render underneath it, and apparently the rubber was degraded, there was a crack, and he had touched it with wet hands (from the render). He had a dead arm. His boss phoned the electricity company and they said to phone 111, who wanted to send an ambulance. But DS drove himself to A&E where they saw him straight away and did lots of tests including a blood test. The electricity company said they were aware that the wiring needed to be upgraded - these things have a shelf life and it was on their list. They hadn't told the homeowner (who was horrified and said he never would've had the work done if he'd known) and DS's boss was unaware too. So someone (111?) said that he was very lucky he was wearing trainers rather than steel toecap boots, and was standing on wooden boards as it could've killed him. Apparently, outside the house it's a huge amperage, before it goes into a junction box and becomes 240 volts, which is why you see those warning signs on poles. So it's not a question of 'knock you off your feet' but cooking you inside, which was why they did the blood test. So he was at the hospital for several hours but sent home as OK. He is shaken up, This was two days ago. He is wondering if he should take this further. His instinct is to forget it and learn from it. TIA

The electric company who are responsible for keeping their infrastructure safe. They have degraded cables, which they knew were degraded and therefore potentially very unsafe. And they did nothing; not even sending someone out with a warning sticker not to move or touch the cable covering at all.

Take it further with who? He touched the wire.

Was all electricity supposed to be shut off to the property?

Oh come on, ffs.

Quite possibly if the wiring was known to be dangerous. We don’t know, and that is why it needs to be investigated, or “taken further” as the op puts it.

who touches a wire with wet hands fgs?!

If he is old enough to have a job he is old enough to make his own decision on what to do?

Take it further? What do you actually want?

i suspect that this isn’t the case at all tbh

No, he touched a cable to move it while he worked underneath. Wires have a coating on them to make them safe, so that they can be moved around when work is being done. The electricity company must operate under the assumption that cables will be touched, so they much be covered and made safe. It’s why we don’t have any bare wires in our national infrastructure; it would not be safe as they WILL be touched.

The electricity company new their infrastructure was out of date, unsafe and in need of replacement. They gave no warning to homeowners and didn’t install any labels to say these cables were out of date and degraded.

He has missed time at work, so if he has lost wages then the electricity company should reimburse.

When I had a phone line installed into my house, BT guy had to hold up some of the other cables coming into the house. It’s very very normal for anyone working outside a house to sometimes have to lift or move a cable to get underneath when they’re up a scaffold or ladder.

The electricity company said they were aware that the wiring needed to be upgraded - these things have a shelf life and it was on their list.

to whom did this electricity company supposedly open themselves up to a negligence claim?

He didn’t touch a wire though. He touched what should have been a perfectly safe to touch cable, wet or dry. It wasn’t due to a failing at the electricity company. Really not hard to understand.

Interestingly the op doesn’t clarify to whom this electricity company made this explicit admission of guilt to

and would you let alone a self employed builder touch any wiring with wet hands?

But this misunderstand how Health and Safety works. The onus is only partially on the employee. It's on the site manager to ensure anyone working on site has access to full information about working conditions and any risks, and that the employee wears appropriate clothing. It's on the electrical company to ensure relevant information has been passed on.

YOU might think the employee has been stupid and should be liable. But that's not the law.

This would be classified as a near miss at the very least on all the construction sites that I've worked (all much, much bigger than a house refurbishment). The main contractor should have a nominated H&S person who should take this up. All those of you saying 'no harm done' or 'it's his own fault' can't have ever done any H&S training!

yep

it was a cash in hand jobbie i’d bet

Under CDM for domestic projects the principal contractor is responsible for safety. Would expect them to follow this up with. Would hope that they would also pay him for his time off as they should have alerted him to the live cable.

His employment status is relevant. If he was contracted to do the work (on price) then he will be responsible for working safe. This includes risk assessments and method statements, also working from height.

If however he was working for someone - directed to do the work then they are responsible for formal risk assurance, method statements etc.

I'm surprised the power company immediately admitted liability, that's highly unusual and has he had that in writing? Unsafe wiring is everyone's responsibility so he should flag it to either the house owner (if the supply is cables that they are responsible for) or the power company.

Has the faulty cables now been fixed?

You know this wire was outside right, where it rains. It’s not unreasonable to expect it to be adequately protected from water.

Even if OPs DS was entirely to blame, why does that mean it shouldn’t be investigated? He was up a ladder, he could have fallen and landed on someone walking past, the wire could have been torn down with him, potentially electrocuting someone else.

Honestly op, ignore the loons. I suspect they immediately assumed “taking it further” meant looking for compo and are now doubling down in a futile attempt not to look silly.

What makes you reach that conclusion?

Would you touch cabling whether outside or inside with wet hands?

spidey senses

Everything is a compo claim these days 😂

I think that the usual mob think that this thread is in AIBU rather than legal.

Know it all twat senses more like

He would have presumably sustained a very serious burn to his hand

but no mention?