A firm and its supervisor had to pay a penalty of 1000 pounds when a fire accident injured two of their workers grievously as they cut a live 1000-electrical cable at a manufacturing plant in Telford.

The firm in Birmingham, RVB Investments UK Ltd and the supervisor Clifford Leigh were accountable of the accident that happened on the 10th of August 2010.

HSE prosecuted them in the Telford Magistrates’ Court. The workers, David Rawlins aged 46 and Eamonn Osborne aged 53 were looking for groundwater seepage in the vacant manufacturing plant belonging to a business in Telford called Halesfield 5.

The supervisor, Mr Leigh asked them to unearth a place on the outer area of the plant. The workers used an electrical drill and excavated for 40 cm when they jammed into a 1000-volt live cable. At once, a fire enclosed both of them causing burns on their faces, arms and hands. Although they reached a hospital by air, Doctors initially thought that Mr Osborne might not live because of the degree of his burns.

HSE told the Court that the approximate power of the fire was similar to 4.3 million watts of energy. The heat was so dominant that the electric drill’s metallic tool evaporated and a fuse of 500 amps blew in an electrical substation close by.

The search by HSE into the accident exposed that RVB Investments did not consider the safety risks nor installed a safety method for the work. They did not get the site plans of the location nor determine the presence of electrical cables underground. They neither followed safe excavation procedures nor supported the workers to deal with the threats they may face in the underground work.

Companies need to be sure that they are giving the correct instructions with effective policies around health and safety decisions. The NEBOSH courses are designed for managers, supervisors, and employee representatives who need to ensure that their organisation meets its responsibilities under health and safety legislation. It is of benefit to organisations in enabling them to contribute to the conduct and review of safety risk assessments and fire preventive and protective measures within most workplaces.