The dangers of working around electricity

The dangers of construction workers with electricity was brought into sharp focus last October when Balfour Beatty was fined £280,000 following the death of a worker who was electrocuted at a data centre in Middlesex.

Martin Walton died after his head came into contact with the live terminals of a unit at Morgan Stanley’s Heathrow Data Centre.

At the sentence hearing, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) cited a breakdown in the management of health and safety and in particularly communication as the underlying cause of the indent leading to Mr Walton’s death.

The law on electrical safety in construction states that precautions must be taken against the risk of death or injury from electricity during construction.

When any kind of work is being undertaken, it is vital that any risk assessment encompasses any electrical hazards.

The whereabouts of all electrical wires such as overhead power lines, underground cables and electrical wiring should be noted and a cable locator should be used if any digging or surface disturbance is necessary and any services found be permanently marked.

Danger notices should be displayed where live electrical circuits are present and workers made fully aware of where it is safe and unsafe to work.

The HSE say that the biggest risk in the construction industry come from refurbishment work being undertaken in existing buildings. The work should be planned, managed and monitored to prevent workers from being exposed to dangers of electricity.

When refurbishment work is being carried out, it is not necessarily electricians who are the victims of electrocutions but other tradesmen performing duties on site.

Risks can be reduced by ensuring those with responsibility for planning and managing refurbishment work understand the electrical system of the building where the work is to be carried out and maintain good lines of communication with the building occupier.

Isolating appropriate parts of the electrical system should prevent the possibility of any disturbance or damage to the electrical system or workers who could potentially come into contact with it whilst undertaking refurbishment.

It is essential that equipment, tools, leads and cables be routinely checked the given the high risk of injury if mains voltage (230v) is being used.

230v equipment should be checked for damage every shift, with a visual inspection conducted every week and have a combined inspection and test before first use on a site and then every month. It is recommended that records of these checks and inspections are made and kept.

The use of RCDs (Residual Current Device) can detect a number of faults in the electrical system and quickly shut down the supply. Once installed in an enclosed environment, RCDs should be checked daily and maintained. They should also be protected from vibration and mechanical damage.

Broken bulbs can also present an electrical hazard due to exposed filaments. A plan to check bulbs around a building should be introduced to reduce any risk and keep the site well lit.

Electricians can just as easily fall victim to electrocution if they fail to carry out safe working practices. This means undertaking carefully pre-planned systems of work and not engaging in any risks or attempting work above their skillset.

The HSE say that workers should avoid working with a ‘live’ electrical system whenever possible. There are three conditions that must be met for live working to be permitted where danger may arise:

• it is unreasonable in all the circumstances for the conductor to be dead.
• it is reasonable in all the circumstances for the person to be at work on or near that conductor while it is live.
• suitable precautions (including, where necessary, the provision of personal protective equipment) have been taken to prevent injury.

If one of these conditions cannot be met, live working must not be permitted and dead working is essential. The system should only be made live once all work has been completed and installed correctly.

Electrical work should only be carried out by trained and competent people and by following strict procedures.

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