Safety Alert
Electricity Strike causes Flash Burns to Operative
During a recent operation to lay a new service
and 4-way manifold in a pedestrianized area in
Central London, a 415V 3 phase LV cable was
struck by the chisel of a pneumatic breaker. The
strike caused flash burn injuries to the face, left
arm, left hand and right leg of the team leader.
He was taken to hospital and released later that
day.
The strike of the unchartered cable occurred
during the breaking out of concrete beneath
block paving. The water main and an adjacent LV
street supply had been located and uncovered
and the team were extending the excavation
towards the building to accommodate the
manifold chamber
Key Learning Point
Always ensure that we use BOTH the Cable Locating Device (Cat) and the Generator (Genny)
when locating and marking up utilities.
This is particularly important in busy, urban areas or adjacent to shop fronts where there could
be many unchartered services which may not be detectable by use of Cat Scan alone.
IF THE WORKS CHANGE
STOP AND ASK YOUR SUPERVISOR