18 February 2011

An employee is lucky to be alive after coming into contact with an 11,000 volt street power line near the front of the property he was working at.

Otago Continuous Spouting (2007) Ltd and its contractor Richard Geoffrey Williams were yesterday sentenced for their roles leading to the accident, which happened in Palmerston on 10 February last year.

Otago Continuous Spouting and Mr Williams were fined $36,000 and $5,000 and ordered to pay reparations of $15,650 and $10,650 respectively.

The Dunedin District Court heard that an employee of Otago Continuous Spouting was working with Mr Williams when the metal spouting they were removing came into contact with the power lines.

“This accident could easily have been prevented,” says Department of Labour Dunedin Service Manager Mark Murray.

“Had there been proper hazard controls and good communication with the employee about the specific power line hazard this accident would probably never have happened.”

“While the contractor had identified the power lines as a potential hazard, he didn’t tell the employee about the risks or talk to him about a safe way of removing the spouting.”

“Proper hazard management is an integral part of the planning for every job. All workplaces should have a system in place for identifying potential hazards and making sure that employees and contractors are aware of the hazards. Action should be taken to eliminate, isolate or minimise these hazards,” Mr Murray says.

ENDS

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