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March 1, 2013

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Judge doesn’t expect firm will ever pay fine for electrocution

A Bristol property development firm has been fined £125,000 after a plumber was electrocuted while installing a washing machine.

Gloucester Crown Court heard that Danny Edwards, 23, was working on the appliance in a kitchen at a flat in Pollacks House in Clifton, Bristol, when the incident took place on 19 March 2008. He was employed by Birakos Enterprises Ltd, which had developed the site.

The socket that powered the washing machine was wired incorrectly, meaning the machine itself was electrically live when it was plugged in. It’s thought he was holding the back of the machine when he touched a copper water pipe and he suffered a fatal electric shock.

Visiting the site the following day, the HSE found the live and earth wires had been put into the socket incorrectly, despite the kitchen’s electrics having been signed-off as safe by the electrical division of Birakos Enterprises Ltd. Consequently, the HSE issued an Improvement Notice to the firm, which required it to carry out further testing of electrical installations in the kitchen.

HSE inspector Steven Frain said: “Danny Edwards should have been protected by his employers. Instead, he was allowed to work on a machine in which a socket was obviously wired incorrectly.

“The fault should have been found during testing but this fault was left unresolved and, ultimately, led to the death of this young father.”

Birakos Enterprises has subsequently gone into administration and failed to attend a trial on 28 February. It was found guilty of breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974, and reg.4(1) and reg.16 of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. It was fined a total of £125,000 and ordered to pay costs of £50,000.

The Bristol Post reported that Judge William Hart, in passing his sentence, said he believed the company might never pay the financial penalty imposed owing to it being in administration. He said: “The combination of errors that led to Danny’s death is disturbing indeed.

“There was a substantial gap between what could be considered reasonably practicable in relation to safety at this site, and what the company did put in place.

“The defendant company fell far below the standards required of them. This is high-risk work and the message goes out that practices of this sort will not be tolerated.

“However, I understand the order I am about to impose may well never be paid, as a result of the company being in administration.”

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Altea69
Altea69
11 years ago

Did you actually read the article?

The plug and the machine wasn’t the problem – it was the socket it was plugged into. The plumber did absolutely nothing wrong.

Bob
Bob
11 years ago

Criminal negligence should not be by-passed by liquidation, as Terry P states, it does not work for the public, so why should it be possible for such negligence to go unpunished?

To unknowingly commit an offence is not a defence, and neither should liquidation be allowed as an avoidance of penalty for obvious guilt.

Gary
Gary
11 years ago

unbelivable that a company can get away with something like this , what ever happened to directors being accountable. if ever ther was a case of a director going to prison this should be one. AGAIN UNBELIVABLE

Joe
Joe
11 years ago

So if I want to run a shoddy operation purely for profit, not taking into consideration any legal obligations, so long as I liquidate the company (Ltd, of course) prior to any court case, I won’t have to worry about anything that happens, even if my actions or omissions cause the death of another.
What’s the betting that the same enterprising person is running a different company (all be it with a different director named) and not more, just different lives are at risk. Good effective result?

Lance
Lance
11 years ago

Who put the plug on ?
He should be tried for murder. Has the HSE carried out a proper investigation ?

Lance
Lance
11 years ago

Proper training right across the board should be instituted by the HSE.
Tell plumbers and others to just check the appliance with an Electrician’s screwdriver before carrying out this sort of work.
It is proper training that is required.

Les
Les
11 years ago

surely the exact type of case where the ex-directors of the firm, ultimately responsible for HS&W, should be arrested and prosecuted individually for manslaughter.

Pike
Pike
11 years ago

It’s about time directors were prosecuted personally and this should happen every time a company goes bust after an incident like this. I dare say they’ve set up again and wiped the debts and the conviction, Joe public can’t get off of a criminal charge by going bankrupt.

Also why aren’t they prosecuting the electrician (personally) and the idiot who signed it off for H & S breaches?

Robert
Robert
11 years ago

As long as people like the ECA and NICEIC let people without the 2391 inspection certificate then fom a queue outside a chapel of rest near you! Part P? Yea right.

There is NO SUCH THING as an electricians screwdriver. They and ‘plug-in’ socket outlet testers, should be put in a very dark hole! If you are not a trained electrician then keep the hell out. Look me and other qualified electricians up on Linkedin and learn the truth.

Smith
Smith
11 years ago

I agree with Judge Hart who says, “The combination of errors ..is disturbing”. The installing electrician failed, the testing electrician failed, the company system failed.
This is very basic electrical work.