Swansea Crown Court heard that, on 12 March 2014, the worker, Mr Hearne, sustained serious injuries whilst plugging a tyre stripping machine into a wall socket at Carew Airfield in Pembrokeshire.
Swansea Crown Court – Photo © Nigel Davies (cc-by-sa/2.0)
The electrical installation took place at Carew Cars, run by George Jones, 63, as part of his scrap metal business. The HSE found that it was unsafe and was more suited to a domestic premise. The socket in use was in poor condition with exposed wires.
The roof of the building had holes in it and there was evidence of water ingress on the wall behind the socket, which contributed to the incident.
George William Edward Jones of Strawberry Fields, Pembrokeshire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 4 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison to run concurrently with an existing sentence.
Jones is currently serving a prison sentence after failing to pay a £208,000 Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation order following a prosecution for environmental offences.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Anne Marie Orrells said: “This case highlights the importance of regular proactive maintenance and inspection of work equipment, including electrical installations, to ensure that they do not deteriorate to the extent that it puts people at risk.
“In this case, George Jones failed to effectively maintain equipment and it could have resulted in a fatal injury.”
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