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A company has been fined £3,000 after a lorry driver suffered third degree burns on his body while making a delivery of hardcore aggregate.
The lorry was a tipper and grab unit, which struck an 11kV overhead power line running across the yard.
The driver exited the cab, believing they had struck a telephone cable, and in doing so received an electric shock while holding the handle of the door, when their feet touched the ground.
They suffered third degree burns on their body and required multiple skin grafts for injuries to their right forearm, right and left foot, and just above his right knee. It also had exposed tendons in their right forearm and had amputations of the fourth and fifth toes on their left foot.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the site operators had failed to provide information and instructions on risks, including locations of overhead power lines and what precautions to take. The company failed to erect ground-level barriers to establish a safety zone to keep people and machinery away from the powerlines. An exclusion zone of 3 metres around the 11kV wires should also have been adhered to.
The site operators pleaded guilty to breaching Section 4(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £3,000 and was ordered to pay £4,000 costs at a hearing at Court.
After the hearing, HSE inspector said: “Employers should make sure they properly assess and apply effective control measures to minimise the risk from striking overhead powerlines.
“If a suitable safe system of work had been in place prior to this incident, the life changing injuries sustained by the worker could have been prevented.”