Firm fined £4k over electric shock
- Published: 08 July 2008 13:58
- Author: Rhiannon Hoyle
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- Last Updated: 08 July 2008 14:58
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An East Yorkshire firm has been fined after a worker received a serious electric shock when he came in contact with live cabling.
Hogarth Construction employee Mark Dougherty suffered burns to his hand and face after making contact with the live underground 400v cable while working on a construction site at North Ferriby in September 2006.
The firm received a £4,000 fine and was ordered to pay £1,616 in costs when the ruling was handed down at the Beverley Crown Court earlier today.
The court heard the company was aware that live underground cables were present on site but had not instructed the workforce.
HSE inspector David Stewart said: "Mr Dougherty was extremely fortunate to only receive superficial burns. This type of incident often has fatal consequences."
He said that there were 18 workers killed because of contact with electricity in 2006/7 – half of which were from the construction sector.
