cut bare live ends

[knowall]

sue.

 

[333rocky333]

You mention an alley, could they have been street lighting supplies or do you think they were old supplies to the houses, im confused why they go up the wall, or were they flats, ive seen supplies coming down from overhead wires.
Wouldnt the HSE get involved due to the injury

 

[DavidEvans007]

The guy from western power said they were old street light supplies, I think he's wrong unless the lights were mounted on the houses, I initially thought it was house supply as the new house supply can be seen going up the side wall and then also following a similar route to these cut ones ie. They go across the facia boards below the guttering, along the whole length of the terrace

 

[DaftPunk]

sue.

For what?

Pikies get hurt all the time whilst trying to rob DNO cabling.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Wouldnt the HSE get involved due to the injury

The injury has to be reported.

 

[plugwash]

sue.

I'm not a lawyer but I'd think it would be very difficult to successfully sue unless you can find written evidence that the DNO (or their predecessor) told the householder that the cables were dead.

 

[skenk]

I would have thought that you would only need to prove WP's negligence (ie they did not comply with EAWR), whether your BIL followed correct procedures is another issue.

But the payout should only cover the lost income due to the injury, not be some stupid inflated figure, imo.

 

[westie101]

(ie they did not comply with EAWR),

The only non-compliance with the EAWR was by the injured person and/or his employer. Under the EAWR WPD (or any employer) only have a duty to protect it's own employees or it's contractors, not 3rd parties or the public
(The clue is in the full title The Electricity at Work Regulations)

Folk will have to look further to suggest what legislation WPD breached

(BTW did the injured person himself is self employed or his employer if not comply with RIDDOR and report the accident)

 

[JohnW2]

The only non-compliance with the EAWR was by the injured person and/or his employer. Under the EAWR WPD (or any employer) only have a duty to protect it's own employees or it's contractors, not 3rd parties or the public
(The clue is in the full title The Electricity at Work Regulations) ... Folk will have to look further to suggest what legislation WPD breached

Fair enough - but they surely wouldn't have to look too far to find some regulation or legislation which was breached by:

the cable that blew had a live and neutral with taped ends, the tape had come off one core and was partially missing off the other.

... would they?

Kind Regards, John

 

[westie101]

If a cable can't be disconnected, it should be terminated in some kind of enclosure.

On a DNO network, nope!

but they surely wouldn't have to look too far to find some regulation or legislation which was breached by:

I do not know of any specific regulation in all the acts governing DNOs that says taping of ends is not acceptable!
There will be general references to safety but, as I've said many times, there are no specifics to cover most individual situations.

Part of my point is that just quoting some legal regulations without knowing it's correct use is both dangerous and unhelpful!

 

[JohnW2]

but they surely wouldn't have to look too far to find some regulation or legislation which was breached by:

I do not know of any specific regulation in all the acts governing DNOs that says taping of ends is not acceptable! There will be general references to safety but, as I've said many times, there are no specifics to cover most individual situations.

Do 'general references to safety' not cover taping that comes off?

Kind Regards, John

 

[westie101]

Do 'general references to safety' not cover taping that comes off?

Without me doing an on-site accident investigation I will not speculate on what breeches occurred.

I will, however, comment if I feel folk are going down the wrong route!

But the tape was only a minor cause (if at all) Just because it is in poor condition could not be seen as an indication if the cable was live or dead, just that the tape had started to unwind!

The major causes, surely, were the incorrect information, the cutting of a cable without proving it dead and the fact that the cable was there - however it was terminated!

Other useful references would be GS6 (in a minor way) and HS(G)47 both of which cover work near DNO equipment.

 

[aesmith]

I can't say I'd be happy with an unsafe live cable, unrelated to my own connection, being left attached to the outside of my house. I find it hard to believe that's normal DNO practice.

 

[westie101]

Folk need to understand that this is NOT an uncommon situation (though usually not to this degree)

Time after time we find that the civil trades start work on jobs that they have quoted for and "suddenly" find DNO equipment that needs dealing with, or start work and part way through find a problem.
It points to some hugely unsafe practices in these trades.

(and in some cases it is the same companies/individuals time after time, despite all the free advice they are given)

(or electrical contractors that don't check Ze prior to starting a job, and then need us to attend urgently when they test the new installation and it fails)

I find it hard to believe that's normal DNO practice.

It isn't! (certainly where I work, but is everybody perfect? Even the HSE don't think they are)

 

[JohnW2]

I can't say I'd be happy with an unsafe live cable, unrelated to my own connection, being left attached to the outside of my house. I find it hard to believe that's normal DNO practice.

Same here. I wouldn't be too happy if it were related to my connection, either!

Kind Regards, John