I was working with an electrician who had relocated because of a intendant where he was working, a fellow electrician was fitting a cabinet light, he switched of the isolator on the cabinet, wired the light, then fed the cable down behind the mounting plate with the intention of fishing it out at the bottom, however it seems on installation some one had caught the insulation on the feed to isolator and his cable touched the live conductor and since already connected at the light the earth wire was earthed so caused ionisation of the atmosphere behind the mounting plate causing a large bang and propelling him across the room causing many injuries, at this point one says bad luck, we have all likely done the same.
However the HSE then got involved and just to add insult to the injury they fined him for dangerous practice because he had not isolated else where, then even worse the firm he was working for tried to sue him for loss of production, at this point the guy is in hospital.
Now I think there must be more to the story than this, it can't be as simple as related to me, however the rule is you isolate else where, so when working on a consumer unit you should first switch off the DNO isolator which they should provide, if they have not provided an isolator then we get to the two wrongs not making a right, however where the DNO have not provided an isolator then they can hardly complain when an electrician draws the fuse, however as to replacing the fuse, that is a grey area.
I suppose in theory one should tell the DNO you are going to work on the CU and you require an isolation, however I have seen the problem with time when working with the DNO, freezer full of food so a time constraint, you have maybe a 4 hour window to remove power do the work and reinstate power, it may be you need to reinstate power for an hour then cut it again to complete, it is simply not reasonable to have the DNO in attendance while the work is done.
We know the courts site reasonable so in real terms if the DNO has not provided an isolator then they must expect the seal to be broken from time to time. One is required to isolate else where under HSE rules, there are exceptions however the PPE required to work live is horrendous one is covered in rubber, and even then there are some problems.
I was surprised to find standard Wellington's contain graphite in the mix, it seems if they don't static build up is a problem. So one has to have special Wellington's without the graphite to be safe. If you look at the PPE required by those changing the meters live one realises the problem, ionisation is rare, but it does happen, so when working anywhere without public access the rules are plain, you can't work on your own, at the point where the occupants went out, he should have stopped working, I am sure I am not the only one who had to have a useless mate in order to comply with regulations, the kiwi I had one morning actually turned up to work drunk, next day when sober I read the riot act and told him in no uncertain terms he was there to drive me to medical attention if some thing went wrong, and if not fit to drive, then he should report in sick.
This is a real problem, his death may not have been avoided even if he followed the rules, however by not following then it is considered as death by miss adventure. It does not matter if a cyclist rides on a road where cycling is banned or if an electrician breaks the rules, in both cases they have done something they should know is against the rules. The fact I have many times broken the rules and got away with it does not matter, as an electrician I know what I should do, and if I break the rules then it's my fault.
The apprentice report I can't read, however this is very different, his safety should be ensured by the tradesman he is working under, the old difference between a skilled and competent person, an apprentice should be under a competent person not just skilled, the "and others" is important, this is the same for an electricians mate, we may know the apprentice or mate can do the job, but the
Emma Shaw case shows us how unless the guy is officially skilled using him to even do something as simple as plugging in a meter and writing down the readings is not permitted.
OK we look back at our own apprenticeship and remember all the things we were asked to do, but that does not make it right, there must be a sliding scale my dad told me in his day an apprenticeship took 7 years, 5 as an apprentice and 2 as a journeyman, where you had 6 months in 4 different firms to learn the different aspects of the trade. Today the main problem is people can't leave school early enough to be able to do 7 years before they need to support a family. At 14 years old 7 years means 21 before a tradesman, at 18 it means only 3 years to gain the same skills, in order to finish at 21 years old. So the day release has moved to block release and we try to cram 7 years into 3 years. This delay in starting the job training means things are missed.
I did a 5 year apprenticeship my dad thought it was wrong, and now I realise he was right, when I left the local authority where I served my apprenticeship the learning curve was steep. In 1980 when I went to Algeria to work, I had been in the trade 11 years, however the learning curve was very steep, the first 6 months I learnt more than I had in the 11 years before, I was lucky, it did not kill me, and I had some one who helped me. By time I was on my own, I had learnt enough to keep me safe and stop me getting the sack. As an electrician I had not expected to need to know which of the two leavers needed to be moved first to stop one breaking ones arm when starting a caterpillar D8 with a donkey engine, well a D583 as a side boom. OK today one is unlikely to find any large items of plant with donkey engines, but the same applies, without that journeyman one is likely to come across something you have not seen before.
OK we never stop learning, be it a PLC or a PIC there are things which even at 66 we need to learn, I am still trying to work out how to program an arduino uno but at 5 volt unlikely any mistake will kill me. But to my mind you can't teach some one enough to keep them safe in less than 4 years.
