Shocking video footage shows the moment an 11,000-volt electrical cable explodes as two men worked on a site at the House of Lords in Westminster, UK.
Two construction companies have been fined £90,000 after two workers were seriously burned, and one scarred for life after they cut into a live 11,000 V electrical cable.
Southwark Crown Court heard the laborer and a bricklayer were working in a House of Lords site at Millbank, London, on 1 July 2013, to lay bricks around a manhole.
One of the men, who was 22 at the time of the incident, hit the cable with a jackhammer when removing old brickwork and suffered serious burns to his arms, legs, hands and face. He was in hospital for nearly a month receiving treatment to his injuries.
The other worker, a 63-year-old man, suffered significant burns to his face and neck. He has been treated for the longer term traumatic stress because of the incident and is unable to continue working with drills and machines.
Clive Graham Associates Limited (CGA) of 55 Farrington Road, London, who was the principal contractor for the project, pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £45,000 with £6,612 in costs.
The employer of the two injured workers, Bellmoor Construction Limited (Bellmoor) of Swakeleys Road, Ickenham, Uxbridge, Middlesex, pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £45,000 with £6,612 in costs.
