Company fined after worker hurt

A construction firm has been fined £13,000 after a worker was left scarred after hitting an underground cable during digging work.

Richard Baisley, 26, of Scunthorpe, had his hands, arms, face and chest badly burned after drilling through concrete and piercing a 415 volt cable.

Scunthorpe Magistrates heard Mr Baisley and a colleague were told to dig two holes outside Kim Barker Construction Ltd, on Flixborough Industrial estate, for a new sign. The whereabouts of the cable had not been established before the work began.

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Part-way through the job, the pair hired a drill to break through some concrete. During Mr Baisley’s turn, the concrete gave way and he pierced the cable, resulting in an electrical explosion.

Mr Baisley, of Burringham, Scunthorpe, is unable to return to his job as a welder and for some six months after the accident in October 2009 was unable to ride his motorcycle or play sport.

Kim Barker Construction Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive. They were fined £13,000 and ordered to pay £2,039 in costs.