Over the last 3 months or so we have found that our compliance & legislation support service has been in quite high demand. We have assisted several clients in either auditing their existing safe systems of work, checking the competencies of their staff and sub-contractors, or helping them implement more robust and compliant processes and safe systems, to protect their businesses, staff and sub-contractors.
I wanted this article to be short and to the point, but the nature of the topic does not allow me to shrink it into such a package, if you are a Director or Duty holder, Electrical on non-Electrical it really would be worth your time to read on.
HSE Statistics
Before getting into the detail let’s first have a look at the current HSEs statistics regarding Contact with Electricity. This information is available to download from within the current HSE RIDDOR Data set covering 2014 to 2019 and included all fatal, non-fatal and Dangerous Occurrences.
Based on these statistics we can start to see some very worrying trends, I think it would be reasonable to say that year on year more and more focus and emphasis is placed on Health, Safety and well-being in the workplace. Yet year on year it’s fair to say that we clearly have not reduced the number of incidents or fatalities relating to Contact with Electricity, and if anything, the trend is showing incidents and dangerous occurrences are increasing. Why is this?
Into the detail
When you distil the statistics further, we also start to see some sobering facts 1% of all Contact with Electricity results in a fatality, (around 1 in every 100 contacts) Just under 46% of all incidents are classed as Non-Fatal, & 53% of all incidents are classed as Dangerous Occurrences as defined by RIDDOR.
We can also see from the data that 53% of all Contact with Electricity results in lost time incidents of over seven days, we cannot tell from this data set how many days this is exactly but it is a reasonable assumption that due to the injuries sustained these time periods may be substantial, in many cases!
Sectors
Possibly more concerning or some may say as to be expected are the sectors where there are a significant number of incidents. In fact, four sectors make up 74% of all Fatal and Non-fatal incidents across the five-year period. These being:
- CONSTRUCTION
- MANUFACTURING
- WHOLESALE & RETAIL TRADE
- DEFENCE, PUBLIC SECTOR & EDUCATION
These are clearly the sectors with larger scale, Construction, and installation activities, both new build and refurbishment, plus ongoing plant, and store maintenance works. (although don’t discount the smaller sectors like Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, not very many incidents at all, but they tend to result in very significant issues).
Is this the full picture?
To be clear on a couple of points from the HSE stats, these are all the incidents that have been reported across the UK over the period, so do we honestly believe that all of the incidents that occur?? I do not think so. Let us look at RIDDOR, the reporting on this changed a few years ago and now under RIDDOR we report a Contact with Electricity if it meets these requirements:
- The death of any person if it arises from a work-related accident (that is unfortunately 25 individuals).
- Over seven-day incapacitation from work (that is 53% of all reported contacts).
- Overhead Electrical lines any plant or equipment coming into contact with uninsulated lines over 200 volts or close proximity with such an electrical line, such that it causes an electrical discharge.
- Electrical incidents causing an explosion or fire caused by an electrical short circuit or overload either a. result in the stoppage of the plant involved for more than 24 hours or b. causes a significant risk of death.
So playing devil’s advocate on this one, how many companies or organisations in the country are going to put their hand up when someone gets a tickle from faulty wiring or poor installation work, doesn’t have any time off and doesn’t receive any medical attention, how many of them will class that as an explosion or fire caused by an electrical short circuit or overload which either: b. causes a significant risk of death?
What does the HSE attribute to being the root causes of these issues?
According to the HSE the main causes of Contact with Electricity are:
- Unsafe Systems of work / Unsafe Rules
- Inadequate or No Training, Person not competent
- Inadequate Isolation
- Poor Control of Work Activities / Failure to manage work correctly
- Live Working
- Unsuitable test equipment
Why do we need Electrical Safe systems of work?
Quite simply put, its the law, just as UK HSE legislation such as Section 2(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act (HSWA) 1974 states, employers must, so far as is reasonably practicable, provide and maintain systems of work that are practical, safe and without risks to health.
Many regulations made under the HSWA, such as the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1998, require that workers are given appropriate information and instruction on how to use work equipment safely. This is, in effect, another more specific requirement to provide safe systems of work.
Then thrown into this is a specific piece of legislation for Electrical systems The Electricity at Works Regulations 1989. Which have a clear set of requirements:
As the duty holder you must ensure,
- All Electrical Systems are safe in their design and construction.
- All Electrical Systems are regularly maintained to ensure safety.
- Written safe systems of work when undertaking tasks on, with or near electrical systems are produced and all staff and personnel are trained and competent to undertake such work.
- Ensure that all equipment is suitable for the purpose to which it is to be put.
What happens if we do not have these systems and processes in place?
Like most matters H&S related, you will only come to realise the significant risk you have taken when something goes wrong. If it does go wrong, then the company along with the Duty holder could face prosecution under a number of Health & Safety acts.
If you have a poor or non-existent safe system of work and this leads to harm, or worse, contributes to the death of someone at your workplace, you can be prosecuted personally under health and safety legislation, along with the company. You can take a look at the HSEs prosecution database to see how over the past five years the HSE has targeted (individual) managers and directors Duty holders over that of prosecuting the company or staff!
In many cases due to the highly technical nature of electrical systems many Duty holders, many may not be electrical by background or are just not fully aware of what they need to implement or how to implement these necessary systems and processes. If that is the case, or you would like any advisor or assistance please contact me directly at andy.griffiths@gcsdoncaster.co.uk and I will be happy to talk you through the best solutions for you and your business.
