Food firm to pay £205k for fatal electrocution

The 21 year old sub-contractor Bradley Watts was lagging pipes in the loft space of Natures Way Foods’s premises in Chichester, on June 2 2011 when he contacted a live 240V electrical cable.

Watts was pronounced dead at the scene by an ambulance crew called after the accident, Chichester Crown Court was told.

Pronounced dead at the scene​

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed the live cable was the remnant of an old electrical system that had been removed by Natures Way Foods in 2008. But the remaining live cable was unknown to the firm.

Natures Way Foods had plenty of opportunity to deal with redundant cables but it was always assumed they were not live, according to an HSE probe.

It concluded: “Had the old cabling been removed in a systematic and controlled manner, or subsequent checks of the loft space identified the examples of poor practice, the death of Bradley Watts could have been avoided.”​

The firm of Selsey, West Sussex, pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £170,000 and ordered to pay costs of £35,403.

Main hazards​

The HSE identified the main hazards of working with electricity as: electric shock and burns from contact with live parts, injury from exposure to arcing, fire from faulty electrical equipment or installations, explosion caused by unsuitable electrical apparatus or static electricity igniting flammable vapours or dusts, for example in a spray paint booth.

Electric shocks can also lead to other types of injury, for example by causing a fall from ladders or scaffolds, it said.

Businesses are required to conduct an assessment of any electrical hazards covering: who could be at risk, how the level of risk has been established and the precautions taken to control that risk.

Risk assessment should take into consideration the type of electrical equipment used, the way in which it is used and the environment that it is used in, advised the HSE.

More information about electrical safety can be found here​.