I’m an apprentice - electrocuted under my bosses supervision

[Jj16780]

Hi,

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum. I do have another account on here which I would imagine is not allowed by admins - this account will be deleted after this thread, I only made it as I do not want to be identified. If this is not ok please let me know.


I am an apprentice working for a largish electrical/mechanical firm.

We do large industrial jobs, schools, hospitals etc.

Working on a panel under supervision of the electrical supervisor/ following instructions of the supervisor we were lashing in temporary cables to feed a new panel, while we wait for the DNO to swap the mains from old to new.

We were pulling in single core 300mm2 cables to be paralleled (2 for each phase - 8in total)

My boss shut the power off and work began.

Shortly after getting the third cable in (2 had been done by us already) my arm accident lay touched the metal casing of the panel while my hand touched the busbars to feed the cable in.


Apparently this was still live. It threw me to the ground and felt like I was going to have a heart attack. Upon testing the phases these were all still live, even though my boss seemed to think he turned it off (he didn’t actually test, just switched it off and work commenced) I went home early because of this under my bosses instruction and my boss said to anyone who asked “he’s not feeling very well so he’s gone home”.


This man’s mistake nearly cost me my life - he is careless, evidenced by not only the above but other examples too. He rushes and makes mistakes, this is not who I would like to be taught from.

I am just wondering if anyone has had to deal with a situation like this before and what steps did you take going forward?

I do not want to work under this man but feel I don’t have a choice - I am in a household with one other including me. I am the only one working and cannot stop work as bills, rent etc still need to be paid regardless.


But I do genuinely feel if I continue working under this man something similar will happen to me again - and if not me someone else.

Thank you in advance for any replies and apologies it’s so long winded.

 

[Intoelectrics]

I think the key thing to take from this bad experience is - always do a test yourself, regardless! as much as you may trust someone, they may for what ever reason make a mistake that you or someone else might pay for.

Especially when working on boards like this where there is potentially 400v and lots of exposed conductors. I always, try my tester on a known live source to ensure its working correctly, then at least twice test across all the Phases to each other, to Neutral and to Earth both before and after safe isolation. Those few extra minutes proving its safe could be the difference between life and death!

 

[Midwest]

Continue to speak with your HR, and don't concern yourselves with repercussions. You could suggest you are a 'whistle blower', that gives you rights under law.

Sound like this guy may have developed a cavalier attitude to safety over the years, wake up call for him, and he will probably thank you at a later time, and others that follow you.