Electric incident kills victorian worker

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An electrician has died after receiving an electric shock, in one of two Victorian workplace incidents this month where an electrician was injured.

The 37 year-old man was carrying out repairs on a main switchboard at an office complex in South Bank when he received the shock.

WorkSafe is investigating the incident, which is the second workplace death from electric shock injuries this year.

The second incident involving a man in his twenties occurred at Olympic Park in Jolimont.

The man sustained burns to his upper body after a live cable made contact with the metal frame of a switchboard he was working on.

WorkSafe’s Executive Director for Health and Safety, Ian Forsyth, urged electricians to be particularly aware of the risks associated with working on switchboards and electrical installations in the lead up to Christmas.

“If you’re working on a construction site, safe systems of work around electricity are mandatory.

“And if you’re supervising workers, you need make sure your workers understand and are complaint with these systems.

“It’s not enough just to set up safe systems of work – they need to be used,” he said.

Mr Forsyth said that electricians could reduce the risk of injury by following basic safety practices.

“Basic practices like keeping your site tidy and wearing the correct personal protective equipment, safety glasses, and long sleeved clothing which isn’t synthetic can make all the difference.

“Experience shows us that there are few safety incidents that could not have been predicted and therefore prevented,” he said.

Thursday 25 Nov, 2010