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A construction company from North London has been fined after an employee was set on fire in a serious accident at work.
The 35-year-old had been working as a sub-contractor for the company on a large construction project in Islington.
On the morning of the work accident the man had approached his supervisor to explain that in order for plaster board to be installed a quantity of electrical cable would need to be removed.
Under the impression that the cable was not live but in fact a redundant cable left over from the previous installation, the worker climbed a step ladder with a hammer and chisel to commence its removal.
As the worker was chiselling out the cable he cut through it and an electrical blast knocked him off the ladder and set his clothing on fire.
The City of London Magistrates' Court heard how the worker remembers waking up on the floor to find a colleague putting out flames from the top half of his body.
The man was immediately taken to hospital for treatment to the burns that covered 35% of his body. He then had to endure painful skin graft surgery and is expected to take up to two years to fully recover.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation revealed that the company had not sufficiently checked whether or not the cable was live.
The company admitted to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay court costs totalling £4,183, as a result of the accident at work.
