High voltage. 40% burns. A £3.2 million fine.
A contractor was sent to work near live high-voltage equipment. The circuit was supposed to be isolated. A safe exclusion distance was supposed to be in place. The contractor signed paperwork saying both were true. Neither was verified at the moment of work.
What happened
- The isolation plan and the exclusion-distance standard existed on paper.
- The circuit was never actually isolated, and no one checked the safe distance was really being held.
- The worker took a high-voltage shock — burns to 40% of his body.
How Evidright would have stopped it
Evidright reads the RAMS and turns each named control — isolation, earth applied, voltage proven dead, exclusion distance — into a verification gate.
The worker on the job
- The worker confirms and photographs each gate themselves, attached to their name, before climbing.
- If a gate can’t be honestly confirmed, they flag it from the same screen — work pauses on record while the plan is safely adjusted and approved before work continues.
The contractor oversight loop
- Oversight that the work was carried out safely as documented — every control evidenced by the worker on the job.
- If something on site can’t be done as planned, management of change is verified and approved before work continues — not handled on a phone call.
