Scaffolder suffers 11,000 volt electric shock while working in West Sussex

And the company he worked for has this week been fined £50,000 and a company director given a suspended jail sentence.

The Health and Safety Executive say that Steven Gilmore, 36, was working for Kent contractor Canterbury City Scaffolding Ltd alongside a small team of scaffolders, to erect a temporary roof scaffold at an open-air drinks depot in Snow Hill, Copthorne, near Crawley.

The company had been contracted by Drinks Warehouse UK Ltd to erect the temporary roof over its open-air depot to provide shelter for operations during the winter.

On November 29 2021 the father-of-one struck a live 11kV power line running across the site while lifting a six-metre scaffold tube. He then fell over five meters to the ground suffering a badly broken leg.

A Health and Safety Executive spokesperson said: “Mr Gilmore sustained life-changing electrical burns to both hands, which he will never regain full use of.”

The HSE found that Canterbury City Scaffolding and its director had failed to ensure the high-risk temporary roof scaffold assembly job near a high voltage line was properly risk assessed and it had not consulted UK Power Networks about line voltage and safe clearance distances.The spokesperson said: “Work around overhead power lines, no matter how temporary, is high risk with serious or fatal consequences if not carefully planned and carried out.”

Canterbury City Scaffolding pleaded guilty at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on September 22 2023 to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act. Director Ian Pepper, 48, of Hoath near Canterbury, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Act and sentencing was adjourned to January 15 2024.

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The company was fined £50,000 and Ian Pepper was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to undertake 200 hours unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Susie Beckett said: “This scaffolder’s injuries were life-changing and could have been fatal.

“This incident could have been avoided if this high-risk scaffold job had been properly planned, including seeking free advice from the Network Operator on what precautions to take, and then implementing those well-established precautions to prevent accidental contact with the overhead line.”