Site map Accessibility Contact us

Go to whole of WA Government search

Electricity related serious accidents and fatalities

Regulation 63(1) of the Electricity (Licensing) Regulations 1991 requires every member of the community, consumer or industry to report an electricity caused accident that has caused, or is likely to cause, danger to a person or property. Reports should be made to the relevant network operator or, where the network operator cannot be identified, to the Director of Energy Safety.

An electric shock is defined as an incident which does not require medical or first aid treatment or an incident where NO injuries are sustained, but precautionary medical treatment is sought.

A serious electrical accident is defined as an incident in which a person requires assessment and/or treatment at a medical facility, and includes fatalities.

Year 2006-07

The following electricity related serious accidents and fatalities were reported to EnergySafety during the year 2006-07:

The fatalities in which electricity was found to be the cause were:

• A tree lopper received a fatal electric shock when carrying out vegetation control work from the bucket of an elevated work platform. His pole mounted chain saw contacted 22,000 volt powerlines.
• An electrical contractor was electrocuted when he mistakenly identified a power circuit cable and isolated the wrong circuit when checking live cable junctions in a roof space.
• A person was electrocuted when working on a 415 volt movable hydraulic restricting machine that was plugged into a 415 volt socket outlet. The active and earth conductors of the flexible supply cable were transposed at the plug-top connections and the metal frame of the machine became live.
• A 14 year old person was electrocuted while dismantling a pedestal fan. He came into contact with exposed live terminals on the fan controller after he plugged the appliance supply cord in to the electricity supply.
• A person was electrocuted by a home made device which was connected to his body. The electricity source applied to his body was derived from an electric arc welder with a measured AC open circuit voltage of 17.2 volts

History of accidents and fatalities

Fatalities

In 2005-06, there were three fatalities in which electricity was found to be the cause. Briefly:

• A linesman received a fatal electric shock when he came into contact with, or in the vicinity of, live high voltage aerial conductors.
• A person received a fatal electric shock when he made contact with the exposed 1,000 volt terminals in a switchboard.
• A person received a fatal electric shock when a piece of metal he was in contact with pierced a 3-phase extension cord, contacting a live conductor.

In 2004-05, there were four fatalities in which electricity was found to be the cause. Briefly:

• An electrical worker was electrocuted when he accidentally picked up live fallen 415 volt aerial street supply cables from the street verge.
• A person received a fatal electric shock from a portable generator when he mistakenly plugged a homemade two-core direct current battery charging lead into the 240 volt alternating current outlet instead of the 12 volt direct current outlet.
• A person received a fatal electric shock from a steel rope touching a clothesline which had become live via metallic buildings due to an active to earth fault on a water cooler. There was also an open circuit on the earthing circuit.
• A person was electrocuted when he made contact with a gas heater which was plugged into a socket outlet and had become live due to the fixed wiring earth conductor coming into contact with an active conductor at an unenclosed cable junction. There was also an open circuit on the earthing circuit.

In 2003-04, there were three fatalities in which electricity was found to be the cause. Briefly:

• An electrician was electrocuted while attempting to reconnect sub mains cables to the bottom of a circuit breaker and made contact with LIVE terminals.
• A refrigeration mechanic was electrocuted while replacing an evaporative air conditioner on a roof. He was using stainless steel multigrips which came into contact with LIVE conductors.
• An electrician was electrocuted while attempting to rectify a fault in the damper controls of an air conditioner damper in a roof space. He made contact with LIVE terminals.

In 2002-03, there were seven fatalities in which electricity was found to be the cause. Briefly:

• An electrician was electrocuted whilst attempting to repair a lighting circuit that was energised.
• A woman and a child were electrocuted whilst using a high-pressure water cleaner. The water cleaner’s electrical cable was damaged and unsafe.
• A worker was electrocuted whilst installing a metal street light pole under a 132 kV high voltage power line.
• A person was electrocuted whilst carrying out electrical work in a roof space at a domestic residence.
• Two children were electrocuted when they contacted an overhead electrical service cable termination at a house, whilst attempting to retrieve a toy Frisbee via the roof of the building.