Legal News

An engineering company has been prosecuted together with a facilities company, after a worker was fatally electrocuted while working on at a data centre in Middlesex.

Mechanical and electrical installation contractor, Balfour Beatty Engineering Services Ltd (BBES), was contracted to carry out a multimillion pound infrastructure upgrade at the data centre in Hounslow, Middlesex – while facilities management company, Norland Managed Services Ltd (NMS), was already contracted to provide mechanical and electrical maintenance and had effective control of the site.

On 16 October 2010, Martin Walton, 27, from Blackhall Colliery in Cleveland was electrocuted and died at Morgan Stanley’s Heathrow Data Centre.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that new power distribution units being installed were intended to provide two potential power supply sources to the centre’s data storage equipment. The first source was an existing substation on the site – and the other was a new substation installed as part of the works.

The existing power supply was under the control of Norland Managed Services Ltd, while the new supply was under the control of Balfour Beatty Engineering Services Ltd.

Connection of the first three of these units to the existing data centre infrastructure was scheduled to take place over the weekend of 16-18 October 2010.

Last minute modifications to the units required them to be tested with two live supplies, to ensure they functioned correctly before being connected to the data centre’s existing infrastructure.

The first unit was successfully modified, tested and connected to the existing infrastructure. However, Martin Walton – a cable jointer employed by a subcontracted company, Integrated Cable Services Ltd – was electrocuted when his forehead made contact with the 415v live terminals of the second unit.

During sentencing and at the trial, HSE told the court the underlying cause of the incident was a succession of failures indicative of the complete breakdown of BBES’s management of health and safety in relation to this project – particularly a breakdown in communication.

While NMS had no role in the construction project, the relevant aspect of their undertaking was the management of the impact of the construction project on the existing operational infrastructure under their control, the court heard.

NMS issued a permit-to-work to Martin Walton, allowing him to re-route the existing site power supply through the new distribution unit, in the knowledge it had the potential to receive a supply from a source not under their control and without confirming that the other supply was isolated.

At Ipswich Crown Court, Balfour Beatty Engineering Services Ltd of Lumina Building, Ainslie Road, Hillington Park in Glasgow, admitted breaches of Section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety Work etc Act 1974.

The company was fined £280,000 in total (£140,000 for each breach) with £42,240 costs.

Norland Managed Services Ltd of City Bridge House, Southwark Street in south London was found guilty during an earlier trial of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety Work etc Act 1974.

The company was fined £100,000 with £106,670 costs.

Speaking after the sentencing, HSE inspector Loraine Charles said:

“Martin Walton’s death – which had a truly devastating effect on his family and friends – was entirely preventable.

“Although BBES claimed to have been under pressure from a difficult and demanding client, they cannot be excused for having lost sight of the need for the effective control of risks arising from the work being carried out under their control at this data centre.

“Permit to work systems were operated poorly or not at all – not one person involved in the work at the time of the accident had an accurate overall understanding of the work being carried out; and, as a consequence, Martin Walton and others were unknowingly working in the vicinity of exposed live electrical terminals.

“NMS – who were operating an effective permit to work system in relation to the equipment under their own control – made no effort to ensure that the work they permitted did not create risk at the point at which it interacted with equipment under BBES’s control.”

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors – No win no fee Electrocution Injury Claims

Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors can advise those who have suffered injury as a result of electrocution caused by negligence on how to make a no win no fee claim for compensation – including compensation claims relating to electrocution at work, electrocution on holidays or electrocution in the home as a result of faulty equipment or building work.

Personal injury claims have to be made within three years of injury – and Duncan Lewis can also advise bereaved families whose loved one has lost their life as a result of electrocution injuries caused by negligence on how to make a no win no fee Fatal Injuries Claim.

For expert legal advice on no win no fee Electrocution Injury Claims, call Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors on 0333 772 0409.