Firm fined over employee's death

A Yorkshire energy company has been fined £60,000 after one of its employees was electrocuted.

Yorkshire Electricity Distribution Services Ltd was sentenced on Tuesday after earlier admitting it had failed to ensure the an employee's safety.

Philip Hartley, 50, was killed while carrying out routine work on an electricity pole near Driffield, East Yorkshire, in September 2001.

Hull Crown Court heard how the married father died after an 11,000 volt shock.

The court heard that Mr Hartley's death was caused by the failure of equipment known as a line section isolator.

Danger arose because inadequate management systems allowed unsafe working practices to persist. Prosecutor Simon Parrington

Prosecutor Simon Parrington told the court everyone had assumed the line had been isolated and was safe to work on.

But engineers were also working on another part of the network, and as Mr Hartley carried out his repairs the line became "energised" again.

"It should never be assumed that the line section isolator was operating correctly and there should have been management systems in place to prevent this," said Mr Parrington.

"This was not the case. Danger arose because inadequate management systems allowed unsafe working practices to persist."

Speaking on behalf of Yorkshire Electricity Distribution Services Ltd, Keith Morton said the company accepted the "central thrust" of the prosecution's case.

"Mr Hartley should not have been permitted to carry out work while fault-finding work was being carried out on another part of the network," he said.

"He was in no way at fault."

Six days before the fatality, the company was taken over by Northern Electric distribution Ltd.

Speaking after sentencing, the company's network services and safety director Peter McCormick said the company had invested millions of pounds in improving safety.