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Patrick Allen |
Barney: why we’ll sue Town Hall for his death
Patrick Allen says Barney Kennedy would not have died if the council had taken basic precautions to maintain Mayfield estate
BARNEY Kennedy was working on scaffolding on the side of Mayford, a block of flats in Charlton Street, last September when he touched an external light fitting. The casing was live and Barney received a massive electric shock. He died instantly.
The inquest at Camden Coroner’s Court last week revealed an appalling catalogue of neglect and poor maintenance by Camden.
However, this was not just a case of faulty maintenance. The inquest heard that the earth wire to the light fitting had been deliberately cut. The only person who could have done this was an electrician employed on behalf of Camden, probably to stop the light from repeatedly blowing the fuse affecting other lights on the block.
Cutting the earth cable – to save time and keep the other lights working – made the light into a 240-volt killer.
It appears that the light was installed in the 1980s to improve security on the road below.
A key component in a fluorescent light is the “ballast” – a small transformer which supplies the initial electricity to the bulb then regulates the electricity so that the bulb emits the right amount of light.
The ballast had failed in this light but this is to be expected. It has a limited life – up to 10 years. When it fails, there is likely to be a short circuit, hence the need for an effective earth connection.
Following Barney’s death, electricians instructed by the Health and Safety Executive found earth faults in five other external lights on the building due to negligent wiring. Any one of these could have become live when the ballast failed.
Wiring regulations under British Standard 7671 require the periodic inspection and testing of electrics. Buildings older than five years should be subjected to such inspection, at least every five years; a report of the inspection should be issued, together with test results and any recommendations.
Camden decided not to implement periodic safety testing. It relied on fixing faults when they were reported by the caretaker, residents and occasional “walkabout patrols”.
The effectiveness of their system can be judged by:
* the caretaker at Mayford admitting that he kept no records of any faults reported and that he would not be able to report when an external light was not working as he went home before dark;
* the manager for electrical repairs admitting that he knew nothing about walkabout patrols because records were not kept and they were not his responsibility;
* the light in question had not been working for more than a year;
* live fittings and faulty earths are invisible faults;
* incomplete or missing records meant that the police were unable to trace who had last carried out work to this lamp.
The manager, Harry Yates, described this system as “robust”.
Following Barney’s death, the Health and Safety Executive served a notice on Camden requiring them to implement a periodic testing system by April 30 2007.
Camden now faces action in the civil and criminal courts. The HSE is likely to prosecute Camden for breaches of health and safety law. Prosecution is recommended in all serious cases, particularly when there are fatalities.
The case will go the Crown Court and Camden can expect a substantial fine. Lambeth Council were fined £75,000 plus £50,000 costs for failure to maintain the gas boiler installation at Kerrin Point, Kennington, which led to a huge explosion in 1997, the evacuation of the block and its eventual demolition. We acted for the tenants in that case, all of whom were made homeless.
Barney’s dependants will be taking civil proceedings to compensate them for his death as Camden has refused to accept liability for their claim. There is little doubt that Barney’s life would have been saved if Camden had taken basic precautions to maintain the electrical installation on this estate.
We can only hope that residents and visitors to Camden property will be safer in the future as a result of the court action to be taken against Camden. Meanwhile, out there somewhere is the person who cut that earth cable.
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