Safety chiefs investigate after 20,000-volt accident. Feb 29, 2008

SAFETY experts were yesterday investigating how a worker received a severe shock from a 20,000-volt power line while operating a cement wagon. The man, whose name has not been released, was standing beside the lorry-mounted concrete pumping machine, using a hand-held remote control, when the accident happened, just outside Cockfield, near Barnard Castle, on Wednesday evening.

The 25-year-old, from the Houghton-le-Spring area of Wearside, was airlifted to The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, and later transferred to a hospital in Newcastle, where his condition is stable.

He was one of several men working on the site, carrying out work on a combined sewer overflow system near the road between Cockfield and Evenwood. The man was employed by Lumsden and Carroll, a member of the Esh Group of Bowburn, County Durham, carrying out a contract for Northumbrian Water. Bill McCafferty, a director of the Esh Group, said yesterday: "This was obviously a very serious incident, and we are now working closely with the Health and Safety "Our thoughts are with the injured man and his family. He is poorly, so we do not want to give any details about him." It is believed a long metal arm on the pumping machine touched one of two power cables that cross above the site.

All work on the site was halted yesterday as Martin Smith, an inspector from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), led an investigation. The lorry, concrete pumping machine and remote control were still in place.

HSE inspector Rob Hirst said it was thought the man was standing close to the lorry while operating the machine through the remote control, which was attached to the lorry via a cable.

He said: "I cannot give full details at the moment, but it seems likely that the metal arm of the pumping machine touched the cable. There are still a lot of inquiries to be made. Any incident of this kind has to be fully investigated." A senior official from electricity supply company NEDL also spent time on the site, but said he was unable to release information.

INQUIRY LAUNCHED: The scene of the accident