Inquest into death of young apprentice electrocuted at his work is adjourned
AN INQUEST looking into the death of an apprentice who was electrocuted while at work has been adjourned.
Third-year apprentice jointer Tom Owen, from Efail Isaf in Pontypridd, was working in a trench carrying out cabling work for Western Power Distribution ( WPD) when he died.
On the day of his death Mr Owen had been working in a pit on Clevedon Road in Llanrumney in Cardiff, while a more senior jointer – Gareth Rees – had been working roughly 20 metres away in a different pit, and they were separated by a low wall which partially obstructed vision.
On January 30, 2017, Mr Owen was found unconscious in the 18-inch deep trench by Mr Rees when he went to his van to get equipment.
Emergency services were called and Mr Owen was taken to hospital and given advanced life support, but he could not be saved.
Mr Rees told the court that he felt vulnerable, confused, and in hindsight he was not in an appropriate position to supervise Mr Owen.
He also said there were concerns over how it transpired that it was just him and Mr Owen doing the work on the day.
The job in question was planned for two teams – a business group which Mr Owen and Mr Rees were part of, and a fault group which was organised by a separate management team within the company.
But due to members of the fault group having to work late the night before, Mr Owen and Mr Rees attempted to carry out the work on their own.
A month before Mr Owen’s death he failed a trade test due to a serious safety oversight while using live cables.
Asked whether management at the company had notified him of Mr Owen’s failed test, Mr Rees said: “I don’t think so. It may have been mentioned in passing.”
He said he often remained “relaxed” around Mr Owen, who was his first apprentice, because he considered him “very competent”. He added that at the beginning of Mr Owen’s apprenticeship he “would never have left his side”.
Throughout the last seven days, the inquest has heard how it was not company policy to not allow apprentice jointers to work as part of a two-person team until they passed their exams, and Mr Owen was allowed to do work cutting live wire cables in trenches, as long as he was supervised closely by the more senior jointer he was working with.
Those giving evidence throughout the week have defined personal supervision as sitting next to the jointer with the ability to intervene immediately if necessary.
On the day Mr Owen died, the court heard how he wasn’t wearing insulated gloves, wasn’t using an insulated mat, the cutters he was using were not approved for cutting live cables, and most of the live cable he was working on was covered in blue PVC tape – which is not recommended.
The wire was also not fully shrouded (covered in a protective sleeve).
The area should also have been covered on the day due to inclement weather, to prevent water from entering the jointing system, but it wasn’t covered.
Mr Rees said he hadn’t realised that Mr Owen wasn’t wearing the correct PPE, and said the cutters
Mr Owen was using on the day were similar to those he would often use on live cables.
Mr Rees said he had never received any form of training in how to look after an apprentice.
He was one of multiple senior jointers at the company who told the court they hadn’t received any training in supervision since their own apprenticeships.
The court heard how prior to Mr Owen’s death, it was not policy to retrain senior jointers in how to supervise an apprentice.
It is now policy to retrain supervisors every six years.
The inquest has been adjourned, with no date yet set for the resumption.
On day seven, assistant coroner for south Wales central Dr Sarah Jane Richards told the jury: “I am releasing you today, I am not releasing you from this inquest, but it may be a while until we are ready to resume.”