Firm fined after contractor fatally electrocuted

Nathan Briant - BBC News
·1-min read

A company that "failed to plan, manage and monitor" a job in which a man was fatally electrocuted has been ordered to pay more than £41,000 in costs and compensation.

Levi Alleyne, 41, was killed after he raised his grab lorry's crane arm onto overhead power lines in Arborfield, Berkshire, in November 2020.

Reading-based BBM Contracts Ltd admitted one breach of health and safety legislation.

It was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay compensation of £11,613.50 at Reading Magistrates’ Court on 20 June.

A coroner concluded that Mr Alleyne was hired to deliver supplies to a building site in Swallowfield Road but “no warnings, verbal or visual” were given to him about the power lines.

On raising the crane arm onto the power line, the electricity passed through Mr Alleyne’s lorry and into him.

An automatic protection system on the power lines cut the power to one of the lines within a few seconds, Berkshire’s assistant coroner Katy Thorne KC found in November 2022.

A bystander called 999 but was advised by South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) not to approach Mr Alleyne because it was unclear if the lines were live.

As a result, CPR was only given to Mr Alleyne about 20 minutes later when the air ambulance arrived.

BBM Contracts, based in Aldbourne Avenue, Earley, will pay £1,500 per month towards the £41,613.50 in costs and compensation from 18 July.

Follow BBC South on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2240.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest stories

  • The world’s biggest capital cities are heating up – and Asia tops the charts

    The world’s largest capital cities are seeing more extremely hot days than ever, according to a new study, which says the dangerous trend is being driven by scorching temperatures across Asia as the climate crisis worsens.

  • Another heatwave to follow after storms hit Italy and Switzerland

    High temperatures are forecast to start returning to Italy on Thursday after heavy rain whipped the north and centre of the country this week.View on euronews

  • No tsunami threat after magnitude 7.2 earthquake strikes Peru coast

    At least three quakes hit near the coast of central Peru over a period of 10 minutes around 12.36am local time

  • Climate change boosted deadly Saudi haj heat by 2.5 C, scientists say

    The heatwave in Saudi Arabia blamed for the deaths of 1,300 people on the haj pilgrimage this month was made worse by climate change, a team of European scientists said on Friday. The heat would have been approximately 2.5 C (4.5 F) cooler without the influence of human-caused climate change, according to a weather attribution analysis by ClimaMeter. The scientists used satellite observations from the last four decades to compare weather patterns from 1979 to 2001 and 2001 to 2023.

  • This mass bleaching event is the worst on record. Now scientists are hoping for hurricanes

    Unprecedented ocean heat has triggered the world’s worst mass coral bleaching event on record – an event so severe, reef experts are looking to hurricanes for relief.

  • 'Very worrisome': Canada's 2023 wildfires spewed four times the emissions that planes do in a year

    The devastating fires lasted for months and burned an area bigger than the size of Norway.

  • One dead and eight injured as roof collapses at New Delhi airport during monsoon rains

    Heavy rains sweep Indian capital, causing damage and flooding

  • Iowa man drowns in his basement, bringing death toll in Midwest flooding to at least 3

    A man in northwest Iowa drowned in his basement during severe flooding that devastated the Midwest this past week, police said, bringing the death toll in the region to at least three.

  • Quake it off: Which Swift song moved Wembley most?

    Wembley invited seismologists to set up monitors around the stadium for her first three London dates.

  • UK Weather: Met Office warns of severe gales and heavy rain as heatwave fizzles out

    Heavy rain and strong winds to replace 30C heat

  • How record heat is pushing Delhi's firefighters to the brink

    STORY: :: Delhi, IndiaA team of firefighters race down the streets of Delhi on this sweltering day in June.They are responding to a major blaze at a worn-down building that houses textile shops in the old quarter of the Indian capital.:: June 13, 2024It took some 250 firefighters to douse the flames.Summer is a particularly busy time for the Delhi Fire Services.But firefighter Indervir Singh can't recall responding to as many fires as this year. :: Indervir Singh, Delhi Fire Services firefighter“In my 32-year-long career, this has been the hottest year and Delhi Fire Services have gotten the most fire calls this year. We get at least 200-250 calls daily."Temperatures in Delhi have hit record highs this year, with the mercury hitting nearly 120 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) on several occasions.Scientists say the heat is being worsened by human-driven climate change.Fire services data show there were more than 9,000 fire calls between April and June.That’s more than double from a year ago.And deaths more than tripled in that period, from 10 a year ago.Reuters spoke to more than a dozen firefighters and officers.Many describe working in "doubly" strenuous conditions of extreme heat and surging fires.Their shifts are 24 hours long, followed by a day of rest. Director of Delhi Fire Services Atul Garg says his men are stretched thin.:: Atul Garg, Delhi Fire Services Director"They are not able to sleep, they are not able to take rest, because our job is a physical job. This cannot be done by a robot or something. Man has to go inside and inhale the smoke and the heat and then you know, you get tired out. So the fire department is really stretched at this time.” Fire officers say electrical failures are responsible for nearly three-quarters of the blazes this summer.As Delhi sweats through one of its longest heat waves on record, demand for air cooling has surged.Round-the-clock use of power-intensive appliances like air conditioning puts severe strain on the city's old wiring.Fire officers say improper maintenance of cables and equipment can also lead to short circuits and start fires.Assistant Divisional Officer of Delhi Fire Services Somvir Singh.:: Somvir Singh, Assistant Divisional Officer, Delhi Fire Services“More than 70% of causes of fire are electrical origins only and in the electrical origins, we can say overloading, two is short-circuiting and third one is the overheating.”The fire service has proposed making it mandatory for commercial buildings to submit an annual fire audit.Officers say that will ensure businesses check if the wiring in their premises can cope with the higher loads.350 aspiring firefighters are undergoing training and will bolster all-male force by August. The service is also obtaining smaller vehicles to weave through congested roads, and buying technology for hard-to-access areas.

  • Delhi airport roof collapse leaves one person dead as heavy rains hit India capital

    Roof sheet and support beams collapse, damaging cars parked in pick-up and drop area, officials say

  • Who could replace Joe Biden? Here are six possibilities

    With Biden not yet officially endorsed as Democratic presidential candidate, it is in theory open to the party to choose another candidate

  • Victoria Beckham first slept with David ‘hours after meeting Prince Charles’

    ‘Thereafter, she said, Beckham was ‘a total animal’ in bed,’ the biography claims

  • How to Take the Bus From Singapore to Johor Bahru

    Craving some cheap and good makan on the weekends? It’s time to hop over the Causeway to Johor Bahru (JB). And the most convenient and cheapest way to do it... The post How to Take the Bus From Singapore to Johor Bahru appeared first on MoneySmart Blog.

  • ‘This wasn’t a debate, it was a medical emergency’: Our writers give their verdicts

    Follow the latest reaction in our live blog

  • China Finds Something Strange in Sample Retrieved From Moon

    Lunar Graphene Chinese scientists have made an unusual discovery while analyzing the sample Chang'e-5 collected from the Moon's surface in December 2020. They found naturally occurring "few-layer graphene" for the first time, as state-run news agency Global Times reports, which could have major implications for our plans to make use of local resources once on […]

  • Woman Devastated After She Sends Text to Father Who Died Months Earlier — and Gets Response: 'My Heart Dropped' (Exclusive)

    "My heart dropped when my message turned blue and delivered," Nilufar Nizam writes on TikTok

  • Indonesia detains 103 Taiwanese in a raid in Bali involving suspected cybercrime

    Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese people after a raid at a villa on the resort island of Bali, officials said Friday. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charged them with conducting cybercrime.

  • Three bodies found inside crater at summit of Mount Fuji

    Three bodies were found at the summit of Mount Fuji, Japan’s most famous mountain. One of the bodies had been brought down from the slopes but efforts to bring back the two other bodies were set to continue Friday or later, according to officials after a search was called off for Thursday because of forecasts for heavy rainfall.