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Friday, 31 October 2008

Danger of Electrocution at BMX Track




I witnessed to day a real danger of electrocution at the skate park. The BMX club along with the council are running a live domestic cable all the way from the trailer to the start gate of the BMX track. Health and Safety can get silly at times but this a real danger. It was a wet day which made it more dangerous as the area was wet so any problems with the cable and there could be a leakage into the wet area.
There should be a trip at the end so if there is a problem it will cut off before anyone is killed. Secondly the cable to be used must be tested by an electrician and be certified as safe. Thirdly you cant have a live cable trailed over a public path were its not only a trip hazard but a real danger as if you do trip you could pull on the cable and expose the plug to surrounding metal.
Fourthly if you are going to trail this cable in public it must be armoured and protected. I witnessed the staff plugging in all sort of odds and sods of wire not I feel sure tested and to make things worse it connected to equipment that touches the metal rail which means any faults and the rail becomes live.
What made the matter worse was the staff attitude I asked about the cable and told is was caring air which clearly wasn’t truth they then back tracked and claimed the council had risk assessed the cable and the situation. I feel that would be a lie or they should go back and do the assessment again. The council staff then threatened me for taking pictures but as I had taken none of any children that didn’t work.

1 comment:

  1. Odds & sods actually connect to a seperate battery pack with no plug on it & very very low voltage as well. An extension cable with one plug & all the appropriate trips in place is all you have shown - all the other wires are for the battery pack. Point taken on the trip hazard & thanks for highlighting the fact, it may get sorted now ;)

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