A wind farm management services company has been fined £80,000 after a maintenance worker suffered life-changing injuries in an electrical flashover at a Highlands site.
Natural Power Services Limited had deployed the then 38-year-old employee to carry out maintenance in an electrical substation at the Tom Nan Clach Wind Farm near Inverness on 23 June 2020. The worker sustained severe injuries that have required multiple surgeries.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the flashover occurred after work deviated from the prepared switching programme. Maintenance was allowed to proceed on one of two electrical cabinets while the other remained live, leaving part of the system energised during the task.
HSE concluded that if the original switching programme prepared by Natural Power Services had been followed, the incident would not have happened. The regulator also found the company lacked a robust system to check or review switching programmes, ensure procedures were followed, or approve any changes once work was under way.
Natural Power Services Limited pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches and was fined £80,000 at Inverness Sheriff Court last week. Following the hearing, an HSE spokesperson described the incident as “wholly avoidable” and said a more rigorous process for checking and reviewing work would have been a reasonably practicable measure to control the risks from additional parallel activities affecting the planned switching programme.
