Mum found dead With son aged 2 hugging body after being electrocuted by hedge trimmer

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Very very Sad. :_|

My Heart go goes out to her Sons. :(

 
Reading that article has made me angry.

Tragic it is and could have easily been prevented with a plugin RCD.

The fire brigade give out free smoke alarms

My local council gives out energy saving sockets that via your remote turns tv's etc off

so why cannot there be provision to give out free plug in RCD's

i bought one in SF for

 
very very sad indeed, goes to show that you shouldn't mess with things you don't understand. i just hope that others learn from this horrible lesson :(

 
a real tragedy....

i would go further and say the manufacturers should incorporate sealed rcd plugs into appliances made for outdoor work, with their clout and purchase power this would add at most a few

 
a real tragedy....i would go further and say the manufacturers should incorporate sealed rcd plugs into appliances made for outdoor work, with their clout and purchase power this would add at most a few
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I see in the latest SwitchedOn mag that the ESC are about to launch a five year RCD campaign called "Plug into Safety".

Campaign "toolkits" will soon be available from wholesalers, so watch out for these.

They're also looking for your horror stories to (potentially) include in the campaign.

Not before time if you ask me.

http://www.esc.org.uk/rcd

it's not live yet, but that's the link given in the article.

I did scan the article as a pdf, but cannot attach it here 'cos it's too big a file, so you'll have to pick up a copy with Prof Elec next time you're in your wholesalers.

 
I feel really sorry for the family,,

and I think that stories like this should get a lot more publicity (nationwide)..

do you think that the "botched repair" a widowmaker????

I also notice one of the last sentences about the ESC having a publicity drive about the benefits of RCDs.... I bet that we are the only ones who'll hear about it!! the website is rather poor IMO (esc.org.uk/rcd)

 
Tragic and preventable, how many years has it been a requirement to have sockets for use outdoors protected by RCD's? Thoughts go to the family relatives and friends of these people. Whilst also noting with respect that the actual tragedy was last year and this article relates to the inquest.

Doc H.

 
One has to question the design of such plug in cable joiners.

I'm willing to bet at some point the cable got severed by the hedge cutter itself, and someone did a DIY repair to re join it. I'll bet he was proud of the fact he "fixed" it himself. I'll bet he's not so proud now?

but seriously, the design of an in line joiner that has exposed pins on one side should be called into question. If as here, it's fitted the wrong way, you have live exposed parts. Surely a simple connector could be devised that has no exposed parts on either end (based on the design of shrouded test lead plugs for example?)

Another "accident waiting to happen" IMO is the humble BS and ES lamp holders. Both have exposed parts when the lamp is unplugged, just waiting to be touched. It really surprises me those have not been outlawed long ago and replaced with something with shrouded contacts, e.g a GU10 lamp holder design.

Perhaps it is time insurance companies start insisting on all household appliances being mandatory PAT tested as part of the conditions of home insurance. A PAT test would (should) have found and corrected this fault.

I'm not surprised this happened. I've seen enough wrongly fitted 13A plugs to know that a sizeable proportion of the general public simply do not know how to correctly and safely do ANYTHING to do with electrics.

 
Poor kids.

I do like Betty's idea of compulsory RCD's on outside equipment.

I think banning the 2 pin cable repair plugs is a good idea. My father was good at cutting the cable with the lawnmower and at one point we had three joins on the cable. IF you could have bought a rubber cable jointer that didn't unplug he would have done.

 
the BC lamp holders we use at work are made by ashley and isolate the pins when the lamp is removed, very very good idea.

 
Very sad. I read the article and ,as usual, the fault is not described very well, however I got the impression that the flex may have had a plug top with live pins on the wrong end of the flex.

I say this because I would imagine the trimmer is Class 2 .

A tragic situation.

 
Very sad. I read the article and ,as usual, the fault is not described very well, however I got the impression that the flex may have had a plug top with live pins on the wrong end of the flex.I say this because I would imagine the trimmer is Class 2 .

A tragic situation.
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I don't think that's the case, surely nobody is THAT stupid to put a 13A plug on the live end? (though I have to admit to using a double ended 13A plug lead to energise a ring main from a generator during a power cut in the past, having isolated at the DB first:coat)

My take was they has joined a broken flex with one of those in line plug together joiners, but had put the part with the PINS on the live end and the part with the sockets on the appliance.

But I guess we will never know the truth.

 
Reading that article has made me angry.Tragic it is and could have easily been prevented with a plugin RCD.

The fire brigade give out free smoke alarms

My local council gives out energy saving sockets that via your remote turns tv's etc off

so why cannot there be provision to give out free plug in RCD's

i bought one in SF for
Click to expand...
 
I don't think that's the case, surely nobody is THAT stupid to put a 13A plug on the live end? (though I have to admit to using a double ended 13A plug lead to energise a ring main from a generator during a power cut in the past, having isolated at the DB first:coat)My take was they has joined a broken flex with one of those in line plug together joiners, but had put the part with the PINS on the live end and the part with the sockets on the appliance.

But I guess we will never know the truth.
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Well I beg to differ.... I still have the phots somewhere, called to a fire station to undertake inspection for near miss investigation after one of the firefighters got a belt from a mains charger lead that had been repaired by a Mite contractor earlier in the day....

The contractor had wired a dura plug on to the lead but had the pins on the supply side of the lead.

Firefighter grabbed the plug and was sent across the appliance bay .... the rcd spur saved him.

 
I don't think that's the case, surely nobody is THAT stupid to put a 13A plug on the live end? (though I have to admit to using a double ended 13A plug lead to energise a ring main from a generator during a power cut in the past, having isolated at the DB first:coat)My take was they has joined a broken flex with one of those in line plug together joiners, but had put the part with the PINS on the live end and the part with the sockets on the appliance.

But I guess we will never know the truth.
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Yes that sounds more feasible , the Duraplug jobby fitted the wrong way round .

 
I don't think that's the case, surely nobody is THAT stupid to put a 13A plug on the live end?
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Another "oh yes they are" from me.

PIR on a commercial kitchen, heated trolleys, need to move them to clean, obviously.

The solution of the estate electrician?

13A metalclad socket on each trolley (there were three of them I think), then a fly lead for each, about 2m long with a 13A plug on each end!

Someone had obviously "found" the danger (I wonder how?) as each of the fly leads had a label stuck to it say "Plug into trolley FIRST!"

 

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