- Coming up on this week's news, Openreach is fined over 1 million pounds after an electrical technician dies falling into a river in Wales, electricians are warned not to post pictures of their power tools on social media, and six people die from electrocution as they prepare for a wedding in Uganda. Welcome to Electrical News Weekly in association with Solar Trade Sales, your easy one-stop shop for all things solar. Whether you're listening in the van, onsite, or down at the wholesale counter, I'm Joe Robinson and I've been through the best of the electrical industry news to save you the trouble. And if you think you've spotted the two words that I've been challenged to slip into this week's show, comment with them below for the chance to win a prize. Openreach has been fined 1.34 million pounds after an electrical technician died whilst trying to repair a cable. Alun Owen from Bethesda was killed when he slipped and fell into the River Aber in Abergwyngregyn in October 2020. Staff from the company had been attempting to repair the telecoms cables, which ran across the river. At the time of the incident, there had been flooding in the area, which meant the water was much higher and faster than normal. Owen cross to an island in the middle of the waterway in order to try and throw a new cable across to the other side by taping it to a hammer and then throwing the hammer. Whilst attempting to cross the remaining section of the river, he slipped in a deep part and the force of the river swept him away. A probe by the health and safety executives said North Wales Police found that there was no safe system of work in place for work on or near water, nor had Owen and others working by the river received training, information, or instruction on safe working on or near water. Owen's family said that everyone loved Alun's friendly, loving, and selfless character. Openreach Limited pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act. The company was fined 1.34 million pounds and ordered to pay costs of 15,000 pounds at Llandudno Magistrates' Court. And once again, we here at eFIXX would like to extend our deepest condolences to the friends and family of Mr. Owen. That really is a very sad story. In Uganda, no fewer than six people have been killed in a mass electrocution during preparations for a wedding. The men were erecting a marquee in the central Mubende region, when the metal polo were holding came into contact with three-phase overhead power lines. The groom, Nelson Otamugaya, collapsed and was rushed to hospital but has survived. The Uganda Electricity Distribution Company has blamed the wedding organisers for the fatalities. It said that no event should take place under or near power lines. Police spokeswoman Racheal Kawala said that the force hadn't been informed of the ceremony. She also revealed that people in that area had illegal power connections, which she described as life-threatening. A joint police and electricity company investigation has been launched. Here in the UK, a car wash company in Devon has been fined 40,000 pounds for ignoring electrical safety risks. Best Car Wash Limited based on the Plymouth Road in Tavistock repeatedly failed to protect workers and members of the public from hazards. Health and safety executive investigators visited the car wash on multiple occasions between July 2021 and November 2022. They discovered that employees were washing cars outdoors using electrical appliances, such as pressure washers and vacuum cleaners. However, the company failed to ensure the installation of the appliances was safe. The inspectors issued five enforcement notices, but the tested and repaired installation was not put into place until April 2023. The HSE probe found the failure of Best Car Wash Limited to comply with the initial notice resulted in electrical safety risks to the vulnerable workers persisting for longer. The company did not provide representation at Plymouth Magistrates' Court, and was found guilty in its absence of breaching the Electricity at Work Regs and the Health and Safety at Work Act. It was fine 40,000 pounds and ordered to pay costs of 3000 pounds. In other news, electricians have been warned not to post pictures of their power tools on social media. Motoring insurance experts Quotezone say thieves are using the internet to target them for their valuable equipment. They say that four in five burglars use social media to find and select potential victims, making those posting online easy targets. Over 80% of UK contractors have been victims of tool theft, with the average claim costing over 5,000 pounds. It's estimated that over a 40 year working life, a trades person will lose an eye watering 10,000 pounds worth of tools. Advertising or posting business photos and information to social media sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter could entice criminals, Quotezone believes. Thieves use any information posted on social media or online to find out locations, equipment, and the levels of security around your valuables. They can also monitor posts for holiday photos to pounce when tradespeople are away from their vans and equipment for an easy target. Quotezone chief Greg Wilson says it's usually a requirement of insurance that you take good care of the insured items in question. Some insurers will feel that displaying items on social media is irresponsible and shows a lack of care, a cowabunga attitude, if you will, which could even render the insurance void. Separately, van owners are being warned about overloading their vehicles. That's because they could face a 300 pound fine and penalty points for exceeding the weight restrictions on their model. Hire company Lease Van says that under the Road Traffic Act of 1988, it's a serious offence to drive an overloaded van. As well as the fine and penalty points, drivers may also face serious consequences if an overloaded vehicle has put other road users at risk. The experts advise spreading loads evenly to keep the vehicle steady, making sure nothing like conduit can slide too far out of position. In product news, Wolseley has opened a special division to sell solar panels, batteries, and heat pumps. The renewables by Wolseley will feature kit from brands such as Panasonic, Valent, Mitsubishi, Samsung, Bosch, Ideal, Daikin and Grant. You can shop the range at some 400 Plumb Centres nationwide. The company says it's invested heavily in staff training, so that the branches can help with technical queries and quotations. A radical new design for street EV chargers has been unveiled by Gravity Technologies. These so-called charging trees feature a vertical design and a robotic arm. The articulated arm holds the cable above the street and pivots down when it's time to plug in. It doesn't matter which side of the vehicle houses the charging socket. Gravity says the fast charging units are particularly useful for curbside installation on public roads. The firm also points out that its charging trees can host other services, such as LED street lighting, public wifi, and 5G antennae. And speaking of electrical motors, last week's question of the week was taken from our free training package on motor controls from Crompton Controls and asked, "How many contactors will a Star Delta Starter typically feature?" The correct answer is of course three, and many of you got it right with 76% on YouTube giving us the correct answer, and 74% on LinkedIn getting it right too. There's much more material to dive into in that training package, so click the link in the show notes to refresh your understanding. In tool news, KNIPEX has unveiled a trio of new kit. First up is a cutter which has been designed to nibble at big cables. The StepCut XL cable shears uses so-called step-by-step cutting to minimise the effort required with large diameter stranded cables. It can cut solid copper and aluminium cables up to a cross section of 35 millimetres squared, and stranded cables up to 70 millimetres squared. Fine stranded cables can be cut up to a cross section of 120 millimetre squared. However, the unit is not suitable for steel reinforced cables, such as ACSR. The product launch also included a conduit cutter. It's a special mini version of its TubiX pipe cutter that's been designed for tight spaces. It cuts pipe with a diameter of up to 30 millimetres. The pocket sized tool is equipped with a quick lock, one hand quick fastening system, and can cut stainless steel. The final bit of kit from the KNIPEX table is a stripping knife. This features a practical ratchet function that the firm says makes work faster, safer, and more efficient. You can cut very hard cable sheaths with the blade while a guide shoe protects the conductor insulation under the sheath. It's designed to remove hard or tough plastic sheaths, for example, on underground or connection cables with a wall thickness of up to seven millimetres. The knife has three different cutting areas, one blade designed for a lengthwise cut by pushing, another for a lengthwise cut by pulling or ratcheting, and finally, one additional cutting edge, which enables easy penetration into the material during circumferential cutting. Before we go, a reminder that's more welcome than mozzarella on a pizza, the eFIXX Awards are now open for entries. Categories include EV Installer of the Year, Smart Home Installer of the Year, Renewables Installer of the Year, and Wholesaler of the Year. So make 2024 the year you get the recognition you deserve. You can check out the full list of categories on the website, which I've popped into the show notes. And finally, a reminder that we're in the market for your stories, your projects, and your recommendations, as we'd like to share them with the wider eFIXX community. In the month of June, we're focused on emergency lighting, power tools and training, so send us pictures of your vans or instals, or let us know if you've come across any new kit that's making your job easier. Now, just before we get to your favourite bit of the show where I reveal last week's challenge words and winners, we want to thank our premium partners. We couldn't make the news without you. First up, they're the brand that pride themselves on keeping people close to what's important with the world's most recognisable doorbell chime, it's Ring. Up next, for all your circuit protection needs, they're like having an Italian star striker in your Premiership team, it's Lewden Palazzoli. And if you want to pump up the jam and join the home heating revolution, then it's got to be heat pumps from Daikin. Now, if you want to get smart but don't know where to start, relax. Whether you need whole home entertainment, commercial grade infrastructure, or anything in between, Snap One offers countless solutions for connected homes and businesses. Are you looking for easy to instal modular lighting solutions and emergency lighting products designed by specialists in the industry? They're ready and waiting to light up your life, it's Kosnic. And with over 35 years of manufacturing and supplying components to the electrical industry, from connectors to terminal blocks, through glands and enclosures, you could say they're making all the right connections, it's Hylec-APL. The best thing to come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel, the home of EV-Ultra and other groundbreaking and quality products, it's Doncaster Cables. And if you want a lesson on how to reinvent a commodity product into a stylish but discreet feature, then look no further than D-line Trunking. If you want to get your cables organised and tidied away in any situation, they've got a solution. With an incredible range of equipment from EV charge points, through industrial sockets and switches, to kit for explosive areas, plus they supplied gear for a Campari factory, so they'll always have a place in my heart, it's SCAME. Big thanks to you all. We really appreciate your ongoing support for the news. If you think you know the words I've smuggled into this week's show, pop your guess into the comments. We'll take all the correct guesses and select one at random to be the winner of an eFIXX goodie bag prize. Answers submitted after about lunchtime on the Thursday after release will not be entered into the draw. Now let's reveal the winners of last week's challenge word competition. The words were crackerjack and howitzer, and we had a record breaking number of people get it right this time, and all of them came from YouTube. Don't forget to join in the fun on LinkedIn and Facebook, folks. You can guess over there as well. All correct guesses will go into that. Anyway, this week's winner is royw.1220. Great work, Roy. Make sure you click the link in the show notes to claim your prize. Thanks for listening to this episode of Electrical News Weekly in association with Solar Trade Sales, your easy one-stop shop for all things solar. Make sure you subscribe to receive the next update. Thanks for listening, and until next time, have a great week. Stay safe out there. And remember, there's no such thing as a torque calibrated arm.