coming up on this week's news an electrician who abused his position to put secret cameras  in customers homes is jailed a court slaps National Grid with a 3 million pound fine  after a man receives a 33,000 volt electric shock and can you put a distribution board on a ceiling  an Irish installation Sparks a lively debate 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 on site 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 a Scottish electrician who abused his position to put secret cameras in  his customers homes has been jailed for 2 years and 8 months James Denholm admitted a string of  offences which were carried out in Aberdeen he used his technical skills to hide tiny cameras  in people's bedrooms and bathrooms over a 10 year period the crimes only came to light after  one woman found a device hidden under her bed a search warrant was granted and it was then that  all the material began to be found by police one victim told BBC Scotland that what the Tradesman  had done to her and others was disgusting Denholm sat in the dock with his head in his hands as the  wrongdoing was detailed at Arbedeen Sheriff Court he admitted 15 offences involving 17 people at  various addresses between 2013 and 2023 prosecutor Allison McKenzie said that denim had exploited a  position of trust to gain access to his victims during an alarming pattern of behaviour she said  that he filmed several individuals during private moments in places where they should have felt safe  she hoped that the conviction would serve as a warning to others that the courts take crimes of  this nature extremely seriously still in the courts the National Grid has been fined more  than 3 million pounds after its failures led to a man receiving an electric shock of 33,000  volts the incident left far of two Justin Hollins with life-changing injuries Hollins was replacing  bolts on a pylon in Pontypridd in South Wales when he received the shock causing 40% Burns  to his body arms and legs he is set to remain a Burns patient for the rest of his life National  Grid electricity distribution South Wales PLC and four power limited both received fines in relation  to the incident which happened in December 2020 Cardiff Crown Court heard that Hollins  was wearing a climbing harness and left hanging on the pylon for some time before being rescued  by his colleagues an investigation by the health and safety executive found that four power limited  who are based at Iddenshall Hall Farm in Cheshire failed to properly plan and assess the risk had  this been done it would have identified that the arms of the pylon were too short to do the  work safely as it was impossible to maintain the specified safety distances to Industry standards  National Grid electricity distribution South Wales PLC based at Avonbank feeder Road Bristol  failed to ensure that the electricity was off in order to do this work safely on the pylon  four power limited pleaded guilty to breaching the health and safety at work act and were fined  £80,000 in ordered to pay costs of £14,000 P National Grid electricity distribution South  Wales PLC pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 14 of the electricity at work RS and were find £  3.2 million with 20,000 costs HSE inspector Rhys Hughes said that Hollins was lucky to be alive he  said what he found frustrating in incidents like these was that if a safe system of work had been  in place before the incident his injuries would have been prevented now solar and storage live  is just around the corner and we are going to be there on the 24th and 25th of September we'll be  joining ENW sponsors Sunsynk on their stand at the NEC in Birmingham and then on day three the  26th of September we'll be hanging out with VTAC on their stand if you'd like to come and say hello  then book your tickets now and we'll see you there there's a link as ever in the show notes in other  news the trade has been reacting this week to the publication of the report into the Grenfell fire  the blaze in a London Tower Block in 2017 led to the deaths of 72 residents the 1700 page document  into the tragedy says that the way Building Safety is managed in England and Wales is seriously  defective the electrical contractors Association claimed that a fire on the scale of GRL could  happen again as a result of building work being done by under-qualified workers the ECA said that  the most fundamental thing to Public Safety is the competency of installers but many people were  claiming to be competent electricians despite having trained in some cases for only a few  weeks the ECA said that now is the time to stop messing around with low levels of electrical and  fire safety competence ECA director Paul Reeves said it was high time to say a final goodbye to  so-called five-week wonders those who complete short courses May undertake work for which they  may be insufficiently qualified Reeves said that we need to avoid settling for lower competencies  which risks another major fire tragedy the ECA is now calling for accredited third-party  certification of all Enterprises and a requirement that all installers have level two or three off  qual regulated and competence-based qualifications it's also advocating for technical apprenticeships  for new entrance the industry should use the ECS card and electricians should embrace CPD learning  to stay up to date with the latest regs and other developments finally all installers should have  core knowledge of fire safety in buildings with standardised and mandatory training and  just circling back to CPDs to add a quick bit of mansplaining check out our free training packages  on the know how page of eFIXX.co.uk each one counts as an hour to your annual CPD requirement  and we're about to launch our 40th package new data out this week has crowned electricians  the fourth best paid trade in the UK with an average salary of £ 37,800 Tradefix direct  analysed salary data from recruitment agency indeed to reveal the highest paying trade jobs  in the UK however the amount Sparks earn varies enormously depending on where in the UK they're  located electricians have the highest earning potential in Westminster in London at over  £40,000 a year while the lowest earning potential is in Ripon in Yorkshire at just over £30,000 per  year the most lucrative trade of all is Carpenters who earn £ 44,82o on average a year it's followed  by gas engineers and scaffolders with average pay packets of £40,000 and £38,000 respectively the  least well paid is plasterers who earn just 27,000 well below the national average salary of £35,000  so now we know the next time you head out to the greasy spoon Cafeteria brekkies on the chippies a  reminder that Amendment four of the wiring Regs is currently out for consult you can give your  view on the changes to BS7671 until Sunday the 3rd of November 2024 a long time in the making  the revision is designed to match us with European standards it includes requirements for secondary  batteries and generating sets and it outlines the procedures for functional earthing and bonding  for computer systems and for the first time it includes a technology called power over ethernet  this is the use of data cables to deliver energy to low voltage devices such as LED lighting the  tech is set together this week with the news that wireless audio giant Sonos is making its debut  with a hardwired connection the era 100 pro wired platform uses a power over ethernet structure the  single ethernet cable delivers both power and top quality audio simplifying the installation  by removing the need for a separate electrical connection it's being made available to Sonos  Partners specialising in Professional installation I've popped the link to that in the show notes and  finally can you put a distribution board on the ceiling or more to the point should you have a  put a dis board on a ceiling an online debate has been sparked by an installation in Ireland it was  spotted in an Airbnb property by Charlie Street who was traveling around the Emerald Isle this  summer he promptly posted it to an electrician group on Facebook where opinion was divided on  the practice it appears to meet the accessibility requirements of the regulations but does that make  it legit let us know your view in the comments below and our usual 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 SE September we're focusing on Commercial Lighting tools  and workwear and of course the safe for September campaign send us pictures of your installs or let  us know if you've come across any new kit that's making your job easier or indeed safer 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 it's  the people who've created the Swiss army knife of solar inverters along with all weather batteries  very much the Boy Scouts of the solar industry it's Sunsynk up next they're resolving ventilation  problems one property at a time offering a simplistic ventilation design service and  high quality products made right here in the UK breathing fresh air into your home its envirovent  next 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 and do you want a no fuss lighting Solution that's  packed with value then try the ecolink range from signify combining value for money with  top end signify quality now a business that will literally bend over backwards to give you first  class service on the trade trade only supply of signal reception and distribution custom install  home automation and security products for all residential and Commercial projects it's Alltrade  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 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 that 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 there was a bit  of a change for last week as one of the words was actually a phrase now there were a lot of people  in the ballpark of getting it right but only a very few got the exact right combination the word  was gumdrops and the phrase was very demure very mindful if you have any objections about the use  of a phrase for the challenge word then please feel free to send us a complaint address your  correspondents to challenge words committee care of Ray Maloney head ENW script writer the smoking  room of some gentleman's club in Mayfair it'll get to them anyway the winner from the last episode  is Snailor Cactus so well done to you snail I guess make sure you click the get involved  Link in the show notes to claim your prize thanks for listening to this episode of electrical news  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