Coming up on this week's news, City Electrical Factors has been fined £4 million after one of its employees was crushed under a shipment of switchgear. New rules open the door to cross-pavement EV charging this week, but can you really install it safely? And Octopus unveils a game-changing device which turns a heat pump into air-con.
Welcome to Electrical News Weekly. 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 this exclusive cap branded with friends of the show, Quickwire and Chumptools. And while you're there, click the link to our show notes to check out what our sponsors offer. And stay tuned to the end of the show to catch up on our regular features, including the weather from Fox ESS and the lighter side of the news with Quickwire.
City Electrical Factors has been fined £4 million after an employee sustained life-changing injuries when he was crushed by a shipment of switchgear.
The 40-year-old father of one was working for the wholesaler's Proteus Switchgear Industrial Division when the incident happened. The man had been acting as a spotter while a forklift truck loaded heavy switchgear equipment onto a flatbed lorry. The load, which weighed 231kg, was not secured to the forklift and fell on top of him.
He sustained brain and spine injuries and underwent lifesaving surgery. However, he can no longer do anything for himself and is unable to communicate with others. He now lives in a care home and requires 24/7 care.
A probe by the Health and Safety Executive found that City Electrical Factors failed to ensure that the lifting operation was properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe manner.
There was no risk assessment or lift plan, and employees had not been provided with instructions about the lifting operation, despite this being a regular activity. The investigation also found that the load could have been secured to the forklift using pre-existing anchor points.
The load also had lifting eyes welded to it, which meant that the crane attached to the delivery lorry could have been used as a safer alternative to the forklift truck. Instead, employees were appointed as spotters and were expected to steady the loads whilst they were being moved and lifted.
City Electrical Factors Limited pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Birmingham magistrates fined the company £4 million and ordered it to pay over £6,000 in costs.
HSE inspector Keeley Eves said the incident was completely avoidable and caused by a failure to properly plan for the job taking place.
In other news, EV charging without a driveway just got a whole lot easier this week.
New planning rules in England make it easier for electricians to install so-called cross-pavement gullies. These recesses allow the cable to reach the vehicle without causing a trip hazard. Kits are available from manufacturers such as Kerbo Charge, Gul-e and ACO Technologies.
But before you rush out to start quoting, there are some important conditions. The rules don't give householders the automatic right to dig up the pavement. You'll need clearance from the relevant highway authority, usually the local council. Local schemes and restrictions still apply, and some properties are excluded.
The charger itself must also meet the permitted-development conditions, and the cable must cross the footway through an authorised channel. For electricians, that means checking the local council's position before promising a customer that an installation is possible.
And as with any EV charging job, the usual electrical safety requirements still apply. Earthing arrangements, protective devices, circuit capacity and the manufacturer's installation instructions all need to be considered.
You should also check out the official guidance on the touch potential of EV chargers from the Highway Electrical Association. This recommends ways to cut the risk of electric shock from on-street charging.
The concern stems from the possibility of simultaneous contact between the body of an electric vehicle and another vehicle or street furniture, such as a metal lamp post or telecoms cabinet. Unless the two items are connected to the same distribution system, there is a danger, in a fault, of a high voltage difference between them.
Therefore, you should first aim to place all accessible conductive parts on a common earthing system so no voltage difference exists. This requires accurate information and coordination with your DNO. You also need to think about long-term maintenance to prevent divergence of earth systems in the future.
Second, you need to ensure that any potentially different earthing systems are beyond 2.5 metres to prevent simultaneous contact.
Third, consider insulation and other barriers. For instance, you could use non-conductive materials, coatings or enclosures to prevent contact with live metal parts. This is effective as a supplementary control, but it needs durability, inspection and maintenance to ensure it stays robust into the future.
Finally, consider protective devices such as Open PEN Conductor Detection Devices, or OPDDs. These can detect fault conditions and disconnect the supply automatically. But remember, they only mitigate specific faults.
In summary, no single solution is sufficient. The key is to do a risk assessment and then implement the right mix of measures. I'll put a link to the full guidance document in the show notes.
Meanwhile, the IET is asking electricians for their views on its new guidance on battery packs. The organisation has just published a draft of the fourth edition of the Code of Practice for Electrical Energy Storage Systems, and it wants your feedback.
The document tells you how to specify, design, install, commission, operate and maintain a battery system. It also incorporates the changes in Amendment 4 of the Wiring Regulations. You have until 9am on Monday 16 November to submit your comments. I've put the link in the show notes.
In product news, Octopus has unveiled a device which turns a heat pump into an air conditioner. The energy firm reckons it could be a big seller as householders begin to expect scorching summers.
The British-engineered add-on will retail at between £500 and £600, compared with £2,000 to £6,000 for a traditional air-con installation. It can be fitted without major building work.
Dubbed the Cosy Cooler, it's the size of a tall kitchen bin and plugs directly into radiator pipework to circulate chilled water through the home, with no need for an outdoor hose. The unit can cool single rooms or run up to two to three units at once across different rooms, depending on the model.
Cosy Cooler actively draws warm air from the room, removes the heat with a heat exchanger and blows the cooler air back into the space. The heat it removes is transferred through the heating pipework to the outdoor Cosy Heat Pump, which releases it outside.
This means it can actively cool a room without needing the exhaust duct, and the water in the pipes stays at a temperature that doesn't cause condensation or dripping radiators. The launch follows another scorchio British summer, with temperatures reaching over 38°C in August.
Still on products, ProofVision has expanded its range of electric toothbrush chargers. The TBCharge range sits tidily on the wall with no dangling cables.
The three new models are compatible with Philips Sonicare toothbrushes, opening up the range to users of both major toothbrush brands. The versions include a single charger, a dual charger and a combination of charger and shaver socket.
All three fit flush into a standard 47mm dual-gang back box, providing a hard-wired charging solution that eliminates countertop clutter and trailing cables. The Philips Sonicare-compatible models support most toothbrushes in the 1000 to 7000 Series.
Previously, the TBCharge range catered for Oral-B users, limiting its appeal to householders using other brands. All three models are IP44 rated for installation in bathroom zone two and operate from the mains. White is the standard finish, with optional brushed steel, polished steel and matte black faceplates.
We've made a full video on these bits of kit. You'll find a link to that in the show notes.
Now, experienced electricians, are you fed up with crawling around lofts and squeezing under floorboards? Why not get paid to share what you know? Enjoy more holidays, a better work-life balance and a great pension, all while inspiring the next generation of sparkies.
Colleges are crying out for people with on-the-tools know-how. Dovetail and Slate can help you make the move, find the right role and get set up with your teaching qualifications, and there are some seriously attractive benefits.
We're talking generous salaries, annual leave allowances of up to 55 days and employer pension contributions of up to 28%. Not bad, huh?
And don't worry if you've never stood in front of a classroom before. Many colleges welcome experienced electricians willing to work towards their teaching qualifications. If you're already teaching, Dovetail and Slate can help you find your next opportunity.
Whether you're looking for a fresh challenge, better benefits or a change of scenery, it's a chance to put your hard-earned knowledge to good use, enjoy a better work-life balance and help shape the future of our industry.
If you fancy a change, head to Dovetail and Slate to explore the opportunities available or get on a call with the team to get things moving.
Now, how about this for a bright idea? It's the Paul Russells Lamp of the Week.
This week, we've got a striking globe lamp in gold. They feature what's termed a squirrel-cage LED filament arrangement inside an amber glass. They have a warm colour appearance of 2200 Kelvin and give out 600 lumens for an input power of 7W. They have Edison Screw E27 bases and come in packs of three.
You can see the full range of lamps at paulrussells.com.
Still on illumination, my colleague Gordon has just dropped a CPD on sports lighting. It's the perfect primer on the subject. In his inimitable manner, he explains lux, uniformity, glare rating and the different flavours of illuminance. I've popped a link to that in the show notes.
And now to the lighter side of the electrical news. Yes, it's time for a tea break with Quickwire and its range of incredibly rapid electrical connectors.
Fancy turning your walls into a power station? An American start-up reckons the future of solar could be as simple as peeling off the backing and sticking it on.
Active Surfaces, a company spun out of MIT, is developing ultra-thin, flexible solar film that can be unrolled and attached to surfaces without the heavy glass panels, mounting brackets and roof rails that we're used to.
The secret is a material called perovskite, which absorbs light to generate electricity. The company says its film can produce as much power per square metre as conventional silicon cells while being much lighter and easier to install.
And that could be a big deal for electricians. Installation can account for up to half the cost of a traditional rooftop solar system, so anything that cuts out the heavy lifting and complicated mounting could make solar much cheaper to deploy.
The film is still being developed for large-scale production, so you can't quite pop down to the wholesalers for a roll of solar wallpaper just yet. But if the technology takes off, we could eventually be sticking solar onto roofs, walls and all sorts of surfaces that conventional panels can't easily reach.
Just imagine the next snagging list: "Customer reports solar panels coming unstuck."
That's the lighter side of the news in our tea break with Quickwire and their range of incredibly rapid electrical connectors. Click the link in the show notes to check them out for yourself.
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 partner. They're 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. Click the link in the show notes to find out more about this great brand.
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 midnight on the Wednesday after release will not be entered into the draw.
Now, let's reveal the winners of last week's challenge word competition. Last week's words were "liverwort" and "lavatory", and the first person to come out of our electronic hat was Elieals5380, who didn't quite land the spelling, but who am I to judge? So well done to you, Eli. Make sure you click the Get Involved link in the show notes to claim your prize.
The winner for this episode will be announced a week later than usual, as I'm recording episodes back to back to allow me a much-needed week off. You can tell it's much needed because, as a few eagle-eyed viewers pointed out, I actually selected a winner last week who didn't, in fact, get both words right. That's entirely my bad.
And so, to try and make it right, we'll honour the announced winner from last week and also select another winner who did get both right. That person is codenamenel. So make sure you also click the link in the show notes to claim your prize. My sincere apologies for that, folks.
And now it's time for this week's weather from Joe 3PO and Fox ESS.
First Storm Austen, then Storm Boelo. Two named storms bringing damaging winds, heavy rain and power cuts. But could this be a taste of what's coming this winter, or is there something calmer on the horizon?
Before the forecast, we're shining a light on this week's Fox ESS Premier Partner, Positive Energy Solutions. Based in Furness Vale in Derbyshire's High Peak, this family business designs and installs solar and battery systems for homes and businesses, including Fox ESS storage to help homeowners use more of the electricity their panels generate.
For this week's Solar Barometer, we're staying in the Peak District and heading to Main Road in Hathersage. With solar already getting planning approval there, there's potential for those rooftops to do more than keep the rain out.
But what do you think? With those high hills and the low autumn sun, would you consider solar here? Would the landscape put you off, or would you want to find out what your roof could generate across the whole year?
Right, on to Tuesday. It remains windy, with rain in northern areas at first. Brighter breaks should provide opportunities for solar generation, but expect output to fluctuate with the cloud.
Wednesday brings sunshine and showers, giving the panels useful windows to get to work. Any surplus captured in the battery can help carry that sunshine into the evening.
Heading through Thursday and Friday, things look quieter for many, although rain could reach the far northwest later on before edging eastwards and weakening. Higher pressure looks set to become more influential, but drier doesn't automatically mean sunnier. Britain does love a loophole.
Into the Halloween weekend, the outlook leans towards more settled conditions, although cloud and possible morning fog could hold back generation. Clearer nights could also bring some ground frost.
So, are Austen and Boelo setting the tone for winter? Well, two storms alone can't tell us that, but let's hope things settle for All Hallows' Eve, when I'm dressed up as a weatherman trying to look like I know what I'm talking about.
Thanks for that update, Joe. Thanks for listening to this episode of Electrical News Weekly. Until next time, have a great week. Stay safe out there.
