sacked for what i deemed as safe

[kung]

Hi again GWOD
I still stand by all code 1's have to be rectified or made safe before you leave the place of work ! 1st its the supervisor who done the periodic so his fault although as im sure you know never connect up something unless you know exactly what it is even if isolated as how did you do the dead/live tests ? the problem your going to face is although it was 100% his fault as you changed the CU thus altering the install the periodic will be overuled by your install ! thats what they will say in court as now you cant prove otherwise. was the install energized before you left ?

 

[Mark.W]

You have a good case mate, from what I can see you left the property safer than when you found it, because you had seperation of circuits (which is a reg by the way)

Did you actually isolate the circuit with an MCB lock or did you just flip the switch?

If you have the PIR which states that the heater was on a code 1 and can prove that the person who did the PIR left the heater energized, then you have proof that you left the property safer than when you found it. Just worried about how you isolated the circuit that's all..........

Good luck

 

[suburban]

got my court date through now any last minute advice ????????????

My advice (for what it's worth) would be to keep information as simple and to the point as it can be, and have any notes and evidence in an order that you can find details quickly, court hearings tend to given the minimum of time and the more organised you are the better. It may be useful to send a copy of any evidence to the court in advance so they can see your side of events before the hearing. Keep us posted on how you get on, and I hope it all goes well.

 

[kung]

Yes good luck Buddy just a quick thought have you spoke to the owner of the house this happend in ? as said you still left the install safer than it was before you arrived and nobody was hurt/injured or property damaged and the judges are not sparks so its half a dozen of one and 6 of the other.
Hope all goes well !
Good luck buddy !
Regards
Kung.

 

[gaffer]

Been watching this post for a while,whats the latest news GWOD,good I hope?

 

[Spudnik]

Now moved to off topic forum.

 

[ohmeelectrical]

Surely your employer could not put you on a job without test equipment - IMO that would contravene health and safety at work regs as you would not be able to prove dead or to test and verify the circuits for the PIR.
None of us are solicitors so make sure you check all advice with your representative. It may be worth contacting the companies regulatory body and ask them what they make of the situation.
Good luck!

 

[GWOD]

my company never provided us with locking off devices nor proving units as stated in electrical safty council which they are using as evidence against me
the mcb was left switched off as this was november and the circuit had been on prior to me attenting i took it that it must have been safe as it had been periodic inspected in october so nearly 4 weeks prior to me attending
so in case it was the tenants boiler i just left it swiched off as all electrical supervisors were in a meeting

i also have a statement from the tenant where this incident took place who confirms it was left safer when i left and was also very annoyed that her saftey had been comprimised as the periodic said it was a code 1 required urgent attention yet it was left switched on and she was not informed not to use it nor of its dangers

i have got 2 day in court booked for this case

 

[wurm]

tbf m8 it sounds as though the company is just trying to shaft you royally ...good luck with this hope it turns out favorably

 

[wattsup]

My bet is they will offer an out of court settlement on the day of hearing. I have had a very similar experience, I used a no win no fee solicitor. (about 6 years ago now) We turned down the out of court settlement and went the whole hog. I was awarded 3k and my solicitor took 20%.

I was worried at first, I expected all manor of high tech questions, there were none at all, just basic electrical safety.

The chairman (and his panel) will decide if it was fair and just to sack you, ie putting people or property in danger through negligence, you must emphasise you left the property safe, and your company did not issue test equipment blah blah blah.

I would be very surprised if you lost

Not sure if the same rules apply now, but winning is just the first hurdle, next they will decide on the amount of comp. this depends how long you were without work after being sacked. My mistake was getting another job within a month.

My case took 3-months to go to hearing, if I had still been out of work I would have got 10k (at the time the max limit was 12k) and is paid tax free, they got 30 days to pay me and paid me after 29 days.

But the chairman had a real go at them, and they got the headlines they didn't want in the local rag.

Its unfair really, especially when 'hurt feelings' can amount to 500k for saying 'nice -----'... but dangerous possibly life threating gets peanuts (it may have changed now)

The chairman is the only one qualified in law and rules on points of law only, the other two are just layman