Rank: New forum user 
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Hi,
We had an incident with some building contractors before Christmas which I only picked up on once I got back from the Christmas break. It involved an 11Kv underground cable strike. No-one was hurt but it did cause a power outage at our local sites.
I see this as a cast iron reportable under RIDDOR (i.e. was there an explosion - yes, was there the potential to cause death - yes, in my view). However the building contractor takes a very different view in as much as they are saying there was no potential to cause death because the operator was in an insulated digger! They were working on a new building, responsible for managing the whole operation, did not report the incident to us (we only found out the next day when Western Power turned up to replace the cable). My question is this: should I now report this under RIDDOR as the building company certainly will not?
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Rank: Forum user
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Had one of these although the digger hit the ground about one foot above a very old corroded cable. The ground had been CAT scanned and holes dug to ascertain runs. Took out the local area's electricity supply for over 6 hours.
Rang the reporting line in Cardiff and they said it was not reportable.
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Rank: New forum user
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Many thanks MrsSheila. The problem I had with this one is that it was out for over 24 hrs!!
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Rank: Forum user
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Hi Marsh
If as you say power was lost for over 24 hours, then i would say that it is definitely reportable under RIDDOR.
According to the guidance on the HSE website:
Where the failure of an item of electrical equipment (including as a result of accidental damage) results in a fire or explosion, the failure is reportable as a dangerous occurrence if the equipment concerned is rendered unusable for over 24 hours, or if the occurrence was one with the potential to cause the death of any person. The incident is reportable even if the system in which the damaged equipment was installed is put back into service using new equipment within 24 hours. In such a case an assessment should be made of how long a repair to the damaged equipment would have taken had it been attempted.
Repair time does not include incidental time delays such as those associated with travelling to repair plant in remote locations, or with sourcing parts.
I would also say that you could report the incident, as you are the person in control of the premises and have just contracted workers to work on your premises?
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