Sunday 7 March 2010

Cleaning bat faeces turns to electrical shock on Cairns beaches

An exposed 440 volt cable was contacted by an local Ergon customer on Saturday, hospitalising a Northern Beaches woman.

The woman was washing bat faeces off her wall at her Squeaky Close, Kewarra Beach address, when the property's pillar box came into contact with a live exposed cable that had worn through.
Ergon Energy was notified and made repairs on Saturday.

A pillar box is where the underground mains cables terminate from the street power supply and feed to the property boundary. These are usually identified as a small protruding green or beige coloured box. The Kewarra Beach incident had exposed cables that had melted through the box.

The ETU has been campaigning for an increase maintenance inspections carried out by Ergon, and has pointed the blame at the State Government.

"They're not doing the correct inspection process," Stuart Traill of the Electrical Trades Union says. "This incident on the Northern Beaches is just one small step away a strong electrical shock to an electrocution."

Traill says these kinds of failures are all about cost cutting, from Ergon and the Queensland State Government. He says that there was a three-yearly maintenance and infrastructure check in Far North Queensland, two years shorter than elsewhere in the State due to the harsher climate that is experienced in the North.

"Ergon have told us they don't have the same level of defects coming through from the inspection cycle as they had previously, but because the network is in such a poor state in the past, of course you're going to have less defects coming through."

"If you're only going to inspect them every four years instead of every three, that's what we're saying, these [power pole] cross arms are breaking, things are falling apart even with that extra year between inspections," Stuart Traill says.

"People are going to be killed in this level of infrastructure inspection continues," Traill told CairnsBlog.

The Kewarra Beach resident was discharged from hospital on Saturday evening.

7 comments:

Jenelle Dillon (via Facebook) said...

That is shocking!!!

sickoflabor said...

Would not you think with enemployement at record levels in cairns jim "I,m looking into it mumbles scooter turncoat turnitup "turnour or wettennoballs or deslsey "I talk like a bloke" boyle or "find me a union quick"o,brien or "I got dropped into daddys seat and no one noticed parachute pitt" would be leading this campaign or at least helping stuey traill keep these jobs in the area ?
What the hell do these waste of space people do ?

Neil Smallcombe said...

They all are the human equivelants of stunned mullets. Like lambs to the slaughter, they are being led by Rudd the Dudd and Cpt.Sly. What a pathetic usless mob, like tits on a bull they are there for decorative purposes only.
And to top it off, can you believe that Jason 'Red Wine' O'Brien is Speaker of the Queensland Parliament for this weeks sittings. A man of inpeccable reputation and humility. Knows the laws of this state like no other.
The arrogance of a stale Government is visible to the naked eye, the stench is nauseating and yet the ALP dudes dont see it.
Two years of bloodbath to follow. This year the Dudd and his man in Canberra, Jimmy 'turn me on ' Turnour and next year Cpt Blight and her band of merrymakers!!

brad m said...

Why is it reported at 440 volts? It might reach close to that measured phase to phase but the lady was grounded so the voltage from which she received her shock was closer to 250 volts.

She is still one very lucky woman!

Rail Rager said...

Just wait and see what happens when Bligh and her buffoons privatise Ergon. Even less maintenance will be done, and consumers will pay more, as they do with every privatised public entity. Then again, Bligh and her sycophantic bunch of corrupt cronies may not be around in government for much longer.

The teacher said...

Sickoflabour, it's a pity the governments new education policy isn't retrospective, you might then learn how to construct a couple of sentences which make sense. Meanwhile, could you please ask a literate friend to proof read your posts, because it may just be possible that you have something interesting to contribute.

KitchenSlut said...

What another sanctimonious skoolmarm totalitarian teacher chastising sickoflabor for his grammar? I thought 'sickof' was surprisingly poetic and deserving of a wrap actually!?

I loved the beat and it was almost Shakespearean in content?! Great stuff!