Worker killed in substation power flash

By ALISON HORWOOD

One man is dead and another is fighting for his life after being hit by an electrical flash at one of the country's main substations.

The men were working on 11,000-volt electrical switchgear at the Haywards substation, near Wellington, yesterday morning.

The dead man was aged 22 and had burns to more than 90 per cent of his body. His co-worker, aged 26, underwent three hours of surgery to remove dead skin and flesh from his body, which is 75 per cent burned. He was to be transferred to Waikato Hospital last night.

A third man who rushed to their aid and tried to tear off their burning overalls, was treated for minor burns and discharged. Two other employees were treated for shock.

The burned men were employees of Alstom, which is under contract to Transpower to install electrical switchgear at the Haywards substation.

The switchgear - which is about the size of a large filing cabinet - acts as a fuse: if there is a problem, it cuts the current.

The burned men were part of a team commissioned to connect the switchgear up to the system.

The Haywards Hill station enables power to be brought from the South Island to the North Island via the Cook Strait cable.

Transpower spokesman Chris Roberts said yesterday's accident happened with equipment that supplied electricity locally, not the main North Island supply.

The incident is being investigated by Transpower, Alstom and Occupation Health and Safety.

Alstom's Nancy McConnell said it was too early to tell what caused the accident, but said Alstom was doing everything to assist the victims, their families and their workmates.

Transpower spokesperson Chris Roberts said when the voltage was as high as 11,000 the electricity could "jump through the air".

It created an electrical flash which looked like a flame, or sparks.

In this case the flash it made contact with the workers.