A court in Warrington, United Kingdom, sentenced a self-employed painter and decorator on 6 October 2026 to a 16-week suspended prison sentence following the death of his stepson and employee, a 24-year-old painting apprentice. The victim was electrocuted on 29 July 2024 while painting a house in Farndon, near Chester, when a ladder came into contact with an overhead power line. A colleague suffered severe burns in the same incident.
Incident
According to the UK regulator, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the victim and a colleague were working on the gable end of a house in Farndon, in the English county of Cheshire, on 29 July 2024. They needed to move a fully extended ladder along the side of the property. In doing so, the ladder either touched an overhead power line or came close enough to it to create an electric arc. The 24-year-old painting apprentice was fatally struck by the electric shock. His colleague suffered burns to his hands, feet and abdomen. The man convicted, the victim’s stepfather and employer, ran the painting business as a sole trader and was responsible for planning the work.
Findings
The HSE investigation found that the work at height had not been properly planned, supervised or carried out safely. The job had originally been planned to use a tower scaffold in combination with ladders, but in practice the entire project was carried out using ladders alone. The employer had approved that method of working; according to the regulator, it was unsuitable and unsafe. The risks of working near overhead power lines had not been adequately assessed or controlled. The regulator also found shortcomings in the training and competence of the workers carrying out the job. The convicted painter and decorator pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, the UK’s legislation governing work at height, which requires employers to ensure that work at height is properly planned, supervised and carried out safely — a duty that has a similar counterpart in the EU Use of Work Equipment Directive (2009/104/EC) and in comparable legislation in many other countries. The magistrates’ court in Warrington handed him a 16-week suspended prison sentence on 6 October 2026, with a 12-month probation period, plus costs of £10,645.
Recommendations
An HSE inspector involved in the investigation stressed after the verdict that the accident could and should have been prevented through proper planning and control measures. Employers, the regulator said, must ensure that suitable equipment is chosen, that risks are fully assessed, and that workers are properly trained and supervised before work at height begins. Under HSE guidance, when work near overhead power lines cannot be avoided, the risk must be removed or reduced — for example by isolating the power supply, using suitable equipment and maintaining a safe distance from the line. “The lives of these workers depend on those decisions,” the inspector said.
This article is based on the regulator’s press release; no separate technical investigation report has been published.
Context
Electrocution during work at height is not an unusual risk. Research by the US Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR), based on federal fatality data, shows that electrocution accounted for close to 9 percent of all fatal incidents in the construction sector on average between 2003 and 2015. Of fatal electrocutions involving electrical components in 2011-2015, 39 percent were attributable to power lines, transformers or inverters. Workers under 25 — the age group of the victim in this case — had the highest electrocution fatality rate of any age group: 1.2 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) accordingly lists electrocution among the four leading hazards on construction sites (the “Focus Four”), alongside falls from height, being struck by objects and being caught in or between equipment.
Source: HSE press release: painter and decorator sentenced after fatal electrocution of stepson on the job, 6 October 2026
Additional research: CPWR/CDC-NIOSH report on construction electrocutions (Quarterly Data Report: Electrocutions and Prevention in the Construction Industry)
