June 23, 2009
An Energy Australia worker is in a critical condition after he was flung four
metres by an electric shock while performing routine maintenance on a
33,000 volt line.
The accident cut power to 33,000 homes and businesses for up to two-and-a-
half hours.
The 34-year-old electrical technician suffered the high-voltage electric shock
at a power station at Tomago, north of Newcastle in NSW, just before 9am
(AEST) on Tuesday.
He was taken to John Hunter Hospital conscious but in serious condition,
with 40 per cent burns to his head, face, neck and chest.
An ambulance spokesman said he was also suffering from amnesia when he
arrived.
On Tuesday afternoon the man was in a critical condition.
A spokeswoman for Energy Australia told AAP the incident was an accident.
"He was working on a busbar, which is a piece of equipment inside the
substation," she said.
John Kirby, WorkCover's spokesman, told AAP the incident occurred after
the man climbed up "a high voltage electrical structure at the electrical substation".
"Then he suffered a serious electric shock," he said. "He fell at least four metres."
WorkCover's investigation is continuing.
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