Electrician paralysed in workplace accident

An electrician was left paralysed because he did not have the proper safety tools or training, a court hears.

DUBAI // An electrician left paralysed by a workplace accident that threw him five metres into the air was not given enough tools, training or supervision, a court has heard.

M?F, 22, an Indian, was fixing an air-conditioning compressor in Al Qusais Industrial Area 5 on July 17, 2010, when an electric shock threw him into the air.

A colleague working with him at the time said they cut off the power to start working on the compressor about 9pm.

"I saw him suddenly get electrocuted and thrown in the air. Then he landed on the ground," testified the Bangladeshi mechanic J?S, 22.

Prosecutors said the electrician used his hand to measure the power of electricity in the cables, instead of a meter.

K?P, 25, a partner at the maintenance company that employed the electrician, was charged with negligence.

Prosecutors said he failed to provide the electrician with the tools or training to prevent the incident, and left him unsupervised.

The company partner, also from India, pleaded not guilty at the Dubai Misdemeanours Court. He said the company provided all workers with safety tools and required them to sign a receipt to prove it.

"On the day of the incident, the electrician was late for work so he headed to the air-conditioning's location straight from home without passing by the company, therefore he went without his safety tools," the partner said.

He said the company covered the expenses of the man's three-month hospital treatment, the cost of his wheelchair and paid him Dh35,000 in compensation.

A verdict is expected on May 23.