ENERGY Minister Mike Nahan has this week laid the blame on Western Power – at least partially – for an horrific electric shock incident which left a Mandurah boy fighting for his life.
In a report presented to Parliament on Wednesday, Mr Nahan said while it was not usual practice to release details of an electrical incident before the conclusion of an EnergySafety investigation, he felt the public, especially those directly affected by the emergency, deserved to know what happened.
On March 16, John Tonkin students Tariq Rowles and Chevaunne Bussola, were walking to school when they received electric shocks from a damaged streetlight on Education Drive in Greenfields.
Chevaunne was taken to Peel Health Campus and was treated for minor injuries, but Tariq was left in a critical condition and was rushed to Princess Margaret Hospital.
“Tariq and Chevaunne, and their family and friends, deserve to know what happened that morning in Greenfields,” Mr Nahan said.
“Western Power had briefed me on the key findings of its internal investigation.
“Having heard Western Power’s view, and without pre-empting EnergySafety’s findings, I drew the conclusion that Western Power is partially to responsible for the injuries sustained by Tariq and Chevaunne.”
Mr Nahan acknowledged the pole had been previously damaged in a car accident, and had been de-energised by Western Power.
However, he said at some point in the following weeks, it appeared to have been inadvertently reconnected.
“Western Power’s CEO, Paul Italiano, has expressed to me his deep regret and disappointment in Western Power’s contribution to the incident,” Mr Nahan said.
“He has assured me that Western Power is speaking with the families in relation to the findings of [the] investigation.”
Mandurah MLA David Templeman welcomed Mr Nahan’s transparency surrounding the matter and said he was pleased the victims were recovering well, but he expressed dissatisfaction with the handling of the incident by stakeholders at the time.
“I remain disappointed that both Western Power and the City of Mandurah, when the incident occurred, simply blamed each other rather than firstly expressing their concern for those affected,” he said.
“Both were reluctant to front the media after the event, despite numerous requests.”
Mr Templeman said questions remained regarding the incident.
“Why was the pole in question allowed to lie damaged for so long?
“What processes are in place or should be in place to ensure when a pole is damaged all relevant agencies respond immediately and the infrastructure is made safe?”
He said it was fortunate tragedy was avoided in this case, but reminded agencies that how they responded publicly was an important factor at such times.
According to Mr Nahan, the local incident was not one that was “widespread or systemic”, with just 900 out of 90,000 priority customers calls to Western Power in the past five years relating to emergency incidents and hazards and of these, only 391 shared similarities to the Greenfields incident.
Western Power is understood to have checked close to 400 sites in that time and concluded all were electrically safe.
“It is clear from this incident that the overlap between private networks and assets and those operated by Western Power needs careful management,” Mr Nahan said.
“In addition to the more than 240,000 streetlights maintained by Western Power, there are many privately owned streetlights connected to the Western Power network.
“I would like to remind everyone of the dangers posed by electricity networks, and encourage people to report faults to Western Power or , if applicable, other private owners.”
Western Power chief Paul Italiano said, “I, and everyone at Western Power, take the safety of the community and our employees very seriously, and we are disappointed in our role in the incident. As such, I am always concerned when people are involved in an incident like this, and I am relieved that Tariq Rowles and Chevaunne Bussola are both on their way to a full recovery.
“Western Power has completed its internal investigation into the events of 16 March in Greenfields. Western Power will shortly present a report to EnergySafety on the incident," he said.
“Unfortunately, on the evidence before us, it appears that one of the contributing factors to the incident was that a Western Power employee mistakenly re-energised the streetlights incorrectly, and that there were steps that Western Power could have taken to prevent the incident.
“Importantly, our investigation did not find a systemic failure, however, we have taken steps to immediately review processes and work practices.
“We have also examined similar cases of damaged streetlights in the past five years and confirmed that none pose a potential electrical safety issue.
“We are deeply concerned about what happened to Tariq and Chevaunne, and we will continue to work with EnergySafety as it finalises its investigation.”
