B&M have been fined more than £1million after an electrician's body blew up to almost four times its normal size in a horrific industrial accident.
Shahenur Rahman was seriously injured in the incident on September 22 2018 at the discount retailer's UK headquarters in Speke, Liverpool, while working for Bolton-based firm Daker, reports the Echo.
He remained in a coma for two weeks and suffered electrical burns to 15 per cent of his body — including his arms, hands, thighs, legs and face — after he was struck by a "Catherine wheel of fire " while connecting a pair of generators, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
After being advised that maintenance work would be required on a voltage switchgear, B&M had hired the generators from supplier Aggreko in order to maintain the supply and "allow some core functions" to continue at the building .
Mr Rahman was working alongside Daker director David Moran and self-employed electrician Alan Haddock by the main switch panel in two areas of the site known as the "Vault" and the "Qube".
Upon arrival in the early morning, they discovered that cables intended for the Vault had instead been delivered to the Qube by Aggreko.
Craig Morris, prosecuting on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive, said that this "made what was already a tight timescale to work under even tighter".
Shortly before 8am, Mr Rahman was working alongside Daker director David Moran and self-employed electrician Alan Haddock by the main switch panel of the Vault. Mr Haddock described a "pressurised atmosphere due to a shortage of time".
He told investigators: "David said to Sham 'there's the neutral, that's the one we want - watch the one on the left-hand side because it's live'. Seconds after that, there was an explosion.
"I have never seen anything like it before. It looked like a Catherine wheel - there was a red electrical flame spiralling in the air."
Mr Rahman's clothes were set on fire, and his co-workers "rushed to his aid" and extinguished the flames. Believed to be aged in his 30s, he was rushed to Aintree Hospital and later transferred to Whiston Hospital.
He underwent skin grafts from his leg in order to fix facial scars, while his body was swollen to four times its usual size. His left hand was a risk of being lost, but doctors were able to save it.
Mr Rahman also suffered complications including septicaemia and pneumonia, and still requires two further operations as his fingers remain "curled up".
In a statement read out to the court on his behalf, he described suffering flashbacks to the blast whenever he hears loud bangs.
His statement added: "I do worry about the future as I know the pain will never go away and might get worse, and I might be unable to support my family. It's a feeling of helplessness."
The cause of the incident is believed to have been a spanner used by Mr Rahman coming into close proximity with the live equipment.
Mr Morris said site maintenance manager Jim Anders had been given the task of "overseeing a fairly complex and potentially dangerous project" despite having "no qualifications or experience in electrical work".
He detailed a "series of failings" by both B&M and Daker in the planning and execution of the job, saying of the retailer: "This was their site and as such they were in a position to control who undertook the work and to ensure that such work was properly managed, undertaken in an organised manner according to a safe system of work and in compliance with any site rules that they deemed appropriate.
"Unfortunately however, they failed at the very first hurdle by putting a man in charge of overseeing the work who, at his own admission, was wholly unqualified to fulfil such a role. It was a role he simply wasn't capable of fulfilling, and one that he should never have been asked to undertake by his employer.
B&M Retail Limited admitted two health and safety breaches, while Daker Limited pleaded guilty to one. Neither defendant has previous convictions for such matters.
The discounter was fined £1million and told to pay £4,978.30 in court costs plus a £170 victim surcharge.
Daker would have faced a £12,000 fine, but this was reduced to a "nominal" amount of £100 due to its "dire financial straits".
Sentencing, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: "Quite clearly, these were horrific injuries with pertinent consequences. Mr Moran effectively instructed Mr Rahman to continue working in close proximity to live equipment."
"This was a complex project that necessitated careful coordination. Unfortunately, the defendant had no real control of the project."
Both B&M and Daker were given 28 days to pay the sums imposed.
