Right then, i'm off to Wales in a couple of weeks and one of my biking buddies had a tap on his car (accident) and we were at a breakers yard trying to get a new one so the car was ok for the long journey to Wales.

Heres where I need some advice, without anyone taking the piss I was looking at a bumper for the car and just put my arm out to lean on the fence whilst considering wether or not to buy it when all of a sudden I was dropped to my knees like a lead balloon!

I was rolling around on the floor in absolute agony and couldn't breathe!
It took about 10 mins for me to even get my bearings, the paramedic was called and it was all very embarrassing but to be honest I absolutely s**t myself.

I had all the wires put on me and was given the all clear but it seriously upset me as it was obviously a bloody big voltage/amps that got me.

After getting checked out and to the nearest pub for a pint to calm me down we both couldn't help thinking that all this shouldn't have happened?

There was a tiny 2" by 4" sign approx 10ft high on the fence with yellow embossed letters on a yellow background saying "electric fence"

This was obviously not clear enough to me and the guy at the breakers yard found it all very funny and said "oh yeah it happens all the time to people"
I find this all very wrong as surely an electric fence is to keep burglars/tresspassers out and not a legitimate paying customer like me on a normal 9-5 working day, should it really of been switched on and live whilst members of the public are inside such as me??

Before we left we checked the whole site and neither of us found a single sign that said something to the effect that warned you of an electric fence.

Is anyone on here up on their health and safety and can they shed some light on this?

Please advise as it really did shit me up and I even nearly took my 4 year old daughter with me as I couldn't get a baby sitter until the last minute.

Health & Safety would have them shut down.
Ask the local council
It sounds like considerably more than the tickle you get from a cattle fence, so he's obviously doing something dodgy

They should report this themselves the Health & Safety Executive as a 'RIDDOR'. Of course, they won't so call them yourselves on 0845 345 0055. If this happened to someone with an existing heart condition it could kill them, please report it. I wouldn't be suprised if criminal charges were considered.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/index.htm

I thought if you'd been "electrocuted", you wouldn't be around to type this message.

In all seriousness though, sounds like overkill to me. Scrappies aren't normally the type of people I'd mess with though.

As above they should be reporting this and it could have been a lot worse.
A cattle fence is only ment to give the animmal a small shock so as to stop them from wanting to go through the fence yours doesn't sound like this at all.

Scrappies aren't normally the type of people I'd mess with though.

Out of intrest why?

Its not your average scrappie but a massive national breakers yard where all cat 1,2,3,4 write offs go to.
Iv'e touched a cattle fence before when I was a kid and trust me this knocked me off my feet to the point where I was wriggling around like when the US police shoot them electric guns at you!

So have you reported it?
Get e ref from hospital to verify

Well the paramedic gave me a special report which he said I need incase anything happens down the line which I know exactly what he meant.

Who do I report it to this late at night as I only got home about 30 mins ago?
Do I just ring in the morning? I rang the police and reported it but they werent very helpful 🙁

As mentioned previously a electric fence is just to shock animals – as far as i know you are not allowed to have them to provide security against burglars and so they should be a minimal level. As also mentioned if it was a kid, an elderly person or someone with an underlying condition, this could kill them or leave them with a long term issue.

Report it or it could be one of your friends or relatives next time.

You can get fences for security but you have to have signs ect there is no way an electric fence if its legal and installed correctly should knock you down it there to deliver a sudden slap like effect (best way of describing it) so you don't go near it again not to incapacitate you I would report it to H&s

Sounds to me like the **** has wired it to the mains. Wire him to the mains and see how he likes it.

Your symptoms sound similar to my partners when she was hit by lightning, which is well known to kill people!

Definitely call health and safety executive.

Well to make it more clear the 1st thing I felt was a pain like maybe a knife being thrust into my arm would feel like, not that its ever happened to me but you know what I mean, followed by my left arm and rib cage starting to spasm! like someone squeezing my arm really fast loads of times.
I fell to the floor in a split second it was mad, my mate next to me started to laugh as initially as all mates would he thought it was one of our normal gags or pratting about, but he quickly went into serious mode after he saw me on the floor like a beetle stuck on his back.

My arm felt red hot for ages and I couldn't clench my fist, and my breathing was immediately affected along with a racing heart rate.

I find it all very disturbing that they all found it funny apart from my mate, and I just can't stop thinking if my 4 year old girl would of been there!

Anyway going to ring h+s in the morning and see what they say as its very obvious that it isn't your average tingle intended for a sheep, fox etc.

Bugger! A farm spec electric fence can drop you but even so I would make a fuss.

mattsccm, I see what your saying mate but surely the fact that I was inside their premises at 4:30 in the afternoon buying something from them should mean that I should not be subjected to a massive electric shock like that signs or no signs I think its just wrong???
I would of thought that whilst the members of public are on site buying stuff and staff are there all day then there shouldn't be any requirement for an electric barrier? I would of thought it would be on a system where when its locked up and everyone goes home it is then set and switched on.

A farmers fence is different as foxs, sheep, dear etc are not being regulated the same as human beings due to the fact that an animal will be there at any random time and won't steal a car part!!!

"and I couldn't clench my fist, or my buttocks . . .

Ok joking aside, if I took my son somewhere like this and he got a shock, I would go mad. Report them for sure.

BillyWhizz, yeah no probs I expected a few gags mate 🙂
Seriously though I was doing my mate a favour as he is a teacher and is useless with car stuff bless him, I finished work at 3pm when the bell went and we both rushed off, I got a baby sitter at the last minute for my little girl but was going to take her, so glad I didn't!

Everyone has a duty of care to the visitors to their site.

A breach of duty of care is what must be proved in liability claims and it is a 4 stage thing. Forgivelapses in memory but it goes a lot like this:

1. There exists a duty of care
No probs here. He's running a business and inviting visitors.

2. There is a potential for injury to someone
= leccy fence

3. The person in charge knows about that potential
Tick. "This happens a lot"

4. Nothing, or not enough was done to mitigate the risk
Here, depending on when the signs went up, it's either nothing or not enough.

Good luck. Sounds like you have a good case for claiming damages for injury as a result of his failure of duty of care. Don't know whether a doctor or a lawyer would be better placed to assess how much damages your injuries are worth.

CAB will let you know how to find free legal advice/counsel.

>Sounds like you have a good case for claiming damages for injury as a result of his failure of duty of care.

Sounds a bit ambulance chaser like. At the end of the day the OP is OK so why does he need compensation ? Totally agree that the joker at the yard should be prosecuted for running a dangerous site though.

At the end of the day the OP is OK so why does he need compensation ?

Electrocution can have long term effects on the heart and brain…..

Sounds pretty high voltage to me.
When I moved into my housee I stupidly thought I'd check a bare wire to see if it was live…of course assuming that it wasn't!. Turns out it was live and got a good 240v jolt for my troubles but nothing as serious the OP has described. Although isnt it Amps that do the real damage??
Definitley report the guy anyway.

**** hell
This topic went straight through form H & S to sueing someone

Doesnt it make you proud to be British 😯

allthepies, not snapping at you mate but if a 4 year old girl or a 60 year old with a heart condition would of touched it and got what I did then i'm pretty sure they would have come off worse, i'm no wimp mate at 6ft 13 1/2 stone 30 years old and fit healthy and normally very active, if it dropped me like a sack of s**t then it has to be reported.

I'm not out to get a pile of cash but i'm genuinely hacked off that from the second I walked through the main gate to the point where I left I saw not 1 single sign saying "caution electric fence live within trading hours" or something to that effect.

I was buying something from them and I should not have been in any danger whatsoever and as far as i'm concerned compensation is deserved to people in my case who don't deserve to be electricuted whilst buying one of their products!
I work damn hard 6am till 3pm at a school not watching Jeremy Kyle all day so would like something done about this and if money falls on my lap as a result then so be it.

If I don't do something about it then some poor person is going to get it too!
I was horrified to hear the **** at the yard say "yeah only last week a delivery driver touched it and he was in lots of distress and went white as a sheet.

Perhaps you missed my last sentence.

Im disappointed that thoughts are now turning to money. Yes by all means report them for having dangerous leccy fence, but to say "if money falls on my lap as a result then so be it." is a bit rich.

I would definatly report.
Agree with the fact that there is potential for a civil case, although the decision is down to the OP..

How much do you think you'll get, will it be worth the effort is what I'd be thinking. And I've been electrocuted a lot more often than you 😉

You do have to report it though, because it's bloody dangerous.

and just put my arm out to lean on the fence whilst considering wether or not to buy it

You were going to buy the fence? 😯

Was it a bit like this?

You might want to Google Powerfence.

If I recall correctly the ones we use have some ridiculous voltage in the (50kV springs to mind) – but they're pulsed not 50 Hz ac so they don't affect your nervous system in quite the same way and they are limited to 5 joules so they would cook you.

Or in other words they are bloody unpleasant but they won't kill you – incapacitate briefly perhaps.

We have quite a lot of them in use these days.

If it is something like that and it is properly installed and signed the only thing the HSE might get interested in is why wasn't there a secondary fence to stop you touching it inadvertently – probably.

Didn't mean to move the conversation straight onto money, I was trying to set out the duty of care thing.

In saying that a doctor or a lawyer might tell you what damages might be set at, I was leaving the door open for them saying "you've had a bit of a shock, but largely OK, you might get X" and you deciding that X wasn't worth the hassle, and going straight to the HSE.

Either way, I hope you find a way to make sure this guy protects his visitors properly.

a doctor or a lawyer might tell you what damages might be set at

love the image of your GP giving a quote:

*sucking in of air over teeth* "Ffffft… well yer central nervous system has had it mate and they're not cheap new. I'll see what we've got out back, but it's still a big job so you're looking at £5000 for the labour alone. Recon you're better off just scrapping it."

Are you ok that is the important thing ???

Yes is the answer because you are chomping on about it on this forum

MTFU shake it off and be a man about it discuss about it with the owner of the yard and just get on with life HSE will fugg over folk who are trying to get on and make a living , life is hard enough at the moment without people trying to make a few quid

"if money falls on my lap as a result then so be it."

With that comment in my eyes you lost credability

RANT OVER.

in your original post you say there was a 2×4 sign waring of an electric fence then later on in the same post you clain there wasn't a single sign on the site???

make your mind up.

Electrocution can have long term effects on the heart and brain

Too right!

MTFU shake it off and be a man about it discuss about it with the owner of the yard and just get on with life HSE will fugg over folk who are trying to get on and make a living , life is hard enough at the moment without people trying to make a few quid

If this guy knows his fence is leaving people a gibbering wreck on the ground on a semi-regular basis then having a polite word with him isn't going to do much good. Plus it's a large company, not a small business so sue em, give the money to charity if conscience dictates. Making a living is one thing, doing it with a complete disregard to public safety just isn't **** good enough. There's no way a member of the public should be allowed within touching distance of something that can do that to you no matter how visible the signage is.

Dont **** with gypos mate, you'll regret it.

"Carnies. Circus Folk. Nomads, you know. Smell like cabbage. Small hands."

As an aside, I bet it was fookin hilarious for the people watching you 😛

I think of scrap yards as places that you're lucky to get out of in one piece. This is pure prejudice of course, I've never been to one. OK, being electrocuted sucks, but you weren't strangled by a man with extensive tattoos, bitten by mutants, crushed in some gigantic machine or savaged to death by vicious dobermanns. I reckon you got off lightly.

if you had taken the kid along.. we might have been reading about this on the national news. go back,grab him by the throat and buzz his head on the fence to see how HE likes it.

scream in his face with laughter "it happenss alllll the time!"