Finding into death of Ali El-Sayed
Deceased
Ali El-Sayed
Demographics
19y, male
Date of death
2019-01-15
Finding date
2023-12-12
Cause of death
Electrocution
AI-generated summary
Ali El-Sayed, a 19-year-old apprentice electrician, was electrocuted while connecting an air conditioning unit to power without isolating the electrical supply. He was directed by a non-qualified site manager (family member) to connect condensers following phone instructions, without adequate supervision. Clinical lessons: apprentices must never perform electrical work unsupervised; the foundational principle of 'never work live' and 'lock out tag out' must be enforced before any work commences; risk of liability when non-qualified supervisors direct apprentices to perform technical work. The legislative framework was subsequently amended to place onus on employers/supervisors to ensure proper supervision rather than on the apprentice.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Error types
Contributing factors
- Failure to isolate electrical power before commencing work
- Absence of supervision by qualified A-Grade electrician
- Apprentice directed to perform electrical work by non-qualified site manager
- Lack of adequate training in electrical safety principles
- Failure to use multimeter to test for live circuits before commencing work
- Air conditioning unit not fitted with safety switch
- Power circuits not isolated at switchboard
Coroner's recommendations
- Support for an increase to the penalty of Regulation 507 of the Energy Safe Regulations 2019
- Reiteration of the need to always provide effective supervision to apprentices and electrical workers
- Endorsement of Energy Safe Victoria's commitment and 2019 electrical apprentice safety campaign focusing on 'Never Work Live' principle
Full text
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