Two companies have been fined a total of more than £1 million after an employee’s eye was damaged by an explosion during construction works at an Oldham substation.

The incident, which took place in September 2019, saw the employee's retina damaged after a cable strike during works which were not ready to be started.

VolkerInfra Ltd, a high voltage cabling expert contractor, had been subcontracted by principal contractor Siemens Energy Ltd to carry out cabling works as part of a wider construction project at Whitegate Substation in Chadderton.

On September 17, 2019, an excavator driver, working on behalf of VolkerInfra Ltd, struck an existing live cable as he was was excavating phases for laying a 275kV cable and close by.

The striking of the live cable resulted in multiple explosions, causing blistering to the driver’s retina.

Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), it was found that the permit to dig had not been properly completed by Siemens Energy.

It was also found that neither Siemens Energy or VolkerInfra had checked the cable markings prior to the work beginning.

The existing live cable had not been adequately identified by the team working for VolkerInfra and so the surface markings for the cable location were incorrect by about 50cm.

It was also found that the monitoring and supervision of the works had not been adequate.

At Manchester Magistrates' Court, Siemens Energy Ltd, based in Newcastle, pleaded guilty to breaching the Construction Design and Management Regulations 2015 and was fined £900,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,327.52.

Meanwhile, Volkerinfra Ltd, based in Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty to breaches of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £180,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,430.72.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Rebecca Vaudrey said: "Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers in the safe system of working."