“Where is Enedis in this case ?”: after a discharge of 11,000 volts, he has both legs amputated

A sensitive case of an accident at work in court. Midi Libre – ALEXIS BETHUNE

Electrocuted, Hugo lost both his legs. The business leader in court.

In June 2022, two employees of a carpentry company finished building a pergola in Saint-Ambroix. The oldest member of the team passed an aluminum bar to Hugo, a young 19-year-old carpenter.

The aluminum piece is the wrong way around. Hugo handles it and it's a shock. A 20,000-volt medium-voltage line, which supplies the city, runs above the house. As he approached the metal bar, an electric arc occurred and literally struck Hugo down.

Both legs amputated

The electric shock is such that he loses consciousness. Transported to the burns unit in Montpellier, he will remain in an artificial coma for 10 days. His hands and arms are burned. His feet have melted and left a mark on the roof of the building. His legs are badly damaged. A double amputation at the knees is performed.

This Friday, the boss of the company where Hugo worked is summoned before the Alès criminal court. The company manager is accused of various breaches of safety and training obligations.

“Safety standards were not respected” states the prosecution

The representative of the public prosecutor, deputy prosecutor Quentin Larroque, believes that “The dramatic consequences of this accident are directly linked to the lack of knowledge of safety regulations. There was no declaration of work to Enedis. The distributor would have cut off the power or not, but would have produced safety instructions. Nothing was requested. There was no further specific training for the head of the company or employees on the subject of work located near high-voltage lines. I believe that the employer's fault is clear.”

Consequently, the public prosecutor is claiming 10,000 euros fine against the boss. “We sacrifice the health of employees on the hotel of profits. We have to go faster to collect faster. No, we do not get rich on the health of employees.”

“Where is Enedis in this matter ?” asks the defendant's lawyer

The defendant's lawyer, Mr. Olivier Sautel, protests: “We need to get away from this clichéd image: bosses aren't there to cause injuries to their employees. The head of a company doesn't hide behind a corporation as a legal entity. He chose the sole proprietorship. He is responsible. He knows it.”

The council is offensive: “It's easy to lecture, but let's talk about disabled access to the court. You can get to the ground floor, the first floor, but not the courtroom”? There are stairs… And it's the same at the Law School. There are gaps in this file. Why not open an investigation? ? Where is Enedis in this case? ? No one measured the distance between the house and the line. A medium or high voltage line. ? One time we're talking about 11,000 volts, another time 20,000. The cable is insulated or bare ? This has consequences for safety regulations ?"

The lawyer requests an acquittal.

The court does not grant it and sentences the head of the company to a fine of 5,000 €, half of which is suspended.

I subscribe to read the rest