The case of 4 deaths in Nghe An: Serious violation of power grid safety corridor

Two days after a work accident in Ha Son commune (Quy Hop) killed four people and injured three others due to a 35KV electric current, Nghe An Provincial Police are still actively investigating and clarifying the cause.

On the morning of June 28, Nghe An Newspaper reporter had a direct interview with Mr. Bang Hong Hien - Deputy Director and spokesperson of Nghe An Electricity Company about the above accident.

Scene of a serious accident. Photo: HN

Very serious accident

At the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Bang Hong Hien - Deputy Director of Nghe An Electricity Company affirmed that the labor accident in Ha Son commune (Quy Hop) was very serious, showing that there were 4 deaths and 3 injuries.

“The official cause is awaiting the conclusion of the police, but the initial preliminary assessment of the electricity industry is due to a violation of the high-voltage grid safety corridor. Meanwhile, the group of people erecting poles to pull Viettel telecommunication cables violated the grid safety distance,” said Mr. Hien.

Explaining this issue, Mr. Hien said that according to Decree 14/2014 of the Government on the safety corridor of high voltage power grids, for a voltage of 35KV, the safe distance is 3m from the outermost wire on each side. In fact, the location of the buried telecommunication pole is less than 3m and thus violates the safety corridor of high voltage power grids.

According to regulations, the safe distance for 35KV high voltage is 1m. But in reality, during construction, from the violating location (top of the telecommunications pole - PV) to the power line was less than 1m, so the safe distance for high voltage was violated. "Inside the pole there is a steel frame, covered with a layer of concrete, so when exposed to high voltage current, it conducts electricity through the pole to the ground, causing the cable to break. People in Ha Son were shocked and died when they came into contact with the telecommunications pole," said Mr. Hien.

Determining the seriousness of the incident, the leaders of the Northern Power Corporation went directly to the scene to grasp, assess, and direct the damage recovery. On June 27, Nghe An Power Company promptly reported the accident to the Northern Power Corporation.

The location of the telecommunication pole is built in the safety protection corridor of the entire high-voltage power grid. Photo: NH

The report stated that the accident occurred at about column 13 to column 14 of the branch supplying power to the distribution substation of Massan Company Limited, on line 372 E15.3. “This is a branch invested by Massan Company Limited in 2016, and was later connected to the grid managed by Nghe An Electricity Company,” said Mr. Hien.

Not only that, the accident in Ha Son commune showed serious violations of labor safety during construction. The people directly erecting the telecommunication poles were all local people, and had not been trained or instructed in knowledge and skills on labor safety measures. The person who directly took these people to work was Mr. Truong Minh Tuan, who was only a commune land officer. These people were not even provided with labor safety equipment during the work process.

No notification to the electricity industry

According to the leader of Nghe An Electricity Company, for construction projects within the power grid safety corridor, the construction unit and local authorities should notify and seek opinions from the electricity industry. Regarding the construction of poles to pull telecommunication cables in Ha Son commune, the electricity industry has not received any notification from the construction unit or local authorities.

“Not to mention licensing, during the construction process, the construction unit or local authorities must notify the electricity industry to supervise the construction and provide electrical safety instructions. Large projects must sign a contract with the electricity industry. But here they did it on their own and left serious consequences. If there had been timely notification, supervision and guidance, things would have been different,” said Mr. Hien.

The power cable was broken after the discharge and burned the sugarcane bush. Photo: HN

In fact, the process of erecting poles to pull telecommunication cables had been carried out by a group of people in Ha Son commune for a long time, but the electricity sector did not detect it. Explaining this issue, Mr. Hien said that during the construction process, the electricity sector did not know and had not previously violated the grid safety corridor. “This is the location where the grid safety corridor was violated. But because they constructed too quickly, only digging a small hole to bury the telecommunication pole, it was very difficult to detect,” Mr. Hien affirmed.

According to the regulations of the electricity industry, the safety of the power grid will be checked periodically once a month during the day and once every 3 months at night. And the electricity industry also believes that it is not possible to check every day to detect incidents, abnormalities as well as violations of the safety corridor of the power grid.

Affirming that the electricity industry is also responsible for the above accident, Mr. Hien said that protecting the safety corridor of the power grid is a common task of the industries, local authorities, and people, not just the responsibility of each electricity industry.

The 35KV power line system was damaged after the accident. Photo: NH

“Currently, at all levels, a Steering Committee for the protection of power grid safety corridors has been established, and the electricity sector is only a member. Therefore, in addition to the responsibility of the electricity sector, local authorities must really pay attention, coordinate to inspect, prevent and handle violations of power grid safety corridors. The incident in Ha Son commune, if the local authorities had paid attention, the consequences would certainly not have happened,” Mr. Hien affirmed.

Mr. Hien also said that the next solution of the electricity industry is to analyze the incident, identify the cause, and learn from the accident. At the same time, continue to strengthen propaganda and recommendations on electrical safety among the people in all forms so that all people know and take effective precautions in the coming time, especially during the rainy and stormy season./.