GPL employee hospitalised after receiving electric shock

A contractor attached to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc is now hospitalised after the equipment he was using during an operation connected with a live power line.
The injured man has been identified as Michael Ifill.
According to a release from the power company, the incident occurred about 12:31h on Tuesday in Sophia, Greater Georgetown.
GPL revealed that work was being done in the vicinity of the L2 transmission line between the Old Sophia Substation and the Golden Grove Substation, when Ifill’s equipment came into contact with the live transmission line.
The contractor was rushed to Georgetown Public Hospital, for medical treatment.
“The management and staff of GPL are extremely saddened by this unfortunate incident and wish Mr Ifill a speedy recovery,” GPL said in the release.
According to the power company, the L2 Transmission Line was tripped, causing a sudden loss of power transfer from the Garden of Eden (GOE) power station to the Demerara Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS).
“During the time of the trip, the parallel 69kV transmission line (L4) which also stretches between our Sophia and Golden Grove Substations was undergoing scheduled maintenance and, therefore, was unable to substitute for the abrupt loss of the L2 transmission line”, the release stated.
Nevertheless, power was restored about 12:50h within Central Georgetown, while other areas in the city were repowered at 14:30h.
Back in March last year, a 21-year-old GPL contract worker was electrocuted while working at Section D Clonbrook, East Coast Demerara. It was reported that the worker was on a GPL utility pole doing ‘wire cleaning’ when he suddenly screamed. His colleagues then saw him dangling by his utility belt from the pole.
The young man suffered burns and was rushed to the Nabaclis Health Centre, where he was pronounced dead.