Reported substation explosion leaves Lordswood residents without power

What happened

Residents in Sandpiper Road, Lordswood, reported hearing a loud bang on a Sunday morning, which they said was an explosion at a nearby substation. The electricity supply to the area was lost, and residents were unsure of the cause until SSEN workers arrived. Two workers were at the substation and were reported to be unhurt, although one said his ears were hurt by the bang. A local resident said the fence and a shed at the back of the substation were blackened and the bottom of the shed was taken off its hinges. Power was restored later the same morning. The source does not state the cause of the explosion.

Contributing factors

The source does not state the cause of the explosion. Workers were working inside the substation to restore power when the event occurred.

Lessons learned

1. Workers attending a fault at energy infrastructure can be exposed to blast effects, so exclusion zones and hearing protection should be considered during fault restoration work.
2. Nearby residents need timely information about the cause and expected restoration time when a substation fails, to limit alarm during an outage.
3. Damage to ancillary structures such as fencing and sheds shows the reach of a substation failure, so site layout and clearance from neighbouring property should be reviewed.

More lessons on worker safety and safe systems of work, detection and monitoring, theft, arson and site security, from every incident on the register.

Source

dailyecho.co.uk