Firm WRONG To Fire Boozing Electrician

- Coming up on this week's news, is it ever okay to have a pint before working on electrical installations? A court rules that a firm was wrong to fire an electrician for drinking at lunchtime. Concern mounts over neutral faults as more and more electric cars plug in, and bring me a left-handed screwdriver and some fallopian tubes. Pranked apprentices laugh off their onsite windups. Welcome to Electrical News Weekly.

Whether you're listening in the van onsite or down at the wholesale counter, I'm Joe Robinson and I've been through the best of the electrical industry news to save you the trouble. And as always, if you think you've spotted the two words that I've been challenged to slip into this week's show, comment with them below for the chance to win a prize.

Drinking at lunchtime was once routine in the UK, according to our former Fleet Street scriptwriter anyway. In fact, on Fridays and paydays, it was almost expected that you join your workmates for a pint in the nearest pub. Times have changed and today it's frowned upon, especially for trades like ours, which deal with electricity or have to drive. But it seems that the memo hasn't reached Spain.

A court there has ruled that a contracting firm was wrong to fire an electrician who may have had more than three liters of beer in one day. It said the company had not proved that he was drunk or unable to do his job. According to his dismissal letter, the man and one of his colleagues had been observed stopping for a beverage at a bar at 8:27 in the morning. At lunchtime that day, the pair bought four cans of San Miguel and a liter bottle of Estrella.

The Spaniard had a couple more cans later before driving back to the company's base in Murcia to drop off the van. A fortnight later, he and two workmates were seen sharing a total of seven liters of beer between mid-morning and the end of their lunch break. Six days later, he was seen drinking a bottle of beer before lunch and three glasses of red wine during the meal. He finished with a shot of brandy. But the court there ruled that there were insufficient grounds for dismissal.

It said there was no evidence of inebriation. The judge said the work colleagues were also eating at the time and needed to take refreshments. The court also noted that the company had failed to take into account the effect the hot Murcian summer could have on the man's drinking. It said that the climactic conditions and the geographical habits in the region should have been carefully considered.

It has now ordered the contracting firm to either reinstate the (indistinct) spark or pay him a humongous compensation of 47,000 euros.

In other news, concern is mounting in the trade about neutral faults. There are fear that aging local networks can't cope with the rising continuous high-power devices, such as EV chargers and heat pumps. A neutral fault last month in Grimsby saw voltages in people's homes shooting up to 415 volts. Around 760 properties were affected. Light bulbs started popping in living rooms and TVs began smoking. The street lamps grew brighter and brighter until they, too, exploded.

Shocked residents took to the streets in their pajamas to find out what was happening. One local described the incident as carnage and said all her neighbor's electrical appliances were blown. A local family said their TV, washing machine and cooker were all destroyed. Northern Power Grid arrived on the scene and gave out food and warm drinks and provided mobile phone charging facilities. It's also supplied temporary heating for those people whose boilers were rendered useless.

The company is currently negotiating claims for compensation from the affected residents. Open protective earthed neutral, or a PEN, fault can happen when the neutral loses its connection to earth. If the three phase system then becomes unbalanced, voltages can go down on some phases and shoot up dangerously on others, as happened in Grimsby. Earthed rods are not required at every property, but they are recommended for TNCS supplies.

So should you install one, and would it have helped the situation in Grimsby? To learn more, check out my video on the topic. I've put a link in the show notes.

In product news, Marshall Tufflex has added adjustable bends to its Sterling Curve and Sterling Compact trunking range. If you've ever tried to place a right angle unit into either a new or a period building, you'll know that perfect 90-degree corners are not as common as they should be. These clever units are capable of accommodating corner variances from 85 up to 95 degrees, allowing you to have a super neat finish without gaps every time.

And for more information on the Sterling Curve range and to check out the free training package we've created to help you with your CPD on the subject of dado trunking, check out the link in the show notes.

A raft of new EV chargers have hit the market this week. The Zaptec Go has been specifically designed for the UK. It has that all-important PEN fault protection, as well as built-in DC leakage protection, and an IP rating of 54. The manufacturer says it's been designed to be super easy to install. Our very own Gordon has just tested that claim by putting a Zaptec Go into a farm in Yorkshire.

You can see how he got on in his video report, and we also featured the charger in our latest CPD on the Smart Charge Point regulations, which is launching very soon. Depending on when you're watching or listening to this, you'll find links to both in your show notes.

Vestel has unveiled its second own-brand charger of 2023. The EVC10 takes a three-phase feed and offers two sockets of 11 kilowatts each. The design also allows for chunky 22 kilowatt charging from a single outlet when used with a single vehicle of a compatible brand such as Renault. We reckon the EVC10 is a decent choice for businesses that need to charge multiple vehicles

in a short amount of time but are limited on charger points. The Pulsar Max from Wallbox also delivers 22 kilowatts of fast charging power. It, too, has integrated PEN fault protection and no earthing rod is required. This one was given to Gary for a bench test and install, and you can see how he got on in his video. There's a link in the show notes as usual. And because we didn't want him to feel left out, we've given Rick a newly launched laser etcher to play with.

The Auto Laser Master three is actually a bit special. You can use it to create custom cable identification labels, perfectly engraved sockets, and you can add your logo to your site gear, and almost everything else come to that. Even fish and chips apparently. So give Rick a watch. You know where the link is. And remember you can see lots more innovations at the InstallerSHOW in June.

Big brands at the event include Tesla, Easee, Knipex, Milwaukee, RIDGID and Ring. The eFIXX team will be there too. So if you see anyone in one of these cool red polo shirts, come and say hello. It takes place at the National Exhibition Center in Birmingham on the 27th, 28th, and 29th of June. We'll hope to see you there. And finally, have you ever been asked to buy tartan paint

or a replacement bubble for a spirit level, or to pop to the wholesalers for a long wait? Newly qualified electricians have been reminiscing this week about the prank requests that they got from mischievous colleagues when they started onsite as apprentices. In a Select podcast this week, one revealed that he was sent from a job to get some fallopian tubes.

Another had to try and find a left-handed screwdriver, and one even had to walk around with an invisible wheelbarrow full of electrical supplies for an imaginary video. The youngsters laugh off the practical jokes now, and they talk frankly about the ups and downs of getting to grips with the challenging discipline of electrical installation, and the companionship and fun that comes with it, too. Let us know your favorite dastardly wind-up in the comments below.

And just before we get to your favorite bit of the show where I reveal last week's challenge words and winners,

we want to thank our premium partners. We couldn't make the news without you.

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Big thanks to you all. We really appreciate your ongoing support for the news. If you think you know the words I've smuggled into this week's show, pop your guess into the comments and we'll dig out a goodie bag prize to the first to get the right answers. Last week's words were incognito and hummingbird, and the first person to get both rights was a viewer by the name Round Tuit, as in I'll do it when I get around to it.

While we can't provide you with one of those, we will be sending you a prize, so make sure you click the link in the show notes to claim it. Thanks for listening to this episode of Electrical News Weekly. Make sure you subscribe to receive the next update. Thanks for listening, and until next time, have a great week, stay safe out there, and remember, there's no such thing as a torque-calibrated arm.