- Coming up on this week's news.
The electrician who's earning
a whopping 150,000 pounds a year,
but says it's stressing him out.
A court fines the electrical bunglers
who left the TV presenters home crackling with sparks,
and the knife-wielding tool thieves who will stop at nothing
to get into your van.
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
I've been challenged to slip into this week's show,
comment with the below for the chance to win a prize.
An electrician from Essex
who's earning 150,000 pounds a year,
says it comes at the expense of his mental health.
Danny Webb loves the job,
but says workloads are 100% too high at the moment.
These are having a negative impact
on his health and stress levels.
He believes men in jobs like this suffer
due to the conventional stereotype of the tradesmen,
management pressure, customer pressure,
the shortage of skilled people, hard physical graft
and unrealistic goals all add to the anxiety
of running an electrical installation business.
Webb was speaking out
as part of Mental Health Awareness Week.
A study by the trade directory, Checkatrade,
revealed that almost half of male construction workers
are concerned that their workload is too high.
Statistics from the report found
that the building sector will soon need
almost 1 million new recruits just to keep pace with demand.
Charity, Mates in Mind says that two thirds
of construction workers never discuss their mental health
and that men in the sector are three times more likely
to take their own life than the average.
Webb says another pressure is the fear of being replaced
if you talk about it as you are seen as being weak.
He would still recommend electrics as a career
and he uses his social media presence
to make being an electrician cool and be taken seriously.
If you or someone you know is suffering
with their mental health.
I've popped the link to the Mates in Mind website
in the show notes.
In other news, a TV presenter's home is left crackling
with sparks after a visit from bungling tradesmen.
Natalia Ferrara, a presenter
on the QVC Shopping Channel said she was frightened
by sparks from her hair dryer, a radiator,
and a dimmer switch after a visit from Sandica Limited.
The company run by a company director, Eduard Deli,
was called in to install lighting and replaced the fuse box
at the property in Ascot, Berkshire.
To Ms. Ferrara's surprise,
Deli didn't do the work on the day.
Instead, she said a man called Alex was left
to finish the job without supervision.
Alex had allegedly
only had a brief apprenticeship in Moldova.
Prosecuting, Edward Elton said that, "There was a failure
to ensure continuity of the earthing system.
There were parts of the installation
where the earthing could not have saved lives
as it was designed to do because it wasn't complete."
When interviewed about the offense,
Deli admitted he had no electrical training himself.
Instead, he relied on qualified electricians.
Though he admitted
the Moldovan worker was not NICEIC qualified,
the prosecutor said Deli and Sandica Limited admitted
one count of being a trader knowingly
or recklessly engaged in a commercial practice.
This contravened the requirements
for professional diligence under the Consumer Protection
from Unfair Trading Regulations of 2008.
Jordan Santos-Sindes, defending Deli,
said the married father of two
was his family's main source of income.
Reading Crown Court heard
that Deli's nephew had been recently killed serving
in the Ukrainian army.
"This had had a very detrimental effect
on Mr. Deli and his wife," said Santos-Sindes.
Judge Hassan Kahn described the works
as extremely shoddy and was especially critical
of the fact that it wasn't checked properly.
He ordered Deli to pay 1,500 pounds compensation,
4,000 pound costs, and a 2,000 pound fine.
Tool thieves have been busy again this week.
In Manchester, they attacked
an electrical contractor's van with a crowbar
and managed to make off with a complete set of tools
worth 2,000 pounds.
Dan Williams from Worcester had only parked his vehicle
for half an hour when a member of the public told him
that men were ripping his van apart.
It was only two weeks previously
that he reported his ladder stolen in Worcester.
He says friends in the trade have offered to lend him tools
so he can keep working.
Meanwhile in Scotland,
an electrician who challenged thieves trying to break
into his van was confronted with a six-inch knife
and they weren't offering to cut up his flapjack.
Stuart Colquhoun and his partner Kirsty were caring
for their new baby at their home in Livingston
when he heard a noise outside around midnight.
He discovered two mask men at the rear of the vehicle.
Colquhoun says the duo had an attitude
and just didn't seem to care.
When one of them pulled the blade,
he returned to the house and locked the door.
The police arrived 15 minutes later,
but by that point, the two mask men had fled empty-handed.
When he went to inspect his van,
he found a three-inch by three-inch hole had been cut
in the back door.
Colquhoun regards himself as one of the lucky ones,
but he says, "Getting threatened with a knife
when you have a family in the house isn't a great thing."
The police have put out an appeal for information.
If you're worried about tool theft
and you have an account
with independent electrical wholesalers
such as Devondale or Grant and Stone,
you can now get a discount
on a special alarm and insurance package.
It follows a deal between independent builders
merchant group and security firm, ARMD.
The offer includes a smart van alarm, a tracker,
and insurance to get you back
on the tools should the worst happen.
Now, you spoke and we listened.
This week, we're launching our brand new platform
for free training packages to help you with your CPD.
This option allows you to take a super flexible approach
to your online training.
You can do things like pause a course
and pick it up later, store, and access your results.
And best of all, you'll receive a PDF copy
of your completion certificate to print off
and proudly display to the world,
or at least to your family.
For our first educational series,
we flew to Dublin to work with ROBUS
at their excellent Visitor Experience Center.
All you need to do is click the link
in the notes to register,
then watch the video which explains lighting terms,
types of lighting and efficiency.
Then answer some multiple choice questions
and ta-da, you can bask in the warm glow
of self-improvement.
Again, the link to the CPD platform is in the show notes.
Please flood around it like a shoal of mackerel
and keep your eyes peeled
for future content dropping on that in the coming weeks.
You can also bask in the warm glow of F1 cars
at the British Grand Prix in July,
thanks to a special promotion by Marshall-Tufflex
at CEF Live.
CEF Live, the UK's biggest electrical event is returning
to the NEC Birmingham on the 8th and 9th of June
and Marshall-Tufflex will be there.
To enter, you'll need to visit the stand
and take on dart's professional, Mark Dudbridge,
in a special game of 301, 501.
Anyone who achieves the 301
before Mark gets 501 will be entered into a prize draw
to win the trip to the Grand Prix.
If you are at the stand on the Thursday
you'll also meet the eFIXX Team
who will be talking to contractors, sharing ideas,
and checking the latest innovations in cable management.
On display will be the company's van friendly,
2.4 meter lengths of conduit and mini trunking
the base or range of cable tray wire basket
the Bio series of antimicrobial trunking,
and a number of under floor
to desk cable management products.
If you'd prefer that new products come to you,
then keep an eye out for the Lewden Roadshow,
which starts its UK tour next month,
as well as showcasing the full Lewden product range.
There will be cool experiences such as augmented reality
and virtual showroom tours.
The van was really popular
when it was launched five years ago
and toured 275 wholesale branches.
Check out the dates on the Lewden website
and follow the firm on social media
with the #lovelewden.
And speaking of Lewden,
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.
First up, for all your circuit protection needs,
they're like having an Italian Star Stryker
in your Premiership team,
it's Lewden-Palazzoli.
And the best thing to come out of Yorkshire
since stainless steel, it's Doncaster Cables,
the home of EV-Ultra
and other groundbreaking and quality cables.
And one of the biggest lighting companies in the world
because their capital is always Dublin,
it's Irish lighting manufacturer, ROBUS,
home of great quality and innovative lighting products.
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 parakeet and hypnosis,
and the first person
to get both right was cumberland1234
Can you imagine the frustration
for that poor viewer putting in 1,233 attempts
at a username starting with cumberland
before they got one that was available.
Anyway, dear viewer, sue the irritation
by clicking the link in the show notes
and claim in your prize.
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.