An electrician from the SNCB was electrocuted on Wednesday in the Forest maintenance station in Brussels while he was carrying out work on a train, the CGSP Cheminots de Bruxelles said in a statement.
The technician’s life is not in danger, the SNCB said, confirming the information to Belga. The man was rushed to the Joseph Bracops hospital in Anderlecht after “receiving a terrible shock”.
The accident occurred when the agent was deployed to “measure the electrical resistances of the railway equipment being overhauled in this workshop (Hall 5),” the CGSP said in its message.
“It was noted by the inspection of the Control of Welfare at Work that this electrocuted agent did not have the correct equipment to carry out his task of unloading the train’s electrical equipment,” the message read further, pointing out that the same labour inspectorate decided to immediately suspend all activity in the Forest Hall 5.
For its part, the SNCB was reassuring about the technician’s health. “Our colleague remained conscious throughout the accident but was taken to hospital, notably for burns to his hands. He has since returned home.”
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It also confirmed the suspension of activities, as well as the visit to the scene of the head of the workshop as well as the prevention service, assuring that “an analysis of the incident will be carried out, as well as a more global analysis of the safety of this type of activity”.
The SNCB does not, however, foresee any impact on traffic following this temporary suspension of work. “Cars that need to be overhauled for this type of maintenance will be taken to other workshops,” it concluded.
