§ MR. TENNANTI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home. Department whether his attention has been called to the case of an accident in a transformer box at Chelmsford on Saturday last, by which Edward Fell, foreman of 1302 the outdoor works of the Chelmsford Electric Lighting Company was killed; whether it has yet been decided if transformer boxes are workshops within the meaning of the Factory and Workshops Acts; whether the test case suggested has been yet entered into; and, in view of the frequent fatalities arising from the generation and distribution of electricity at high pressure, what steps are intended to be taken to safeguard the lives of the operatives?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENTMy attention has been called to this case. The report which I have received appears to show that the deceased, a foreman, and an experienced workman, met his death in consequence of his own neglect of the regulations laid down by the company. The test case, to which the honourable Member refers, has been for some time in the hands of the Treasury Solicitor, and I am informed that it is being pressed forward. Until it is decided I cannot, I am afraid, take any action in this matter.