Man who was electrocuted by a faulty shower points blame at his landlord

A man was hit with an electric shock when he used his new shower after waiting months for a new bathroom to be installed in his Rochdale home.

The Freehold estate tenant, who wanted to remain anonymous, was told back in March that work on his new bathroom was going to start. Fast forward two months and the work, which was supposed to take 18 days to finish, was complete and the tenant was happy with the work upon first glance.

That was until he decided to use the new shower and was jolted by a number of electric shocks.

He claimed the shower was not installed correctly and had a live electric current running through it. Because of his wet hands, he says it was impossible to switch off the shower unit due to the power of the electric current running through him.

He was only able to stop the shower by pulling the cord in the bathroom that switches the shower off from the mains. His landlord, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) has apologised for this incident and said they have made efforts to reconcile with the tenant.

 

 

“There were a few snags to be resolved but I was happy with the work done on the bathroom,” the Freehold Estate resident recalled. “After all that (time) you’re going to be grateful for something aren’t you.

“What saved me was that I didn’t get in the shower straight away. I was cleaning it, so I didn’t get straight in.

“It was something you just don’t expect. I thought it was static at first but then I realised it was far too strong for that.

“When it happened, I feared for my life. It was so painful.

“I could’ve been fully immersed in the water and if I was, it could’ve been fatal.”

After the incident he went to Rochdale Infirmary to get checked out where he was told he suffered nerve damage – which has made everyday tasks such as getting to work and doing the shopping much harder. He is currently in the process of getting an official diagnosis from specialists in neurology.

He has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it has been a challenge carrying out some activities at work as a result of his health struggles. It has also put a strain on his personal and social life as well as his mental health due to him not being able to get out as much and relying more heavily on loved ones.

RBH has apologised for the additional distress all these issues have caused him.

Siobhan McCoy, RBH director of property services, said: “We’re extremely sorry for the significant disruption suffered by our customer due to the delays in the installation of his new kitchen and bathroom. His experience was completely unacceptable, and we have apologised to him.

“Our contractor has also acknowledged this and apologised.”

As for the shower unit, RBH came into the house to take it apart and install a new one – which left the tenant without washing facilities for another couple of weeks. In total, the resident claimed it took over 100 days for the social housing landlord to complete the job from the start date of 11 March.

During that time the tenant claims he was never offered temporary accommodation by RBH, even when he was left going between his parents’ home and his partners – which he says led to strained relationships.

 

 

In the aftermath of the electric shock, the tenant said RBH did send round a representative who apologised for what happened and explained there was a manufacturing error with the shower unit. He also claimed that he was offered £150 in compensation by RBH.

The tenant believes this latest issue highlights that RBH have not learnt their lesson from the tragic case of Awaab Ishak. In December 2022, the social housing provider was put into special measures following an investigation into the death of the toddler.

Since then, they have been on a ‘significant journey’ to improve operational effectiveness and deal with a significant backlog of investment in existing homes.

“I would like RBH to treat their tenants better, especially after what happened with that young lad,” the tenant added. “I don’t think there has been an improvement at all.

“It just seems they are trying to just sweep this under the rug. No one at RBH has got back to me since (the meeting where they apologised).

“I am just exasperated by the whole situation.”

This issue has occurred on the same estate where two-year-old Awaab Ishak died due to mould exposure back in 2020. RBH says they have been working hard to change their culture and how they address complaints.

The social housing landlord has repeated its apologies when contacted for a response by the LDRS and has taken the tenant’s feedback on board with an aim to make sure these failures are not repeated in future for any tenant of theirs.

Siobhan McCoy, RBH director of property services, added: “The bathroom installation included the fitting of a new electric shower, and after this was completed the tenant experienced what we understand to be a mild electric shock when he touched the shower hose.

“This was reported to our contractor who investigated the cause of the problem and identified a very low voltage current, which was caused by an error by our contractor’s operative when installing the shower. We are very sorry for the additional distress that this has caused to our customer.

“We know that we have not got things right for the tenant and we reiterate our apology to him. Both RBH and our contractor will make sure that we use our customer’s feedback to make sure that we learn from these mistakes and make sure that they are not repeated for future customers.”

George Lythgoe, Local Democracy Reporter