NIE condemns upsurge in attacks on staff

Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) have appealed to elected representatives and community leaders to use their influence to halt attacks on its workers following an increase in the number of assaults on staff.

NIE said such assaults in parts of Belfast could lead to customers having to go without electricity supplies for extended periods of time.

The company also warned that the threat was heightened during brighter summer evenings when more vandalism occurs.

NIE Communications Manager Robin Greer said: “These deplorable attacks on workers trying to do their job means we are left with a choice between the safety of our staff, the safety of local residents or having to disconnect areas from the grid to ensure damaged cables are not left live.

“We cannot ask staff to stay at the scene of the fault if they are under threat. We despatch staff to all parts of Belfast 24-hours a day if customers’ electricity supplies are interrupted by faults or damage. They are there to restore people’s electricity supplies and if they are forced to leave a site then there is a risk that live cables or hazardous worksites will have to be left unattended, posing a risk to the local community.”

In recent months NIE staff restoring supplies following localised faults have been confronted by a gun-waving thug and pelted by concrete blocks, but even gangs of very young children throwing cans and stones can pose a threat to NIE staff working with cutting equipment and live electricity in cramped conditions.

As well as the personal risk to NIE workers and members of the community, NIE says it is angry that customers may be put to unnecessary inconvenience.

“At a time when NIE is successfully reducing the total level of faults, it is shameful that customers should be unnecessarily inconvenienced through vandalism and thuggery," Mr Greer said.

(MB)