A recent incident in the north-east has underlined the significance of electrical courses, after a man suffered burns from an underground cable.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) chose to take social housing landlord Coast and Country Housing - the man's employer - to court for not carrying out a suitable assessment before asking the worker to plant trees in the area.

HSE inspector Laura Gifford suggested the incident could have been avoided altogether if the proper safety checks had been undertaken - procedures that may be touched upon during electrical courses.

"The dangers associated with underground services are well known and it should be assumed that they are present unless proved otherwise," said Ms Gifford.

Coast and Country Housing was ordered to pay more than