Authorities are urging home handymen to call in experts rather than attempting DIY work, after the death yesterday of a 42-year-old who was working with wires under his house.
Trent Page, a carpenter by trade, was investigating a problem under his Chalmers St home in Avondale, West Auckland, when he was electrocuted about 10.15am.
His wife, Sue Page, heard a noise from beneath the house and found her husband not breathing.
Paramedics tried CPR for about 20 minutes after they had freed Mr Page from a crawlspace at the house.
Despite frantic attempts, they could not revive him.
Police and the Electrical Safety Organisation warned people not to mess with areas of their home with which they were not familiar.
"Whatever he was doing was wrong and he sadly paid the ultimate price," said president of the ESO, Michael Chopping.
Accident Compensation Corporation figures released last year showed the home was the most dangerous place to be, with DIY disasters killing nearly 600 people in the year to June, which was about 11 a week.
Nationally, 658,000 people suffered household injuries, which cost $641 million, an average of $975 each.
Mr Page's house had recently undergone renovations and the Department of Labour has launched an investigation into the wiring at the property.
After the accident yesterday, Vector linesmen had to isolate power to the property so police could examine the scene.
Mr Page's website, Page Renovations, advertises his services as a building renovator with decades of experience working with timber.
The company also offers garden renovations.
A friend of Mr Page, Natalie Perry, said as well as his building business, he had owned a Counties Manukau Ceroc dancing studio.
She described how Mr Page had been a dancer with Ceroc, a modern jive style, for several years and had only recently sold the business.
He had entered several dance competitions with his wife, whom he met through Ceroc, she said.
ACC figures show one person is injured around the home every 48 seconds.
Mr Chopping, said non-electricians were allowed to install new wiring but not connect the wiring to the electricity supply.
"They should get a registered electrician in to come and do the job for them.
"They're trained to isolate and make sure things are safe before they touch.
"[People are] not realising the very serious consequences if you're not competent in what you're doing.
The electricians have to go through safety training every two years to refresh their minds, to be careful about what they're doing."
The UK had banned people from doing their own electrical work, Mr Chopping said.
Senior Sergeant Shane Mulcahy told One News: "Normal common sense is that it needs to be done by a tradesman or a professional person.
"Get them to do it rather than trying to do it yourself."
In another suspected accident in the home, a 29-year-old man was in a stable condition in Waikato Hospital's intensive care unit yesterday after falling while pruning trees on Sunday afternoon.
He received serious head injuries when he fell 10m to the ground.
