An Australian man who was electrocuted at work is using his experience to spread an important message about safety in the workplace.

Anton Guinea narrowly escaped death when an industrial switchboard exploded, leaving him with second-degree burns to parts of his body.

Speaking with 6PR’s Steve Mills on Thursday he said complacency as a young 21-year-old electrical apprentice led to his electrocution, after he used an steal ruler inside the electrical switchboard.

“We do things that we probably know aren’t right, but we justify them to ourselves at work because it is going to save time, or it’s going to impress someone,” he said.

“It blew up the switchboard, it blew me up, blew off some of my face, blew off some of my hands and I had a day or two in intensive care to make sure I wasn’t burnt internally.”

He has spent the last 17 years educating people about workplace safety and hopes his story will help prevent workplace deaths.

“We think we are six-foot tall and bulletproof ,we think it’s not going to happen to us … and no matter what we do we can take risks, and we still go home at the end of the day.”

Last year 178 Australians died in workplace accidents.

“Most of those are preventable,” he said.

Pres PLAY to hear his story in full. 

(Photo: iStock by Getty Images.)