A 19-YEAR-OLD National Energy Skills Centre (NESC) pupil was electrocuted while working on a house in Fyzabad on Tuesday.

Joseph Gopaul Jnr was two weeks away from graduating with his welding certification and took the job to earn extra money.

His parents are calling for Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) officials to investigate how it happened.

The teenager, of Coora Branch Road, was pronounced dead by paramedics who responded to the call at Ramatally Park.

His father, Joseph Gopaul Snr, said yesterday when he saw his son's body at the worksite, there was no safety equipment.

The father, also a welder for the past 35 years, said: "I saw no scaffolding, nor ladders nor harnesses there, but there are supposed to be equipment in place. I am waiting on his boss to tell me what happened."

Mother Sharon Gopaul said her son was a final year pupil at NESC in Point Fortin and would occasionally take welding jobs to earn money.

The teenager recently took up employment with a Siparia contractor to work on a house which was being refurbished at Ramatally Park.

Gopaul Snr said he received a phone call around 2 p.m. and was told by one of his son's co-workers that his son fell from a roof.

The father said he left his job at Point Fortin and went to the worksite.

"I saw him flat on his back. His co-workers said he was welding a beam some ten or 15 feet high. The welding lead had a leak and it grounded off the beam and immediately Joseph got shocked and he fell."

Co-workers called Emergency Health Services and were told not to touch the teenager's body and that an ambulance had been dispatched.

Sharon Gopaul said the ambulance arrived almost two hours after the incident.

"When the paramedics came it was too late. They tried to resuscitate him, but they took so long to arrive. He was already dead."

The father said: "I want someone to give me answers. Where was the safety equipment?"

An autopsy is expected to be done today at the San Fernando Mortuary.

Constable Alexander of Fyzabad Police Station is investigating.