New conductor's function almost a disaster (4,5)
I believe the answer is:
near thing
'almost a disaster' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'new conductor's function' is the wordplay.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'conductor's function' becomes 'earthing' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'n'+'earthing'='NEAR THING'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for near thing that I've seen before include "Knife-edge event" , "Even the short-sighted could plainly see that" , "Narrow escape, missed by a small margin (4.5)" , "Almost a nasty incident" , "Something that barely avoids failure or disaster" .)