Electrocution Fatality Investigation Reports

[joe tedesco]

NIOSH Safety and Health Topic:

Traumatic Occupational Injuries

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/injury/traumaelface.html

Question: How many of these persons were working alone or without any supervision or experience?

May they rest in peace! AMEN!

 

[iwire]

Question: How many of these persons were working alone or without any supervision or experience?

In 'our' recent case the person had 12,000+ hours of experience.

 

[celtic]

WOW!

I had no idea that there were so many fatalities per year.

Thanks Joe...that link is a real eye-opener.

 

[George Stolz]

In my state, it appears most of the fatalities involved accidental contact with HV lines (presumably overhead).

I wonder if they have ever considered insulated conductors to reduce injuries? Overheads are generally uninsulated, aren't they?

 

[mdshunk]

Overheads are generally uninsulated, aren't they?

No matter how they start out, they often end up uninsulated. Secondaries are insulated, primary is not. Due to the way work is performed and connections are made to primary, it will never be insulated. It would cause the whole utility industry to need retooling and retraining. Easier to train numbskulls to quit sticking aluminium ladders in primary.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

Another reason that the transmission lines won't be isulated is the fact that they often operate above 200?F.
Don

 

[joe tedesco]

Another accident!

Another accident!

From across the pond:

Electrician died from a 240-volt shock


AN ELECTRICIAN with more than 30 years of experience died from a 240-volt shock, an inquest heard.

David Allen was working in an office at RAF Alconbury when he was electrocuted.

Staff found the 58-year-old slumped on the floor with a cable in one hand and a pair of charred wire strippers in the other.

The air was heavy with a burning smell and when one of them kicked away the cable, the room was lit up by an arc of electricity.

Mr Allen, of Waterloo Close, Brampton, was working alone at the time of the incident in a warehouse office at the air base.

He was employed by the Ministry of Defence and was in the process of moving and re-installing a wall heater, the inquest at Shire Hall in Cambridge heard.

Karl Howes, an inspector from the Health and Safety Inspectorate, said Mr Allen had started the job during the morning of March 2 this year.
He had consulted his supervisor over what needed to be done and was then left to carry out the work.

After his lunch break, Mr Allen set about rewiring the wall heater, which was being moved to a different part of the office, when disaster struck.

Mr Howes said: "In the morning, Mr Allen had broken the circuit but he didn't test each power point. The power point he used in the afternoon primarily fed the office next door and was live. This arrangement of supplying two rooms is not atypical but it is used in domestic and business properties. It is standard practice to check each point before working on it."

The alarm was raised at 2.20 pm after a worker in the office next door looked through the glass and saw Mr Allen lying on the floor. Firefighters from a station within walking distance of the warehouse were soon on the scene and attempted to resuscitate Mr Allen. Paramedics were called but at 3.02 pm, he was declared dead.

A jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure.

 

[robbietan]

I have a former boss who was teaching electrical engineering subjects in college, worked as a substation engineer and has also worked overseas. Yet the guy got himself killed working alone rewiring his house (240V)!

I say treat all electricals as live and you live.

 

[Bob NH]

Does anyone know the details of the 24 year old who was recently electrocuted in Massachusetts in late October? I heard the radio report as I was leaving the state for a couple of weeks but have not been able to find any news relating the cause.