Sobering realities

[DelightedInYahweh]

Our company got a call yesterday that our service was needed at a residence. The boss dispatched one of our guys to the home. When they arrived at the home there were five sheriff patrol cars in the drive. Our guy told them who he was and asked them what was going on. They said that a man had been electrocuted. Well, it did not fully register with him. He asked why everyone was here. They said sir, the man is dead. The boss was immediately dispatched to come to the home as well.

They were told he was working for a local cable company running RG under the house for a new cable service. When they found him he was laying over the freon lines. They began to investigate. First they found a panel mounted with a #6 running down to another panel that was just dangling by the #6. Inside the panel there was no ground, bus or anything. They then went over to the A/C unit. When they opened it up they found that one leg was on the load connection. The other leg was connected to the neutral bus.

When the thermostat kicked the unit on the entire casing and lines became energized. This man was simply doing his job, and now he is dead. I want to be angry, and I know mistakes happen even to the best of us, but good grief. The unit was an old unit and had been put in before the current owners had the home, so of course there is not much information on who or why??!!??

You just never know. We have a safety meeting tomorrow. I was told they took pictures of the work. If I can get them emailed to me, I'll try and post them.

 

[renosteinke]

There have been several such accounts- someone in a crawl space encounters a duct or a pipe and is electrocuted.

Likewise, we have all seen many instances of improper work, 'clever' work, and worn-out, falling apart work.

Sometimes it's ignorance. Or, 'economy.' Or, arrogance ("it works, don't it?"). Even, sometimes, "I'll show that copper thief."

While I regret the guy died .... what can you do? It's just like when you're driving down the road - it's probably best to assume that everyone else is going to deliberately try to hit you.

I look forward to seeing some pics.

 

[celtic]

When I worked on the RR, one of the foreman had to go ID a body in a manhole
.....he needed to confirm to the PD that it was not an employee.

 

[DelightedInYahweh]

Here are the photos of the different panels. The one I took of the two panels connected by the cable only was a bit blurred so I did not upload it. But you can see the bottom of the top panel in the first photo with the cable coming from the bottom.
This is the panel the circuit is derived from.
The ground bar does not even have a connection to the lug and it is all isolated from the panel

I am sure you all have this picture well figured out.

 

[the blur]

it's amazing the a/c even ran on 120 volts. which if it didn't, they would have called an a/c company, who would have called an electrician.

I'm sure there's more to that story.

 

[DelightedInYahweh]

That air conditioner has been running for six years now. The owners are in their 80's. The husband made the comment that he remembered a time or two when he was trimming that he got a little shock when he inadvertently touched the unit, but did not pay an mind to it.

 

[DelightedInYahweh]

P.S. It was not running on 120 volts. It was running on 240.

 

[Strathead]

It usually takes a confluence of minor issues to result in a major accident or death. I was recently involved in a fatal road accident that I was one of those issues that contributed, but, had any other issue not happened to create the situation, I would never have known the magnitude of my mistake. Now, every dented fender I see, reminds me that, but for luck, another person could be dead or badly injured.

I say all of this to remind us all that the NEC generally tries to make us safe from a single problem. Two problems combined is when life is potentially threatened. If we install something wrong, we have probably taken away 50% of the inherent safety and one unlucky moment WILL result in death. Don't accept substandard work!

 

[DelightedInYahweh]

It usually takes a confluence of minor issues to result in a major accident or death. I was recently involved in a fatal road accident that I was one of those issues that contributed, but, had any other issue not happened to create the situation, I would never have known the magnitude of my mistake. Now, every dented fender I see, reminds me that, but for luck, another person could be dead or badly injured.

I say all of this to remind us all that the NEC generally tries to make us safe from a single problem. Two problems combined is when life is potentially threatened. If we install something wrong, we have probably taken away 50% of the inherent safety and one unlucky moment WILL result in death. Don't accept substandard work!

Thank you Strathead. Well said, and much needed continual reminders.

 

[Besoeker]

I've posted this before but it probably bears repeating if it serves to underline the need to take safe working seriously.

We make variable speed drive systems. Sometimes we have a common DC bus with an auxiliary AC supply for controls.
There is a warning label on every panel and in the O&M manuals to remove all supplies prior to working on the equipment.
In a paper mill one panel had a fuse failure and the electrical engineer got in a hurry - production would have been on his back - and he didn't isolate the DC. It was about 700Vdc.
As he was changing the fuse, his spanner (wrench) touched ground - and evaporated. He suffered very severe burns and was off work for months.
The panel, which we continued to maintain, had the scars. Holes in it and bits of the poor guy's skin etched into the paint.
Because it was geographically where I'm from, I used to do the maintenance myself. Chance to visit relatives.
But the scars on that panel remained a salutary reminder of just how dangerous the stuff we routinely work with can be.

 

[dpeter]

That just makes my heart ache. Most of my work involves motor control and HVAC and most of it is 480vac but nothing puts me on higher alert than trouble shooting rentals. I find work like that all to often, most recently 120volts on cable sheild. Traced it down to an outlet that had the nuetral jumped to the ground to fool the old plug in tester so many HI use AND the polarity was reversed making the case of anything with a ground pin hot. Told the landlord we should check them all and he said he would have his guy look it over. Just impossible to know all the ways people can ruin your day with good intentions or carelesness.