30-Year-Old Electrician Electrocuted in Maryland: FACE 87-63

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  An electrician was electrocuted while installing new wiring when he accidentally contacted an energized conductor. He was employed by an electrical contracting firm utilizing 40 full time workers. A safety program was in place at the company and was administered on a routine basis. The victim and a coworker were relocating a conduit and wiring for a carbon-dioxide coolant system used in a refrigeration system. Before beginning work the victim and a building maintenance man went to the panel box area to disconnect power. Writing on the boxes was barely legible. While power to the controls and gauges was disconnected, power for the compressor motor was overlooked. After disconnecting the energized conductor from the compressor motor and taping the ends with electrical tape, the victim pushed a fish tape through the conduit till its end protruded. He then attached the conductor to the fish tape, pulling it back through until the energized wire protruded from the conduit. He then removed the electrical tape. The victim was holding the fish tape, grounded against the conduit, when he contacted energized wire and collapsed, breaking contact. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was begun in about 5 minutes by emergency medical services but was unsuccessful. It is recommended that adequate identification be provided at control panel boxes for disconnecting means and circuits, that standard operating procedures for circuit testing be reinforced, and that training in CPR be offered to employers and employees.
• Content Notes:
  Publication date provided by the authoring office. There is no publication date indicated on the resource.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Construction Industry Electric Injuries Electricity Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Construction-Search Electrical-hazards Electrical-workers FACE-87-63 OSHA Region 3 Safety-practices
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Construction ; Electrocution
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  NIOSH (In-House) ; Worker Deaths by Electrocution: NIOSH 2000-115 ; Worker Deaths by Electrocution: NIOSH 98-131
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFACE8763
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  3 pages
• Volume:
  1987
• Issue:
  63
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00177528
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB88-190293
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 87-63, 1987 Sep ; :1-4
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1987
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  23 - Construction - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1987/07/29
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3dcc233227f3037aebc41a8ed839d51c294cd3125571b5412db907ea5b104c41269653fdfae7ad65bf2f8fadfb7a74699179f18b99357ef551495a2bc528b806
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/164499/cdc_164499_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 223.86 KB ]