Maintenance electrician dies from burns received when electrical panel is shorted.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hoffman, Richard E. ; McCammon, Jane B. ; McKenzie, Lyle E.
• Corporate Authors:
  Colorado Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program (Colorado FACE) ; Colorado. Department of Public Health and Environment
• Description:
  A 38-year old employee of a process equipment manufacturer was severely burned while attempting to test an electrical power circuit. On the day of the incident the maintenance electrician was asked by a co-worker to determine why an 85 horsepower electric motor was not functioning. The deceased used a multi-meter rated at 600 volts to check out the power supply source to the motor. The motor was connected to the electrical circuit inside a 14,400 volt, 600 amp metal electrical switch box. When he attempted to check the fuse on this circuit an electrical arc ionized the air in the cabinet and a flash fire occurred. The injured worker was burned over 50% of his body and died 18 days later. The Colorado Department of Health (CDH) investigator concluded that to prevent future similar occurrences, employers should: 1. Ensure that high voltage electrical circuits are properly labeled. 2. Ensure that only qualified personnel are authorized to work on high voltage circuits. 3. Conduct a job-site survey on a regular basis to identify potential hazards, implement appropriate control measures, and provide subsequent training to employees that specifically addresses all identified hazards.
• Content Notes:
  Publication Date provided by FACE program
  
  not printed on the report.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Electric Injuries Electricity Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Electric-properties Electrical-burns Electrical-equipment Electrical-fields Electrical-hazards Electrical-industry Electrical-measurement-devices Electrical-properties Electrical-safety Electrical-transmission Electrical-workers Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 8 Personal-protection Protective-measures Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Training Traumatic-injuries Warning-signs Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices

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• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Electrocution
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE92CO039
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20028577
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2009-1080100
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 92CO039, 1992 Dec ; :1-4
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Performing Organization:
  Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  81 - Other Services (except Public Administration) - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1992/09/30
• End Date:
  1997/09/29
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:67cf8c5a07347c25b58e8c22875edd9c12641c44d86c77bf7fe45b1f05a61ccbb570c8130d314aa926a8fcf69b2c3c0217687809c0477e6883fcc1cf5b5679a3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166540/cdc_166540_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 13.69 KB ]