Employee Electrocuted While Dismantling a Metal Edged Box Resting on a Flexible Electrical Cord

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Massachusetts Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Project (Massachusetts FACE) ; Massachusetts. Department of Public Health. Occupational Health Surveillance Program
• Description:
  A 24 year old white male wind-up operator was electrocuted when the metal edge of a box he was dismantling severed the insulation on a flexible electrical cord. The box had apparently fallen off the fork lift and was propped on edge by the fork lift which was not operation at the time of the incident. He was breaking off bolts with a hammer and chisel
  
  the weight of the box and the force of the blows exposed the energized electrical wire. The company electrician measured 277 volts and .1 amps subsequent to the fatality. The employee had been breaking apart these metal framed wooden boxes because they were no longer needed by the company. He had been working for 11 hours and forty-five minutes when this fatality occurred. Massachusetts Department of Labor and Industries investigators concluded that, in order to prevent future similar occurrences, employers should: 1. Refrain from using flexible electrical cords as a substitute for fixed wiring. 2. Refrain from using flexible electrical cords where they may be subjected to damage. 3. Ensure that established safety procedures are followed at all times. 4. Discourage the practice of 12 hour work days to avoid employee fatigue. 5. Ensure that the company safety program is comprehensive and includes identification of common electrical hazards.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Electric Injuries Electricity Fatigue Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Electric-properties Electrical-hazards Electrical-safety Electrocutions Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 1 Protective-measures Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Safety-programs Traumatic-injuries 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/NIOSHSFACE91MA007
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  3 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20028369
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2013-101705
• 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 91MA007, 1991 Jul ; :1-3
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1991
• Performing Organization:
  Massachusetts Department of Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  31-33 - Manufacturing - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1992/09/30
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4fd80c56544b6eec06072672757d063968c9e340860a605a2b3f95833432951652fd73aeb73e805712157432fa00ae3c8b3a0072171d6168596f3da73c5b3a75
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166749/cdc_166749_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 44.16 KB ]