This is an older story but a good one to see when OSHA started working to enforce more on electrical safety surrounding arc flash.  Up until 2000, OSHA really only addressed arc flash in electric utilities.  The 1994 law 29 CFR 1910.269 came out then and OSHA really started focusing on arc flash in utilities.  [...]

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“Two NStar workers were hospitalized Friday morning after an overnight fire in a manhole at the corner of Summer and Otis Streets. Both men are at Mass General Hospital, but their conditions are not immediately known. NStar said the men were working in the manhole when an equipment failure sparked the fire. Both streets have been reopened.”

“OSHA identified additional safety and health hazards for Bullins employees, including improper anchorage points for the lifelines, an uninspected suspended scaffold, respirator protection deficiencies, overexposure to respirable dust, fumes and solvents, improper transfer of flammable liquids, smoking while mixing flammable liquids, electrical hazards and failing to appropriately monitor the inside of the water tank for oxygen-deficient atmospheres before workers entered it. Both employers also were cited for recordkeeping violations.”

“SAN DIEGO—The Navy says a 36-year-old sailor from San Diego was killed in an electrical accident aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.

In a statement released Saturday, the Navy says Electrician’s Mate Chief John G. Conyers suffered severe electrical shock while conducting routine work as the ship underwent repairs at North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego Bay.

Conyers was taken by ambulance to Sharp Coronado Hospital, where he was pronounced dead Friday afternoon.

The statement says Conyers was an 11-year Navy veteran and is survived by a wife and daughter.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation. “

Employee complaints prompted an OSHA inspection of this plant. Some were repeat citations. Two other facilities had been cited in 2009. Employee relations can affect safety and compliance and vice versa. Safety should be a team effort. Most companies we do electrical safety training in are wanting to do the right thing but not overdo. [...]

Sad another fatality which used to be common in the US. Grounding has almost totally eliminated these. The US OSHA 1910.269 legally required grounding in most medium voltage to high voltage applications or the worker must consider the conductors energized. Additionally arc rated clothing has been shown to save some shock victims. Ignition of clothing [...]

ConEd has an exceptional arc flash PPE program. Two injured. One critical according to one report but not critical according to a ConEd report. Most like a manhole arc flash. Standers-by might think the person in the hole was worse off than reality. Arc flashes have substantial smoke which looks like serious burns but often [...]

This 2003 article is free with registration to the British Medical Journal. Thought the Brits don’t recognize NFPA 70E they have pretty impeccable results with their methods for electrical safety including “safety by design”. They have required “touch safe” designs installed since 1991 for many applications which makes the average worker much safer from shocks. [...]

Good to see studies in Bulgaria of electrical fatalities. Not just of workers but most were workers and male. Click to see the study in an Internet Journal of Forensic urnal