Electrical and Arc Flash Safety

The story says this worker was alive, burned but incoherent.  This is possibly a sign of an arc flash rather than a contact with a powerline.  Many companies and workers don’t really understand the hazards of working near electrical parts or powerlines.

The article calls this an electrocution (which is most commonly defined as fatal electrical contact).  This could be a high voltage shock OR an arc flash OR both.

OSHA and the NESC (National Electrical Safety Code) has specific distances which unqualified workers must maintain between their tools, bodies and trucks and powerlines.  This worker was not the electric utility worker but a communications worker.

Read the article from Lake Country Sun.