Electrical and Arc Flash Safety » Arc Flash/Shock Safety

Electric Co-op Safety Article

Hugh Hoagland — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:56:27 +0000

This is a great article highlighting the importance of safety in an entire organization.

Good quotes:

“The absence of injuries does not mean the presence of safety. You can have an organization with no injuries that’s very unsafe—and extremely lucky.”

“The goal in my mind should always be zero (injury and incident rate). We may never get there, but if the goal is not zero, what message are we communicating? That it’s OK to have accidents? It’s OK to have injuries? I don’t think that’s what we want.”

“A strong safety culture is one where people think not only is it a responsibility for me to speak up, it’s required of me to speak up, and I expect the same from you, my co-worker.”

“We make sure our employees understand they’re our most valuable asset, and we want a world class safety program to make sure they go home every day in the same condition they went to work in.”

“The vast majority of our injuries are caused by the tiny personal decisions employees make each day: to walk across the bad spot in the parking lot, or the weed-covered area, rather than recognizing the hazard and avoiding it. Personal decisions are formed by the corporate culture that we’ve created and allowed at Dakota Electric.”

“Collectively we’ve been recognizing and celebrating our entire group of employees when we meet our safety goal each year. What we’ve been missing is recognizing them on a more individual level when they do something right about safety, and our ACT (Achieving Cultural Transformation) process provides us with that mechanism.”

“Getting to zero can be a long process. But when does it start? Whom does it start with? Somebody has to make that commitment and that’s why we’re pushing so hard, first with the CEOs.”

Click here to read the ECT.coop article dated 4/23/12.

Pacific Gas & Electric Develops Remote Racking System

Hugh Hoagland — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:56:43 +0000

To prevent workers from being in the direct blast zone, a new racking device was developed by PG&E to remotely roll in/rack-out the high voltage circuit breakers from outside of the building. PG&E developed the safety improvement in order to prevent injury and eliminate the safety hazard.

Click here to read the article and watch the video from PG&E dated 4/16/12.

Electrician Listed as 1 of 10 Deadlist Jobs in RI

Hugh Hoagland — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:19:15 +0000

According to statistics from the Division of Worker’s Compensation of the State Department of Labor and Training, Rhode Island electricians suffered 3 deaths and 2207 injuries during the 10 year period of 2001-2010. Rhode Island’s Committee on Occupational Safety and Health indicates that the most common cause of workplace injuries and fatalities is failure to recognize hazards involved; second most common scenario for serious injuries are workplaces where employees are aware of the hazards, but are effectively powerless to say or do anything about it.

Click here to read the article dated 3/23/12.

Article by GE Energy/Canada on Arc Flash Hazard

Hugh Hoagland — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:52:42 +0000

Read this article on reducing exposure in LV Distribution Systems as written by Maurice M’Mello, PE-Systems Engineer of GE Energy / Industrial Solutions / Canada.

Article conclusion: “….arc flash hazard analysis now tells us that the setting of protective devices on this basis could be detrimental to operational and maintenance personnel if an arcing fault occurs when the electrical equipment is worked on in the energized state. We must take into account the thermal limits of the human body (onset of second degree burns at 1.2cal/cm2 when selecting protective devices and their settings. Arc flash hazards are an extremely important consideration when designing electrical distribution systems.”

Click here to read the article distributed 4/5/12.

Medical Report of Electric Shock Injury Results

Hugh Hoagland — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:42:15 +0000

A study was performed utilizing a combination of imaging techniques and chemical analysis to assess damage to tissues from electrical shock. The studies showed an interesting, albeit complex, picture of electrical injury, where several pathological events occur contemporaneously.

Click here to read the results of the study published on the website of SPIE (International Society for Optics and Photonics) on 4/5/12.

Electrical Safety Training: Testing for Absence of Voltage by Jim White

Hugh Hoagland — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 21:10:43 +0000

Training for electrical safety. Article on use of voltage testers for testing absence of voltage.

Click here to read Jim White’s excellent article on Voltage Testers and Testing for Absence of Voltage.

Shocked Employee’s Contractor & Managing Director Fined in England

Hugh Hoagland — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 18:01:42 +0000

Attempting to repair an external flood light, a worker was shocked, burned, and suffered memory loss after touching a live junctionn box. The contractor and managing director of the firm hired to perform the work were fined for not having protected the worker’s health and safety.

Click here to read the article from 3/9/12.

OSHA Increases Inspections of Wind Turbines in 2012

Hugh Hoagland — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:59:47 +0000

In 2012, OSHA will be targeting the wind-energy industry with one of its National Emphasis Programs (NEP) due to several arc-flash events associated with wind turbines. OSHA reports 32 arc-flash accident investigations that occurred in 2009 at wind farms.

Click here to read the article dated 3/13/12.

OSHA Proposes $174K Fine for OH Welding Wire & Ground Power Equipment Company

Hugh Hoagland — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:11:59 +0000

Hobart Brothers Co. of Troy, OH, was cited with 55 safety & health violations, with proposed penalities of $174K. OSHA focused on this company due to higher-than-average injury and illness rates. Included in the serious safety violations were failures to isolate energy sources, provide lockout/tagout procedures for the energy sources of equipment, train workers on hazardous energy sources, and provide appropriate PPE for employees performing energized electrical work.

Click here to read the OSHA News Release dated 3/5/12.

Warning: Counterfeit UL Mark on Electrical Outlet Boxes

Hugh Hoagland — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:09:27 +0000

Outlet boxes with the product name listed below have not been UL tested for safety, and subsequently it is not known if they comply with UL’s safety requirements. UL is notifying electricians that these boxes bear a counterfiet UL Mark.

Click here to read this Public Notice dated 2/28/12.

Name of Product:	Metallic Outlet Box Cat. Nos. 52151-3/4VT,
	72171-3/4VT and TB-135GGarvin Industries52151-3/4-VT or72171-3/4-VT orTB-135G