Electrical and Arc Flash Safety » Overhead line incidents

Two Workers Shocked in Friendswood, TX

Hugh Hoagland — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:10:38 +0000

A General Electric employee and a Centerpoint Energy employee were injured in a shock incident inside their work truck. There are rules in OSHA 1910.269 and the NESC about mobile equipment in proximity to power lines. Many different things can happen in the work place. Often we find human error is at play in these incidents. We hope these workers are OK.

Click here to read the examiner.com article.

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HECO Medium Voltage Shock Not Fatality. Arc Flash Clothing Helped?

Hugh Hoagland — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:30:48 +0000

One of the things I have pointed out for years but most folks still don’t understand is that shocks (especially high voltage or high amerage shocks) often include an electric arc element. In the old days, electrical contacts almost always had more burns associated with them than today (Not to minimize shock. It kills far more than arc flashes.). The reason was that often the clothing would ignite. This is called a “tracking arc”. Tracking of high voltage across the top of the skin or through the sweat in the skin often would cause ignition of clothing and subsequent burns. Now that arc rated clothing is more common, this is becoming less likely. Arc rated base layers make a huge difference in overall survival from electrical contact incidents. Pass the word on in your arc flash and electrical safety training. If you want the best arc flash training materials and electrical safety training materials check with e-Hazard.com. We are the only true Electrical Safety Train the Trainer company in the industry. You learn from experts, are supported by experts and can even have experts do your training, audits or arc flash studies. Click here to see our arc flash & electrical safety experts resumes.

HECO Medium Voltage Contact not Fatality. Did the Arc Rated Clothing Help?

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DOE Imposes $1.2 Million “reduction of fees” on Bechtel in Arc Flash Event at Oak Ridge Lab

Hugh Hoagland — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:39:46 +0000

DOE is one of the toughest on electrical safety. Bechtel has a good rep too. Shows improvements can happen anywhere and that programs can slip when training slips.

Click here to read the story about an arc flash in the Knoxville News Sentinel.

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Arc Flash Incident Rocky Mount, NC. Utility Contractor. Two Hospitalized. Right PPE.

Hugh Hoagland — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:15:39 +0000

According to the article this was probably an arc flash and they WERE wearing flame resistant (arc-rated) clothing. Most likely these folks will live will little long terms effects. When clothing doesn’t ignite workers are typically not hurt badly. The NESC and OSHA 1910.269 apply here so they should be wearing arc-rated clothing and the best practice is to wear enough to prevent most second degree burns. Sounds like a good quality electrical contractor in that they were wearing arc flash clothing and all the right PPE according to the report.

Click here to read the arc flash story in the Rocky Mount Telegram.

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Worker shocked in contact with powerline doing transfer in Topeka, KS area.

Hugh Hoagland — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:33:03 +0000

This incident is either a utility contractor or worker most likely. Breaking news but not clear if the worker was shocked by some backfeed source or an energized line. This type of work is covered under OSHA 1910.269 for law and the consensus standard is the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC).

Click here to read the story on a television news website in Topeka.

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One Worker Killed in Milford, CT. One in Hospital. Powerlines and Powerwashers Don’t Mix

Hugh Hoagland — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 20:43:23 +0000

This is a fairly common scene in spring and fall. Powerlines and ladders or powerwashers. Workers MUST be trained when working near powerlines, even home lines. This is even something which commonly kills homeowners unaware.

Click Here to Read the Story.

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Two Workers Likely in Bucket Truck Shocked in Houston, TX

Hugh Hoagland — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 20:37:42 +0000

The story cites this as an electrocution but that is terminology normally reserved for fatalities. It is common for workers in cable lines etc who are used to being “near” powerlines to make a mistake and get into one.

Read the Fox News article.

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San Antonio, TX Probable Arc Flash, Contractor in Substation

Hugh Hoagland — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 20:40:51 +0000

This story doesn’t say if clothing ignited. CPS in San Antonio, TX is in arc rated clothing most of the time. These types of exposures are covered by OSHA 1910.269 and NESC. Both require hazard assessment. NESC 2007 requires protection from reasonable estimate of the energy and arc rated clothing. More later.

Click Here to see the Story.

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Cable worker burned in possible powerline contact/arc flash in Dallas, TX area.

Hugh Hoagland — Mon, 10 May 2010 17:42:38 +0000

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.

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Poletop Electrocution in Nigeria Totally Avoidable

Hugh Hoagland — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:16:27 +0000

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 is a common contributor to fatalities in which medium voltage shocks occur.

Proper training, use of insulated coverup and insulating rubber gloves are real life savers. We have a Nigerian Engineer attending our Arc Flash Training, Train the Trainer to begin using the e-Hazard electrical and arc flash safety training materials in Nigeria in April 2010.

Public education helps too.

Read the Story in Leadership Nigeria.

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