An explosion in the 161 kV switchyard of the Sequoyah Nucleaer Facility in eastern TN resulted in being classed as an Emergency “Unusual Event”.    No injuries were reported due to the fault and resulting explosion. Click here to read the Notification of Unusual Event from 2/12/12.

On the morning of February 6, a Lenenergo Power Station outside of Petersburg  lit up the night sky with an explosion as a result of a ‘technical fault’. Click here to watch the video and read a brief article dated 2/8/12. Click here to read the report from the Russian news website, Fontanku.ru.

January, 2012: A UK investment firm has been fined after employees were injured in an electrical accident.  The two employees cut through a 1kV electrical cable while trying to locate a water leak. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the firm had not assessed the risks and failed to provide a safe work [...]

One worker died and six others were hurt after a metallic bar they were holding came into contact with a  high-voltage transmission wire on Dec. 7th.  One worker was pronounced dead at the hospital and the others remain hospitalized. Click here to read about electrical accident in Phillipines              

This is a classic good news/bad news story. Entergy’s Pallisades Nuclear Plant was shut down by an arc flash, electrical fault.  The good news is that “no workers were injured”.  In the past, a worker or two would have been hurt AND the plant would have  been shut down.  What might make spectacular news with [...]

The worker in this story is installing a new smart meter when the arc fault occured. Wearing close to right PPE.  Likely no energy calc.  He got burned but no clothing ignition.  Lucky and likely to have little life changing burns but PPE could have been better matched from this description. Wonderful that the fire [...]

Three men were injured after a transformer exploded while they were replacing an above ground power vault.   One of the injured is an employee of Anaheim Public Utilities and the other two were under contract with the City of Anaheim. All three were hospitalized.  Police report that their clothing caught fire in the explosion. Oct. 26, 2011 [...]

A Jamestown, NY Utility worker was critically injured while working in an underground vault to restore a power outage.  He was badly burned during an arc flash, receiving burns to his hands, face and upper chest.  He was transported to the hospital and listed in critical condition. Click here to read more about Arc Flash [...]

Two electrical incidents in different areas of Alberta resulted in the deaths of two electrical workers. One was killed while installing cables near Ft. McMurray.  The second occurred in Southwest Alberta while working on a power transmission project. Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety department says a 34-year-old electrical foreman died yesterday morning while installing cables [...]

The lawsuit, filed by a BPU engineer who has been suspended without pay, alleges “significant safety issues” and cites “arc flash” several times in the complaint.  In the last 16 months, there have been two arc flash incidences involving transmission and distribution workers at BPU. Critical burns were suffered by three electricians in last year’s [...]