ARC FLASH accident

[fmtjfw]

Probably no FR clothing or ARC face shield. From sunburn on face might have has a balaclava on.

http://wvmetronews.com/2016/07/08/electrician-recovering-from-severe-burns-after-mishap/

 

[JFletcher]

Oh man, sounds maybe like he took a wire brush to a 277V bussbar and either hit ground or another phase.

 

[wbdvt]

I highly doubt he had any arc rated PPE on. Since his hands are bandaged I doubt he even had Class 0 or 00 rubber gloves on. Probably thought everything de-energized.

Unfortunately this was a preventable injury if the proper procedures had been followed and proper PPE worn.

 

[Jraef]

Oh man, sounds maybe like he took a wire brush to a 277V bussbar and either hit ground or another phase.

It said he was "cleaning contacts". Most likely he "ASSumed" it was not live after doing his LO/TO, but because of the flood damage there was some sort of feedback. Just more proof that we should always "Trust, but verify" by looking for any live voltages even IF we have done a proper LO/TO.

I've been bit by 480 from that myself. I ASSumed because the breaker was open that everything was dead. Turned out someone had connected a 120V control circuit to another one remote from the panel I was working on, so the CPT in my panel then stepped it up to 480V and hit me when I touched my screwdriver to a terminal (I was steadying the screwdriver with my thumb as well, another no-no). I got away with some nasty burns on my back (I was laying on an expanded metal grate) and 6-8 hours worth of paperwork explaining how it happened. I was lucky.

 

[JFletcher]

It said he was "cleaning contacts". Most likely he "ASSumed" it was not live after doing his LO/TO, but because of the flood damage there was some sort of feedback. Just more proof that we should always "Trust, but verify" by looking for any live voltages even IF we have done a proper LO/TO.

I've been bit by 480 from that myself. I ASSumed because the breaker was open that everything was dead. Turned out someone had connected a 120V control circuit to another one remote from the panel I was working on, so the CPT in my panel then stepped it up to 480V and hit me when I touched my screwdriver to a terminal (I was steadying the screwdriver with my thumb as well, another no-no). I got away with some nasty burns on my back (I was laying on an expanded metal grate) and 6-8 hours worth of paperwork explaining how it happened. I was lucky.

Very lucky. Back when I was working at WW plants, one of the electricians touched phase to ground in a 480V shaft driver motor (1/2HP) cab with his screwdriver (uninsulated) - he knew it was live, screwed up. Blew the screwdriver in half, bright flash, but he was ok. 6 months later he opened a breaker for a 150HP 480V pump, and apparently there was a fault in the door/safety, which resulted in the load side staying hot even tho the door was opened. He did not not verify it dead, and when he cleaned the contacts of the load side, he went phase to phase. Almost lost his eyesight over that. Worse part was that both of those safety incidents wound up endangering other people, and after the second incident, he was terminated.

 

[petersonra]

An electrician i ran across out in Sunnyvale, CA about 1990 had what was left of a screwdriver in his tool box. It was mostly a hunk of charred and melted plastic and some metal. He said he had dropped it from a ladder into a live busway below him. He said it arced for a long time before something tripped and shut it off while he was hanging on for dear life above it. No injury, fortunately.

 

[GoldDigger]

A guy I knew who did a lot of Telco work described two HVAC workers who were installing sheet metal duct while standing on the bus bars of the 48V distribution system for the exchange. (Since it was "just low voltage.")
They dropped a duct section and it bridged between the busbars.
Three shorter sections of duct hit the floor.

 

[wtucker]

"Buzminsky had more than 40 years of experience as an electrician and had never been involved in a serious accident...With all of his experience and due diligence he followed what he thought was the safe way to handle the situation."

Hmmm. Moral of the story is, just because you've always done it that way, doesn't mean it's right or safe.

Test before touching.