This article was posted 12/05/2006 and is most likely outdated.

Selected Electrical Incidents and Occurrences
 

 
Topic - Safety
Subject - Selected Electrical Incidents and Occurrences

January 5, 2006 

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Selected Electrical Incidents and Occurrences

Third Quarter - July to September, 2005

 

Date &                                                                  Program      Location      Accident Description

MIS ID #

 

Fatalities:

 

July 15th                  Construction         Windsor             Person on a roof, lost his balance and grabbed a pole

1078410                                                                                  containing some open wires.  He fell into wires, received

                                                                                                burns to both arms.  The person then fell about 15 feet to the

                                                                                                ground.

 

September 20th      Industrial               Waterloo               Worker was part of a crew wheeling a machine from one part

1083333                                                                                  of the plant to another.  Vertical drops from the ceiling are

                                                                                                used to supply power to the various machines on the floor.

                                                                                                Cables used in the vertical drops are unshielded flexible cables

                                                                                                suitable for extra-hard usage in wet locations.  Workers had

                                                                                                turned off the power at the machine, and had disconnected the

                                                                                                cable coupling before beginning to move the machine, but the

                                                                                                section of cable from the ceiling down to the location of the

                                                                                                coupling was still energized.  As the crew moved the machine,

                                                                                                part of the machine caught on the vertical drop.  A sharp

                                                                                                metallic edge cut into the cable, making contact with one of

                                                                                                power conductors.  With the coupling disconnected and the

                                                                                                machine on rubber wheels, the machine frame was energized

                                                                                                and isolated from ground.  Floor was very wet, the worker was

                                                                                                wearing leather footware, and was electrocuted.  The other

workers were wearing rubber boots, no injuries reported.

 

 

Critical Injuries:

 

July 4th                    Construction         Toronto                Worker was on the roof of a building, pulling on a wire for a

1076550                                                                                  swing ladder.  Lightning struck the wire, worker lost

                                                                                                consciousness, also received burns to chest and shoulder.

 

July 18th                  Industrial               Brampton               Building superintendent doing work in hallway electrical

1078512                                                                                  panel, changing a breaker.  Arc happened, worker received

                                                                                                2nd degree burns to both hands and right arm.

 

August 17th           Construction         Toronto                 Two electricians were changing fuses on a 600 V distribution

1079707                                                                                  board, using a screwdriver.  Arc happened, first worker

received 2nd and 3rd degree burns to 50% of his body, second

worker received 2nd and 3rd degree burns to 30% of his body.

 

September 6th        Construction         Kanata                   Worker made electrical contact, fell about 4 metres, taken to

1079369                                                                                  hospital.  No other details of event given, including what he

                                                                                                fell from.

 

 

 

Non-Critical Injuries:

 

July 5th                    Construction         Burlington            Worker doing welding while sitting on a steel beam.

1078093                                                                                  Arc transferred path, causing worker to receive a shock.

                                                                                                Worker taken to hospital.

 

July 7th                    Construction         Mississauga         Worker cleaning wires on a newly installed A/C unit.

1077311                                                                                  Worker received a 110 V shock, taken to hospital.

 

July 7th                    Construction         Hamilton                Worker on roof, contacted 120 V power line with his forehead.

1078488

 

July 8th                    Construction         Ingersoll               Worker felt shock while using metal tape measure on building

1078496                                                                                  steel while in a ZoomBoom.  Event description speculated that

                                                                                                cause was static electricity from ZoomBoom.  Although

                                                                                                description did not mention it, stray currents from arc welding

                                                                                                could also be a possibility.  The description did say that the

                                                                                                tingle went from arm to arm across his body, indicating

                                                                                                current flow to ground.

 

 

July 8th                    Industrial               Richmond Hill       Worker received an electrical shock from a machine, no other

1077718                                                                                  details given.

 

July 10th                  Industrial               Brampton              Worker doing repair work on HVAC unit, breaker blew.

1077696                                                                                  Worker received burns to face and neck, may have also made

                                                                                                electrical contact.

 

July 11th                  Industrial               Windsor                Worker reached into an improperly guarded panel on a grinder

1076029                                                                                  and received a 500 V shock.

 

July 14th                  Construction         Cornwall               Worker received an electrical burn, no other details given.

1074990

 

July 14th                  Construction         Kitchener              Worker inadvertently took hold of an energized power line,

1078805                                                                                  received a shock.  Checked out by paramedics.

 

July 16th                  Industrial               Cambridge            Worker received an electrical shock while checking out resets.

1078169                                                                                  Worker checked out at workplace medical center.

 

July 20th                  Industrial               Municipality         Two workers doing work in a hopper, one worker plugged it in

1078961                                                  not given               to a 110 volt supply.  Both workers received shocks.

 

July 23rd                 Construction         Hamilton                Roofer contacted overhead line, vomited and felt dizzy.

1056432                                                                                  Worker sent to hospital.

 

July 31st                  Construction         Sault Ste. Marie    Worker received an electrical shock from a freezer.  No details

1080215                                                                                  given on what work he was doing at the time.

 

August 5th             Construction         Toronto                 Carpenter doing drilling contacted a wire.  Injuries were burn

1077749                                                                                  on leg, electrical shock, also fell off the ladder he was on.

 

August 9th             Construction         Whitby                  Electrician was doing work on wiring; received shock.

1079217                                                                                  Taken to hospital for observation, voltage of wiring not given.

 

August 12th           Construction         Waterloo               Contractor drilling, locates were off, hit 14 kV buried line.

1080337                                                                                  One worker taken to hospital for observation.

 

August 13th           Construction         Vaughan                Crane unloading bricks, boom of crane contacted 16 kV

1079760                                                  Township              power line.  One worker was holding the basket attached to the

                                                                                                hoist cable, suffered electrical burn to one toe.

 

August 15th           Industrial               Newmarket            Worker trying to troubleshoot a robotic panel, touched 600 V

1078921                                                                                  fuses, received shock.  Worker taken to hospital then released.

 

August 16th           Construction         Fort Erie                Worker made electrical contact, taken to hospital for

1073801                                                                                  observations.  No details given of work being done at the time.

 

August 16th           Construction         Sudbury                 Worker transferring conductors on a rebuilt pole line. Touched

1078315                                                                                  an energized wire, taken to hospital.  Line voltage not given

 

August 16th           Industrial               Kitchener               Worker changing wiring to switchgear.  As worker was

1080526                                                                                  feeding the wire, it contacted an energized buss.  Three fuses

                                                                                                blew, worker suffered flash burns to left hand and forearm.

 

August 22nd           Construction         Toronto                 Apprentice electrician installing receptacle, received a shock.

1078788                                                                                  Taken to hospital.

 

August 29th           Industrial               Orangeville            Worker doing work on an electrical panel, panel blew up.

1061804                                                                                  Worker received burns to left arm and neck.

 

August 29th           Construction         Guelph                   Worker was installing a replacement copper water pipe service

1082638                                                                                  to a residence, received a shock when pipe was joined to

                                                                                                existing section of pipe from residence.  Investigation found

                                                                                                problems with electrical service to house, resulting in a phase

                                                                                                sending power through the house’s electrical ground system.

 

August 30th           Construction         North York            Boom of concrete pumping truck contacted 16 kV power line.

1080067 & 1083208 (same event)                                       Worker received minor burns to waist area, went to hospital.

 

August 30th           Construction         Mississauga         Worker made contact with 110 V energized wires, sent to

1082331                                                                                  hospital.

 

September 1st         Construction         Corunna                Worker made electrical contact, received burns.  No details

1082672                                                                                  given of work being done or further details on injuries

received.

 

September 2nd        Industrial               Toronto                 Person working on a machine, thought he had disconnected the

1082311                                                                                  600 volt fuses to the machine.  Made electrical contact,

                                                                                                received 2nd degree burns.  No reason given why person used

                                                                                                fuses instead of using disconnect to remove power to machine.

 

September 6th        Construction         Mississauga         Worker installing a lighting system, contacted a live wire in a

1079665                                                                                  box.  Received minor shock, taken to hospital.

 

September 7th        Construction         Baden                     Worker was hosing down the conveyor on a concrete pump

1082691                                                                                  truck.  Boom contacted an 8300 kv overhead power line.

                                                                                                Wires broke, sudden release of tension caused worker to fall,

                                                                                                striking his head.  Worker was taken to hospital.

 

September 7th        Industrial               St Catherines        Worker received a shock from a welding machine, taken to

1083134                                                                                  hospital as a precaution.  Event description did not specify if

                                                                                                contact was on the AC or DC side of welder.

 

September 7th        Industrial               Mount Forest       Worker was using a multimeter, received burns to both hands.

1083304                                                                                  No details given of what measurements were being taken at the

                                                                                                time, or of how the worker was injured.

 

September 8th        Industrial               Toronto                 Worker doing work on machine, made electrical contact.

1082318                                                                                  Taken to hospital with burns to both hands.  No details given

                                                                                                of work being done or of voltage involved.

 

September 14th      Industrial               Meaford                 Worker received an electrical shock while unplugging a stove.

1080124                                                                                  Reported tingling in right arm, taken to hospital.

 

September 20th      Construction         Hamilton                Worker was testing an electrical system when he made contact

1084046                                                                                  with 13 kV.  Worker received burns to both forearms.

 

September 27th      Construction         London                  Worker touched an underground powerline, received a shock

1083958                                                                                  from an induced charge on the cable.  Taken to hospital as a

                                                                                                precaution.  No details given of where charge came from.

 

September 29th      Construction         St Catherines        Worker doing work on an electrical panel, arc happened.

1078068                                                                                  Worker was burned on both hands.  No details given of what

                                                                                                work was being done on the panel at the time.

 

September 29th      Industrial               Kitchener               Worker doing work on electrical panel, inserted a screwdriver.

1080371                                                                                  Flash happened, worker had sore eyes, taken to hospital.

 

September 30th      Industrial               Sault Ste. Marie    Worker operating a concrete conveyor, received an electrical

1084785                                                                                  shock when he made contact with an electrical cable.  Taken to

                                                                                                hospital, details of injuries received not specified.

 

 

Powerline Contacts – No Injuries:

 

July 5th                    Industrial               Hamilton                Dump truck hit power lines, pulled them down and snapped

1078248                                                                                  a pole.

 

July 6th                    Construction         Vaughan               Equipment contacted a buried primary cable.  No details

1077017                                                                                  given on type of equipment or work being done at the time.

 

July 6th                    Construction         London                  BOBCAT drove over a hydro cable, pulled a splice apart.

1078251

 

July 7th                    Construction         Woodbridge        While backfilling, boom of backhoe hit padmount transformer

1077095                                                                                  Knocked it off the base, caused small fire at transformer,

                                                                                                kicked off the power.

 

July 12th                  Construction         Simcoe                  Workers cut down a tree, tree contacted power lines.

1078266                                                                                  Lines swayed, fuses knocked out.

 

July 12th                  Construction         Tecumseh             Truck contacted BELL cable, pulled it down.  That pulled

1078399                                                                                  down a hydro pole with three pole-mount transformers on it.

                                                                                                Lots of utilities showed up for the repair work.

 

July 13th                  Construction         London                 Contractor installing fencing, power auger went through the

1078403                                                                                  primary cable.  Locates had been done.

 

July 14th                  Construction         Windsor               Boom truck contacted 16 kV overhead line while lifting forms

1056410                                                                                  out from the basement foundation.

 

July 14th                  Construction         St Catherines       Gravel truck contacted 8 kV primary line.

1078975                                                                                  Tires were smoking after the contact.

 

July 18th                  Construction         Mississauga         Backhoe hit a buried primary cable.

1077737

 

July 18th                  Construction         London                  Excavator pulled down an overhead line.

1078815

 

July 20th                  Construction         Thunder Bay         Contact made with overhead secondary wires, no other details

1073193                                                                                    given.

 

July 20th                  Construction         Kitchener               Concrete truck hit a hydro pole, wires knocked down.

1079203

 

July 21st                  Construction         Richmond Hill       Contact made with 16 kV buried cable, no other details given.

1077891

 

July 21st                  Construction         Tiverton                 Roofer was drilling through a deck, drilled into a 347 V

1078957                                                                                   lighting cable.

 

July 21st                  Construction         Grimsby                 Dumptruck hit a 27.6 kV power line.

1079211

 

July 25th                  Construction         Richmond Hill       Event classified as powerline contact, no other details given.

1078526

 

July 28th                  Construction         Petrolia                   Forklift became tangled up in a 4 kV power line.

1079799

 

July 28th                  Construction         Echo Bay               Flyrock from a blast hit overhead power line.

1080122

 

July 29th                  Construction         Sudbury                 Backhoe contacted overhead power line.

1077731

 

July 29th                  Construction         Municipality         Cement truck contacted overhead power lines.

1078711                                                  not given

 

August 3rd             Construction         Markham               Event classified as power line contact, no other details given.

1078642

 

August 4th             Construction         London                  Event classified as power line contact, no other details given.

1079955

 

August 5th             Construction         Selkirk                    Dumptruck had raised box, dumping gravel along shoulder of

1056708                                                                                  shoulder of road.  Spotter lost sight of box in relation to

                                                                                                overhead lines, box touched the neutral, breaking it.

 

August 8th             Construction         Halton Hills           Utility responded to power outage call, at the site found a

1075910                                                                                  ladder between the primary and neutral wires.  No one on site,

                                                                                                owner of ladder not known.

 

August 8th             Construction         Brampton               Excavator hit buried 16 kV power line.

1077872

 

August 8th             Construction         Sarnia                     Fence auger hit buried cable.

1080280

 

August 9th             Construction         Toronto                 Equipment touched power line, no other details of event given.

1079148

 

August 9th             Construction         Burlington             Contractor contacted secondary power wires, no other details

1080236                                                                                  of event given.

 

August 11th           Construction         Port Burwell          Dump truck operator stopped his truck under a powerline and

1080461                                                                                  raised the box.  Box hit line.

 

August 18th           Construction         Guelph                   Crew was installing anchors for a boring machine, contacted

1074390                                                                                  8 kV buried power line.

 

August 18th           Construction         Thornhill                Contractor dug up a 15 kV primary cable.

1079488

 

August 22nd           Construction         Concord                 Contractor, digging for water connection, dug up a buried

1079489                                                                                   hydro cable.

 

August 22nd           Construction         Wingham               Contractor dug up a buried power line.

1080539

 

August 22nd           Construction         London                  Backhoe took down a power line.

1082377

 

August 23rd           Construction         Brampton               Contractor cut a buried power cable.  Event description said

1079045                                                                                  locates were off, did not say by how much.

 

August 23rd           Construction         Scarborough         Scaffolding was in contact with overhead powerline.

1079047

 

August 23rd           Construction         Timmins                 Dump truck contacted neutral of overhead power line.

1074592

 

August 24th           Construction         Markham               Contractor cut a primary cable, no other details of event given.

1079492

 

August 25th           Construction         Ottawa                   Contact made with buried power line, no other details given.

1078415

 

August 25th           Construction         Niagara Falls         Dump truck hit 13.8 kV power line, knocked over one of the

1082618                                                                                  poles.

 

August 29th           Construction         Richmond Hill       Contractor dug into a 16 kV buried power line.

1079779

 

August 30th           Construction         Richmond Hill       Digging equipment contacted a buried 16 kV power line.

1079781

 

August 30th           Construction         Kingston               Powerline contact made, no other details given.

1083150

 

August 31st            Construction         Whitby                  Crane contacted 44 kV overhead line.

1080065 & 1082424 – same event

 

August 31st            Construction         London                  Excavator cut a buried powerline.

1082669

 

September 1st         Construction         Richmond Hill       Backhoe contacted a buried powerline.

1082537

 

September 1st         Construction         Nanticoke              Event classified as electrical contact, no other details of

1082726                                                                                   event given.

 

September 6th        Construction         Kirkland Lake        Excavator hit duct for a buried cable, cable cut.

1075792

 

September 6th        Construction         Markham               Crane contacted an overhead line.

1080091

 

September 8th        Construction         Markham               Concrete pumping truck contacted 16 kV power line.

1082534

 

September 9th        Construction         Toronto                 Scaffolding contacted powerline.

1080360

 

September 12th      Construction         Thunder Bay         Doing tree-trimming at a residence, contacted the 240 V line.

1075941                                                                                   No details given on what actually contacted the line.

 

September 13th      Construction         Brampton               Contractor doing digging, cut a primary cable.  Locates had

1079890                                                                                  been done.

 

September 14th      Construction         Kingston               Local utility reported that a contractor had hit a powerline,

1077641                                                                                  no other details given.

 

September 14th      Construction         Welland                 Contractor doing augering, hit a buried powerline.

1083771

 

September 14th      Construction         London                  New watermain construction, buried powerline hit.

1083775                                                                                   Powerline was 1.5 metres away from the marked locate.

 

September 15th      Construction         London                  Company doing directional drilling, hit a buried powerline.

1083776

 

September 15th      Industrial               Tiverton                 Workers were removing drywall from ceiling to inspect

1083781                                                                                   wiring.  Cut into 347 V lighting cable with saw blade.

 

September 16th      Industrial               Bruce Mines         Person cutting a tree, took out a 7200 V overhead line.

1052393

 

September 19th      Construction         Aurora                   Contact made with 4800 V powerline, no other details

1083696                                                                                  given.

 

September 19th      Construction         Guelph                   Grounded conductor hit an energized phase of an 8 kV

1083939                                                                                  powerline.

 

September 26th      Construction         Red Lake                Backhoe hit an overhead 4160 V powerline.

1052121                                                                                  Spotter was being used at the time.

 

September 27th      Construction         Sudbury                 Conduit for buried cable was contacted, no details given

1077635                                                                                  of equipment involved.

 

September 28th      Construction         Municipality         Powerline contact made, no other details of event given.

1079478

 

September 28th      Construction         Mississauga         Backhoe hit overhead power line.

1083030

 

September 28th      Construction         Markham               Dumptruck hit cable TV lines, caused damage to overhead

1083279                                                                                  power lines.

 

 

 

DATA SUMMARY – Third Quarter

 

                                Fatals:                    Criticals:              Non-criticals:                       Powerline              Electrical

                                                                                                                                                Contacts:               Equipment:

 

2005                            2                                4                                39                                         67                            0

2004                            3                                5                                24                                         56                            1

2003                            5                                6                                24                                         50                            4

2002                            1                              10                               34                                         59                            0

2001                            2                                5                                25                                         44                            1

 

2000                            2                                5                                26                                         42                            0

1999                            3                              11                               24                                         40                            0

1998                            5                              13                               13                                         40                            2

 

 

 

And Finally…..

 

Nothing reported to the Ministry was sufficiently off-the-wall to be included here this quarter, although the tree-trimmer who cut off the branch he was standing on did come close.

 

Information taken from Ministry of Labour MIS database

Report prepared: November 18, 2005

 

Assembled by:     Michael Reiser

                                Engineer

                                PSS – Kitchener District

 

                                Phone:    (519) 883-5682

                                FAX:      (519) 883-5694

                                E-Mail:   mike.reiser@mol.gov.on.ca

 

Mike Holt’s Comment: Mr. Reiser you do an outstanding job informing us on the dangers associated with electricity. Thank you so much. By the way, do you know if someone does a similar report for the United States or world wide? If not, that’s okay, we get the picture anyway…

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Comments
  • So....

    basically, the magority of incidents and 1/2 of fatalities could be eliminated with home based power generation.

    Of course with any type of energy generating and distribution device there are dangers but over head and buried lines could be taken out of the picture for at least the extremely heavy industrial areas. Even many of those could support a solar system as they often have a fair amount of square footage available.

    Also, another loss not mention was the millions of KW's of in this case I think its called Joules of energy from AC/DC adaptors all over the place. This is known as phantom load. The conversion process produces heat and that is lost energy.

    Apparently an office with around 100 PC's can lose about 1KW per night they are 'off'. How many offices in your city?

    Thanks alot for publishing this article. Im off to look for a CSS feed from you now!

    Juiced N.R.G.

    Juiced N.R.G.
    Reply to this comment

  • I would be very interested if there is something available in the Las Vegas area like this report

    Jason
    Reply to this comment

  • opps i meant RSS lol... :D

    J
    Reply to this comment

  • My original thread talked about the possibility of a gas station going up because of fautly wiring in a lighting circuit. To those that made positive comments that I later relayed, thankyou as my old station has a new contactor and separate switch all costing $200 to intstal. The electrician agreed completly with me and this report that is something of a very serious concern for safety, tells all why electrical safety has to be taken very seriosly. BTW, a sister store had a very serious electrical fire two weeks after my switch and contactor were installed. The original issue was using a circuit breaker as a switch. The sister station did use the breakers as switches and when the contactor failed closed the breaker failed to trip, burned up the wire insulation, caused massive shorts and resulted in $250,000 in overall loses including revenues. The overall picture it seems to me is bleak in regards to proper safety for electricity. That first story is remarkable and the safety officer I hope lost his job. As a side note a similer incident happened with my company in which 14 men lost their lives due to an electical arc in a vessel filled with fumes. All accidental by a technician hitting a wrong actuater. 14 men lost their lives for that one in Texas and with that states record of fatal workmans comp claims (they have none) OSHA came in and fined my company to the tune of $23M yes 6 zeros.

    God rest the souls of those men and all that lost their lives in this report. I only hope that organizations can come to grips with safety as my company was forced to do. To date not even a trip over a carpet in over 1000 stores nationwide has been recorded; that is what happens when OSHA requires safety programs be implimented at all levels.

    I agree with the previois thread that it would be nice to see this report for all the Western states.

    GasMan
    Reply to this comment


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