Arc Flash & Electrical Safety News

Friday, February 05, 2010

Video - Arc Flash At MobilExxon In Texas

This video shows the arc flash that occurred at one of the MobilExxon facilities in Beaumont, Texas not long ago.

Labels: , ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 1 Comments | Add Comment | links

Thursday, January 21, 2010

News From Australia - Company Fined For Arc Flash Injury

The following is a press release from the government of South Australia:

A Whyalla electrical contractor has been convicted and fined today over an incident, in which a young trainee suffered burns that resulted from an arc flash. In delivering his penalty to ICE Engineering and Construction Pty Ltd, Industrial Magistrate Michael Ardlie said: "The defendant failed in its obligations to a very junior worker. Whilst it had safety systems in place, those safety systems were not utilised."

The SA Industrial Relations Court heard how in April 2007, the then-17 year old male had been engaged as a trainee with the defendant for just three weeks. At the time of the incident, he was at a local business helping with work on a circuit distribution board. When he used an insulated copper wire to touch a live part of a circuit breaker, an arc flash resulted which knocked the youth to the ground and burned his face, neck and arms. While he required hospital treatment, he has since returned to work and remains with the employer.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching section 19(1) of the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Act 1986 in failing to provide a safe system of work and appropriate information, instruction, training and supervision.

The court heard that on the day:
• the trainee was supervised by a third year apprentice, not a qualified tradesperson
• no job safety analysis had been done on the tasks the trainee was to do
• the trainee had no understanding of the operation and design of the board and its components.

Magistrate Ardlie fined the company $15,000 after a discount of 25 per cent for its early guilty plea, contrition and remedial action. However he declined an application by the defendant not to record a conviction saying: "The incident … has served as a reminder to the defendant that although it may have systems in place, it does need to implement those systems at a practical level in relation to each work site it attends, especially given the environment in which it works."

SafeWork SA Executive Director, Michele Patterson says it reinforces the view that any workplace safety system must be consistently followed in order to be fully effective.
"Statistically young workers are always at greater risk of harm, and coupled with the hazard of electricity, this incident should emphasise to the electrical services industry that young workers should always enjoy the full protection of a diligently applied safety regime."

Labels: ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Chiller Arc Flash Caught On Video

In this video a worker attempts to air run a chiller and the result is an arc flash that was apparently caused by an unseen short to ground.

Labels: ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Arc Flash In J.C. Penny Store Store Injures Electrician

It's not just industrial workplaces that present arc flash hazards. Here's a report from Mass Live (Springfield Republican):

"An electrical explosion Wednesday morning at the J.C. Penney store on Boston Road sent an electrician, a 35-year-old Chicopee man, to Baystate Medical Center with for treatment of burns to his face."

Read the complete story.

Labels: , ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

OSHA Proposes $88,200 In Fines For Arc Flash Injury

OSHA has cited O'Connell Electric Co. Inc. of Victor, N.Y., for 14 alleged serious violations of safety standards after a company employee was burned in a May 18 electrical arc flash on the North Campus of the State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo. The electrical contractor faces a total of $88,200 in proposed fines.

The incident occurred as O'Connell employees were performing maintenance on 34,500 volt electrical switches and transformers in the basement of Baldy Hall. OSHA's inspection found that one of the switches had not first been de-energized, as required, before employees began their work, nor had the switches been properly barricaded and tagged to prevent exposure to live electrical parts.

OSHA also determined that the injured worker and other employees had not been adequately informed about and supplied with adequate personal protective clothing. In addition, they had not been adequately trained in electrical safe work practices and in proper hazardous energy control procedures.

"This is a clear example of the grave consequences that can result when basic electrical safeguards are not provided and used," said Arthur Dube, OSHA's area director in Buffalo. "Electricity can injure and kill almost instantly, which makes it vital that power sources be de-energized and locked out, and workers be properly trained and equipped before electrical work is performed."

OSHA issues serious citations when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from hazards about which the employer knew or should have known.

"One means of preventing hazardous conditions and the accidents that can result from them is to establish an effective safety and health management system through which employers and employees work together to proactively evaluate, identify and eliminate hazards," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York.

O'Connell Electric has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, participate in an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by OSHA's Buffalo Area Office; telephone 716-551-3053.

Labels: , ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Reduce Arc Flash Accidents Using Totally Integrated Automation

An article in Design World, written by the Design World staff, describes the sad results of several arc flash explosions, and discusses how a Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) architecture created by Siemens can provide information that helps reduce exposure to potential arc flashes. The article states:

"By integrating all the relevant equipment, such as the motors, drives and switchgear, with the communications network in what Siemens calls a Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) architecture, operators are able to monitor and pull diagnostic information, perform trend and root cause analysis and generally better see what the problems are before sending an electrician into the plant to deal with a problem. Over time Richards found that workers were going into the electrical cabinet less and less often."

Read the article here.

Related Past Posts
Being Prepared Means Wearing The Right Clothing
Arc Flash Protection In The Mining Industry
Is Your Electrical PPE Adequate?

Labels: , ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

OSHA Cites MillerCoors in Golden, CO For Arc Flash Injuries

OSHA has cited MillerCoors LLC in Golden, Colo., with 10 alleged safety and health violations from two investigations involving the death of one and the injury of two workers.

OSHA launched an investigation into the company's safety and health practices following the death of an employee at the brewery Feb. 2. A second investigation opened following an accident April 9 in which two employees were injured.

Together, the investigations disclosed one alleged willful and nine alleged serious violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act's regulations governing electrical hazards. OSHA alleges that workplace conditions contributed to two employees being burned by an electrical arc flash April 9. Furthermore, agency officials allege that inadequate safety measures were in place to protect against electrical hazards at the time of the Feb. 2 accident; however, the Jefferson County coroner's office could not determine if those conditions contributed to the final cause of death.

"Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the worker who died as well as the two injured workers," said Greg Baxter, OSHA's regional administrator in Denver. "At the time of both accidents, the company's procedures for dealing with electrical hazards were inadequate. MillerCoors needs to take the necessary steps to eliminate electrical hazards in its workplaces."

The alleged willful violation stems from the company's failure to ensure the use of appropriate electrical protective equipment when employees were working on or near energized electrical parts. OSHA issues a willful violation when an employer exhibits plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.

The serious violations relate to inadequate safe work practices and failure to ensure adequate personal protective equipment was available and used by employees working on or near energized equipment. OSHA issues a serious citation when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard about which an employer knew or should have known.

OSHA proposes $128,500 in penalties against the company for the alleged violations.

MillerCoors has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director in Englewood, Colo., or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Related Past Posts
OSHA Citation For Failure To Abate Safety Violations
OSHA Reopens Record on Proposed Rule On Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission
Is Your Electrical PPE Adequate?

Labels: , ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Monday, April 27, 2009

Arc Flash Causes Balckout That Traps 20 In Elevators

An article in today's Boston University school newspaper reports that an arc flash caused the evacuation of a triple tower high-rise dormitory. That arc flash caused $300,000 in damages, but no injuries. The BU Post reported:

"Twenty residents of Warren Towers were trapped in elevators for as long as two hours Saturday evening and appoximately 1,600 people were forced to vacate the triple tower high-rise dormitory when an arc flash shut down a transformer in the B Tower electrical room."

"The electrical short, reported to the Boston Fire Department at 7:21 p.m., generated heat and smoke, but no injuries were reported."

You can read the entire article in the BU Post.

Labels: , ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

NIOSH Arc Flash Video

A 26 minute Arc Flash Awareness video, created by NIOSH, is available as a free download from the NIOSH web site. The video presents the personal stories of three experienced electricians who were injured in two separate arc flash incidents. They tell about the sudden and destructive power of arc flash and discuss how these injuries affected their lives.

Labels: , ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

WE Energies To Pay Damages In Plant Accident

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports today on the court judgment resulting from an arc flash injury at the Patrick Cudahy meat packing plant.

The article reports that Neil Wolf was injured by an arc flash on May 26, 2003, at the Patrick Cudahy plant. The jury awarded $515,000 to Mr. Wolf.

WE Energies, the local power company, was found to be 37% negligent and will have to pay $190,550 of the award.

Patrick Cudahy was found to be 55% responsible. But because Patrick Cudahy was a plaintiff, not a defendant in this case, they will not need to pay any of the jury award.

Mr. Wolf was found to be 10% responsible.

You can read the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article at: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=727274

OSHA imposed $148,500 in fines in December 2004. The following is what OSHA reported at that time:

"Three workers were reported to have been troubleshooting electrical switchgear at the Cudahy, Wis., facility when electricity arched and exploded. OSHA's investigation revealed that the three workers, all of whom received first, second and third degree burns throughout their bodies, were not using insulated tools, were not wearing proper personal protective equipment, and were not following appropriate safety standards. OSHA issued willful and serious violations to Cudahy for allegedly failing to provide such equipment, and warning or training the workers about flash hazards."

Labels: ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Victims Of Arc Flash

The statistics say that 10 people a day are injured by arc flash. More and more of these people are telling their stories using video. I'm finding new videos on a regular basis. In the following video a man and his wife tell the story of his injury as a result of an arc flash. It is called "Arc Flash - Survival or Prevention. The David Bird Story."



Why are so many videos about arc flash showing up on the internet? My guess is because arc flash injuries are so sudden and unexpected, and the consequences are serious. The key word here is "unexpected". Arc flash hazards have been ignored until recently. Most equipment that presents an arc flash hazard is not even properly labeled. Workers have not had arc flash safety training.

This is a safety hazard that can not be ignored any longer.

Labels: , ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Friday, January 04, 2008

Square D Electrical Safety Video

I've featured many videos on this blog. A problem has been that, no matter how good the video, since they came from YouTube many people could not use them. Square D has produced an excellent electrical safety video that is available for downloading. This means you can put this video on any computer and show it anywhere you need to do electrical safety training.

All that is required is a short registration process.

Use this link to go to the registration/download page.

This video covers electrical safety in general, with a heavy emphasis on arc flash safety. A dramatic video of an arc flash explosion demonstrates the effectiveness of PPE and how serious arc flash injuries can be.

Labels: , ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 1 Comments | Add Comment | links

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Interview With An Arc Flash Victim

In this six minute video arc flash victim Ed Manthei describes what happened when he was involved in an arc flash accident. He then goes on to describes the medical procedures that were required and what was involved in his recovery.


This video does not have the emotional impact of the Donnie's Accident video, but it still delivers a strong message about the dangers of arc flash.

Labels: , ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Monday, August 06, 2007

Donnie's Accident

I stumbled on this video, showing the effects of an arc flash accident, on YouTube today.

This is an emotionally powerful video that shows how a workplace accident impacts more than the workplace.

Labels: ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 11 Comments | Add Comment | links

Friday, May 11, 2007

Severe Burns Received From 11Kv Arc Flash Explosion

Ferret.com.au reported that an electrician in Australia was injured in an arc flash explosion in a mine switchroom. The article states:

"A CONTRACT electrician recommissioning high-voltage electrical equipment in a mine site switchroom has been severely burnt by an 11kV arc flash explosion inside the cubical containing the main incoming circuit breaker."

The electrician was apparently following the proper proceedures and the cause of the arc flash is not known.

You can read the complete article at: http://www.ferret.com.au/articles/8d/0c049b8d.asp

Labels:

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Two Injured In Arc Flash Accident at Alcoa

The Quad-Cities Online (Iowa) reports today that two contractor employees at the Alcoa Davenport Works were injured by an arc flash incident yesterday. The article reports:

"Alcoa spokesman John Riches said the two contractors were doing routine maintenance on a high-voltage electrical substation just outside the Riverdale plant. He said one person sustained severe electrical burns when he or she became grounded, creating an arc flash at about 1:30 p.m."

"A second contractor who was some distance away from the first also was burned but not as badly, according to Mr. Riches. The second contractor was transported by ambulance to a local hospital."

You can read the complete story at: http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=337424

It is interesting to read the public comments that are attached to this article. They provide a different perspective showing a small part of how industrial safety is perceived by the public.

Labels: ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Rochester Public Utilities Worker Burned in Arc Flash Accident

The Rochester, Minnesota Post-Bulletin reported yesterday that a lineman for Rochester Public Utilities was burned by an arc flash. The newspaper reported that:

"The man, one of about 20 line workers for the utility, was injured at a transformer while extending power to a construction site in the 500 block of Third Avenue Southeast, just south of the downtown area, Benson said. The injured worker's name is not yet being released by RPU officials."

"Benson said the lineman suffered 'arc flash burns,' and was burned on his arms, stomach and face."

The lineman was wearing PPE including a flame retardant shirt, gloves, safety vest, glasses and a hard hat.

Read the complete article.

Labels: ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 1 Comments | Add Comment | links

Friday, April 20, 2007

Electrical Burn Photos

A significant percent of electrical injuries happen because a worker took a short cut or ignored safety procedures. Because they did not recognize the severity of the hazard, they thought they could "get away" with not fully complying with all requirements.

OSHA has published a set of photographs you can use to help your employees, vendors and contractors recognize the danger of electrical burns. These are not pleasant pictures to see, but they get the point across... don't take shortcuts when it comes to electrical safety.

Labels: ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Monday, April 02, 2007

Lax Lockout Procedures Result in Arc Flash Burns to Navy Worker

Machinery & Equipment MRO reports:

"Nova Scotia authorities concluded that an arc flash accident that burned a worker aboard a navy ship on February 15, 2007, was caused by the employee’s failure to follow established lockout and tag-out procedures, reports Canadian OH&S News."

Having the proper lockout/tagout equipment and supplies, providing the necessary training, and ensuring that lockout/tagout proceedures are always followed are all important in preventing arc flash injuries. There is no excuse when an injury results from an arc flash in equipment that should have been de-energized, and properly locked out.

Labels: ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Protecting Against Arc Flash Hazards

The January 2007 issue of Occupational Hazards magazine includes an article by Sandy Smith that looks at what went wrong in an arc flash fatality. The article opens by pointing out:

"In 2005, 250 workers died as a result of coming into contact with an electrical current, often the result of arc flash occurring from equipment that was not de-energized before repair or maintenance work began."

What happened was a lineman, who "was part a three-man crew involved in replacing cables under a switch cabinet" was working within the 24 inch hot zone near a 17,400 volt switch, but he was not wearing his insulated hard hat. His head can too close to the energized switch and there was an arc flash.

The article lists the results of the NIOSH investigation and makes recommendations for preventing this type of fatality.

Labels:

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Arc Flash Fatality In A Mine

"On October 12, 2006, a 24-year old maintenance coordinator, with 1 year and 4 months mining experience, was fatally injured at an iron ore operation. The victim was troubleshooting an electrical fault in a high-voltage motor control center when a sustained arc blast occurred."

Read the OSHA Report

Labels:

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Monday, February 05, 2007

Failure to Wear Proper PPE Results In Arc Flash Injury

A report from the Department of Energy Office of Health, Safety and Security describes an arc flash incident that happened in April 2006. This report caught my eye because the incident involved an electrical engineer. We sometimes focus training on employees in crafts or trades, and neglect others who may be exposed to workplace hazards. I'm an electrical engineer who worked as a field and sales engineer for 16 years. In all of that time the only facility I can remember requiring me to go through their safety training was the Boise Cascade St. Helens paper mill. Although the engineer who was injured in the DOE incident described in this report was a DOE employee, this report serves as a good reminder that everyone with access to a facility--employees, management, contractors, inspectors and vendors--needs to be aware of the potential dangers in that facility and be fully trained concerning required protective measures.

Read The DOE Article

This article is titled "Failure To Wear Proper PPE", but when you read the complete report you'll see that there was more to this accident. PPE is protection of last resort. It would be much better if the accident had been prevented in the first place. Page two of the report identifies five problems:

– Failure to ensure the ground fault monitoring detection system was operable.

– NFPA 70 for ground fault protection was not implemented.

– They failed to implement work controls for ungrounded delta systems that could have a ground fault.

– Protection boundaries had not been established and the panel was not properly labeled.

– Established work proceedures, which should have resulted in the engineer being stopped from working on the panel without proper PPE, were not followed.

Labels: ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Monday, December 18, 2006

Loose Tool Falls, Causes Arc Flash Injury

A report put out by SHARP* describes an arc flash injury that was caused by a falling tool. A small tool fell into an energized breaker panel coming into contact with energized wires.

The report also includes six recommendations for preventing accidents such as this.

Another report put out by SHARP describes how two electricians were injured by an arc flash when a ground wire touched an energized circuit. One electrician sustained second and third degree burns covering nearly 50% of his body. He required surgery for removal of destroyed skin and restorative skin grafts. He needed physical therapy for nearly a year.

*SHARP is the Safety and Health Assessment ans Research for Prevention (SHARP) program at the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.

Labels:

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Three Injured By Arc Flash - Video

Magna Electric has a video on their web site that shows an arc flash incident that injured three workers. The video was taken by a security camera.

What I hope you notice in these videos is that arc flash is a hazard that needs to be taken very seriously. There are five to ten arc flash incidents daily. It can happen in your facility. Please read this blog and our web site for more information about arc flash and NFPA 70E.

Labels: ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Arc Flash Incident On A Submarine

In an IEEE paper Ben Johnson tells the story of an arc flash incident on a submarine. Please note that this link goes to a Word document that includes images. It is about 7.5mb in size. The story is short, well told and interesting. Although the incident happened 40 years ago, the message is relevant to us today.

Labels:

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

The Dangers of Arc Flash Incidents

"Between five and 10 times a day, an arc flash explosion occurs in electric equipment somewhere in the United States that sends a burn victim to a special burn center, according to statistics compiled by CapSchell, Inc., a Chicago-based research and consulting firm that specializes in preventing workplace injuries and deaths.

That number does not include cases sent to regular hospitals and clinics, or unreported cases and “near misses,” estimated to be many times that number. There are one or two deaths a day from these multi-trauma events, noted Dr. Mary Capelli-Schellpfeffer, principal investigator.

The above quote is from an article in Maintenance Technology magazine titled "The Dangers of Arc Flash Incidents".

The article starts by discussing what an arc flash is and what the causes are. It points out that one utility had 2.2 arc flash incidents a year at an average cost of over 15 million dollars per incident. The article then goes on to point out that Safety Programs are a key to eliminating injuries from arc flash. A hazard analysis provides the facts that are needed, then standards such as NFPA 70E are applied to determine safety boundaries, required PPE, work practices, and proper labeling and signage.

Labels: ,

posted by Steve Hudgik | This Arc Flash Post and 0 Comments | Add Comment | links

Call about the NFPA 7E labeling machines

NFPA 70E Blog  |  Arc Flash Labels  |  Arc Flash Label Printers
DuraLabel Supplies  |  Arc Flash Quiz

FAST shipping of Arc Flash Label Printers & Supplies.
Most orders ship the SAME DAY we receive your order.