Each day we are faced with the fact that our employees take risks and a large number of these decisions result in injuries to employees and/or interruptions to business. On multiple occasions these everyday actions taken by employees involve electricity and result in an electrical shock, arc fault, blast, fire or some combination of all. Between 2005 and 2006, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited employers in the "Construction" industry for more than $288,000 dollars and "General Industry" for greater than $960,000 dollars for failure to meet the minimum requirements for wiring design and protection and for wiring methods being utilized.
It was a beautiful Wednesday morning and I had great plans for the weekend. I was about to begin work on an assignment given to me the day before; to install a three phase, 480 volt circuit breaker. I had been a master electrician for almost 30 years and had outlasted all the young electrical engineers. On the way to the job site, a new engineer, who had only been out of school for nine months, stopped me and tried to tell me how to do my job safely, as if I wasn't aware of how to conduct myself. He wanted me to wear some special clothes and special gloves. I told him in no uncertain terms that I had been doing this job for more years than he had been alive and I did not need his opinion on how to install a breaker. I collected my tools and stopped by the supply room to pick up the breaker. I had gotten a jump on the job earlier in the morning and had already removed the cover on the breaker. Everything had been going fine. I knew it would take a little while to install the breaker and land the wires, so I decided to go to break early for food. I had a large breakfast, you know, a three egg omelet, loaded with bacon, sausage, peppers, mushrooms, onions and cheese. After finishing, I headed back to the job site and from there I don't remember too much except someone asking if I was OK. I could not hear what they were saying but saw their lips moving. I could not see out of one eye and did not know why. My body felt like it was on fire and there was an odor overwhelming me. When I looked down, my shirt was gone except for the shirt tail and my jeans were burned. What happened? This is a critical question.
In an attempt to answer this question this paper will discuss the components of an electrical event, identify one method of preparing for an electrical event investigation, basic electrical components and ways to detect potential problems with electrical installation in a preventative manner, and finally, a case study review.
Electrical accidents can be devastating to family members of a worker as well as their workgroup.
