Abstract
On July 4, 2003, a 36-year-old male lead electrician died after being electrocuted with 480 volts of electricity. A crew of five licensed electricians were working at an automotive supply manufacturing facility running wires to connect service for two air conditioning units (3-phase; 480 volts; 30 amp and 35 amp) and service for a lighting panel (3-phase; 277/480 volts and 200 amps). The manufacturing facility had been shut down for the holiday, and besides a facilities office worker in the facilities main office, the five men were the only workers at the site and had complete control of the facility utilities (they were the only ones who had the ability to turn on/off utilities at the facility). Normally, everyone who was working directly with wiring or who could come in contact with live electric wires would place their lock and tag on the appropriate breaker or other control device to guard against unexpected energy being released. This time, it was decided by the crew only the job foreman would use his lockout/tagout equipment on the breakers.
The victim was sitting in a 4’x 4’ junction box with another employee pulling wires to connect two air conditioning units and service to a lighting panel. Having completed the wiring connection for the lighting service, the lead electrician instructed the job foreman to throw on the breaker to the lighting service while he continued to run the wiring for the two air conditioning units. Instead, the foreman thought he was supposed to throw on the breakers for both the lighting service and the air conditioning services, which he did. As the foreman threw on the breakers, the lead electrician was holding the wiring for the air conditioning service in his hand and was electrocuted. Upon the lead electrician collapsing, the foreman summoned emergency services to the facility while another coworker administered CPR to the victim. Paramedics arrived and transported the decedent to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
To prevent future occurrences of similar incidents, the following recommendations have been made:
Recommendation No. 1: Employees should always follow company lockout/tagout procedures.
Recommendation No. 2: Communication between workers should be clear and precise.
Document Type
Report
Release Date
10-22-2004
Incident Number
03KY115
Repository Citation
Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, "Licensed Electrician Dies When Electrocuted by 480Volts" (2004). Fatality Case Reports--Other. 6.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/face_other_reports/6
Case Summary
Included in
Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene Commons, Public Health Education and Promotion Commons
Notes/Citation Information
A summary of this case is available as the additional file listed below.