Plumber/construction worker electrocuted by indirect contact with 220V conductor.
Authors
Minnesota Department of Health
Source
Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 92MN006, 1992 Sep; :1-4
Abstract
A 44-year-old male plumber/construction worker (victim) died when a lag-bolt he was screwing into a wooden house foundation made contact with one side of an indoor 220V clothes dryer line (110VAC) and he was electrocuted. Due to heavy spring rains, the completely constructed, finished house had sunk approximately three inches into fine, silty soil. The victim was positioning wooden posts outside the wooden foundation and using these as supports to jack up the house. Two of the four posts jutted away from the foundation and required straightening. Chains with lag-bolts attached to both ends were placed around the posts and screwed into the foundation to pull the posts straight. While screwing the second lag-bolt of one of these chains into the foundation, the victim made indirect contact with an indoor 220V conductor and was electrocuted. MN FACE investigators concluded that, in order to prevent similar occurrences, the following guidelines should be followed: 1. Job hazard analyses (the process of analyzing, identifying, and controlling potential hazards of each step of an operation) and pre-job surveys should be performed by employers prior to work as a first step in developing and implementing a safety program; and 2. Safe work practices (inquiry and direct observation of electric circuit locations), and personal protective equipment (insulated gloves) should be used when necessary during non-routine, as well as routine, work procedures.
Keywords
Region-5; Accident-analysis; Accident-prevention; Accidents; Injuries; Injury-prevention; Traumatic-injuries; Work-operations; Work-analysis; Work-areas; Work-performance; Work-practices; Safety-education; Safety-equipment; Safety-measures; Safety-monitoring; Protective-measures; Protective-equipment; Personal-protection; Personal-protective-equipment; Electric-properties; Electrical-equipment; Electrical-hazards; Electrical-properties; Electrical-safety; Electricity; Electrocutions; Construction-industry; Construction-workers
Document Type
Field Studies; Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation
Funding Type
Cooperative Agreement
NTIS Accession No.
PB2012-112902
Identifying No.
FACE-92MN006; Cooperative-Agreement-Number-U60-CCU-507283
Source Name
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Performing Organization
Minnesota Department of Health
