ELECTRICAL ACCIDENTS STILL HAPPENING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

The electrical hazards that continue to injure and kill workers tend to be simple, obvious and well known.Why do these accidents keep happening?
Normally, electricity is extremely safe. Considering that everyone is almost constantly surrounded by electrical wires and equipment, there are relatively few accidents.However,thats of little comfort to the hundreds of workers injured or killed as a result of electrical accidents. Perhaps it's not the hazard to which workers need to be alerted, but the pattern of behaviours leading to deadly contact.Electricity, familiar in almost every household and workplace in the country, is a mysterious force.It flows through conductors, along the path of least resistance, seeking ground. Human beings, moist-skinned bodies consisting of about 70 per cent salty, mineral-rich electrolytes such as blood, make excellent conductors.When a person comes into contact with an energized conductor a live wire his or her body makes a very good path to ground for the current. Recently, New Brunswick has had more than its fair share of serious electrical accidents,which resulted in serious burns to the hands and faces of the electricians involved.Apart from the injuries and suffering sustained by the workers,fire and downtime losses were substantial. The workers hadn't de-energized the electrical panels or circuits on which they were working and suffered flash burns from electrocution. Two of the electricians were journeymen,the third, an apprentice working under the supervision of a journeyman.The investigators reached these conclusions: The apprentice was inexperienced and there was inadequate supervision by the journeyman. There was a lack of knowledge or careless use of testing equipment. The electricians were not wearing the proper safety gear. There were violations or absence of safe lock-out procedures and violations of the Canadian Electrical Code rules for working on energized circuits.

WHSCC Health and Safety Officers recommend:

1. No repairs or alterations should be carried out on any live equipment except where complete disconnection is not practicable. General Regulation 91-191, Subsection 287.3(1); Canadian Electrical Code, Part 1- Section 2-304(1) 2. No one should work on any live equipment unless protected by approved protective equipment or insulating devices such as tongs, rubber gloves, boots, mats, etc.which must always be maintained in proper condition. General Regulation 91-191, Subsection 287.4(1); Canadian Electrical Code, Part 1- Section 2-306 3. Adequate precautions, such as locks on circuit breakers or switches, warning notices, sentries,or other equally effective means,must be taken to prevent electrical equipment from being electrically charged when work is being done. General Regulation 91-191,Subsection 287.3(1); Canadian Electrical Code,Part 1 - Section 2-304 (3)

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