Electrical Archives - Page 4 of 4

Electrical Explosion in Detroit Blows Manhole Covers

DETROIT, MI – An electrical explosion at Fort Washington Plaza in Detroit blew three manhole covers into the air.

Authorities confirmed that the high-rise building at 333 West Fort Street has been evacuated. DTE Energy crews have been sent to the building, although a spokesman for DTE said it’s not clear if their service is involved or affected.

Fire Chief John King said the whole situation unfolded after three manhole covers apparently “blew up.”

“We believe we have some underground wiring that has affected the scene. This building right here has been evacuated because of the amount of smoke that was accumulating in the basement, but there is no fire in this building nor has it affected the electrical in this building,” he said. “But it’s being evacuated and it will be shut down the rest of the day.”

“We’re always worried about that, that’s why we want to keep as many people aware of what’s going on as possible because we don’t want people to be near them and be aware that they will fly up in the air and come down and hurt someone,” said King.

Electrical Training Pays Off – Worker Saved by Plank of Wood

Swansea, UK – A workman saved a fellow employee from electrocution by hitting him with a plank of wood. Learning safe release methods of shock victims is a required part of electrical safety training, one that may have saved Mark Bradley’s life.

Bradley, 50, was struck by a reported 11,000-volt shock when a metal lamppost he was installing hit overhead power cables.

Ade Savage tried to free him by pulling and punching him – but making contact with the shock victim made Savage part of the electrical circuit and he suffered shocks himself. Savage then used a method taught in shock victim release training – He used a plank of wood and hit Mark until he broke the grip of the current. Wood is an insulator of electricity, meaning electrical current does not pass through it so Ade was no longer affected by the electric shock.

Mark Bradley, from Gosport, Hants, was taken to the hospital with burns to his face and arms and blood coming from his ears. Ade Savage was also treated for burns after the accident at a Network Rail site in Basingstoke. An investigation is being carried out.

BAM Construction said: “We can confirm there was an accident on our Basingstoke site late on Monday afternoon, where we are working for Network Rail.

Arc Flash Injures 2 at American Refining Group in PA

BRADFORD, PA — Two American Refining Group (ARG) employees were injured early Wednesday when an electrical arc flash occurred as they were working on electrical equipment at the plant.

Sara Furlong, executive communications coordinator at ARG, said information released by Don Keck, senior vice president of operations, stated the incident occurred at approximately 6:30 a.m. in the motor control center of the crude unit. Mrs. Furlong said two male employees, who were not identified, were working in the facility, which is undergoing expansion due to growing electrical requirements at the refinery.

“They were doing routine work at the crude unit” when the arc flash occurred, Mrs. Furlong said. After the arc flash, which did not cause a fire, the employee with less severe injuries was able to radio for assistance.

“They were both injured. One was taken by ambulance to Bradford Regional Medical Center and the other was flown by Mercy Flight helicopter to (Erie County Medical Center) in Buffalo, (N.Y.),” Mrs. Furlong said.

Mrs. Furlong said an investigation is being conducted by the refinery’s in-house safety personnel to determine the cause of the incident.

In addition, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) officials were at the refinery following the incident to investigate, and company officials were able to provide all required information.

“We expect further inquiry from OSHA and are prepared to fully comply,” she remarked.

Worker Suffers Electric Shock and Burns in WI

PLEASANT PRAIRIE, WI –A 24-year-old temporary maintenance employee suffered severe burns from electrical shock while on assignment for Parallel Employment Group of Wisconsin Inc. Working at the Arvato Digital Services LLC distribution center in Pleasant Prairie, the employee came in contact with an energized electrical source and suffered electrical shock. This caused severe burns and left the employee unable to work for more than four months after the May 19th incident.

An investigation OSHA cited both companies for failure to train employees in electrical safety-related work practices, including wearing electric arc flash and shock protection equipment.

OSHA cited Arvato Digital Services for one willful and 10 serious safety violations, carrying proposed penalties of $124,000. Parallel Employment Group, was cited for four serious violations and faces penalties of $26,000. Temporary staffing agencies and host employers share control and responsibility for temporary employee safety and health.

“Workers should not conduct maintenance and trouble-shooting without shutting down electrical sources and wearing Personal Protection Equipment. Those actions can prevent severe injuries like those suffered by this worker,” said Chris Zortman, OSHA’s area director in Milwaukee. “Both temporary staffing agencies and host employers must train and equip their employees properly.”

OSHA’s investigation found the worker, who had been employed for about eight months, had inadvertent contact with electrical equipment while trouble-shooting an electrical failure on a heat-sealing machine.

Arvato Digital Services failed to implement electrical safety practices for employees, which resulted in one willful violation. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirement, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.

Arvato Digital Services and Parallel Employment Group were cited for failure to train temporary employees in electrical safety and exposing workers to operating machinery parts on conveyers and press equipment. These serious violations exposed workers to electrical shock and amputation.

Additionally, Arvato Digital Services failed to require personal protective equipment for employees working near exposed, energized electrical parts. The company also did not develop procedures to de-energize circuits and equipment safely or ensure stored energy capacitors were grounded. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

The citations from OSHA included electrical safety, arc flash, lockout, and machine guarding citations, as follows:

PPE -OSHA 29 CFR 1910.132(d)(l): The employer did not assess the workplace to determine if hazards are present,or are likely to be present, which necessitate the use of personal protective equipment (PPE):

Lockout / Hazardous Energy Control Program – OSHA 29 CFR 1910.147(c)(4)(i): Procedures are not developed, documented and utilized for the control of potentially hazardous energy when employees were engaged in activities covered by this section:

29 CPR 1910.147(c)(6)(i): The employer did not conduct a periodic inspection of the energy control procedure at least annually to ensure that the procedure and the requirement of this standard were being followed:

Machine Guarding 29 CFR 1910.212(a)(l): Machine guarding was not provided to protect operator(s) and other employees from hazard(s) created by in going nip points, and unguarded conveyor belts:

View the Citation Here

Electrical Arc Shuts Down Washington DC Transit Network

WASHINGTON (AP) — The transit network in the nation’s capital remained hobbled Tuesday morning following an electrical malfunction that filled a busy subway station with smoke, killing one woman and sending dozens of people to hospitals.

The accident occurred around 3:30 p.m. Monday on a Virginia-bound yellow line train that had just left the L’Enfant Plaza station in downtown Washington, one of the system’s busiest stations.

The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating the accident, which happened at the beginning of the Monday afternoon rush hour and led to the first fatality on Washington’s Metro system since a 2009 crash that killed eight passengers and a train operator.

NTSB investigator Michael Flanigon told reporters late Monday night that an electrical “arcing” involving the high-voltage third rail led a train to stop in a tunnel and quickly filled the tunnel with smoke. An arcing occurs when electricity from the third rail comes into contact with another substance that conducts electricity, such as water.

“The third rail is high-voltage direct current, and if that current starts arcing to another conductor that it is not designed to connect with, you get a flash,” Flanigon said. “In certain cases, that arc can start sort of feeding on itself, and it actually generates gases that are more conductive.”

The yellow line remained shut down Tuesday morning, and the system’s orange, blue and silver lines were on a reduced schedule. Service on the green and red lines was normal.