Inspection Detail

Inspection: 305353153 - Valley Detroit Diesel Allison

Inspection Information - Office: Santa Ana District Office

Investigation Summary

On January 14, 2004, Employee #1, with Valley Detroit Diesel Allison, a company who rents and setups of high voltage electric generators for temporary power, was contracted by the client to provide additional electrical power to boost up the power available from the utility company, which the client needed to test some special equipment. This client is involved in the manufacture and testing of cryogenic pumps and other parts used in the aerospace industry. The manufacturing and testing operations are housed in a large building. The employer had temporarily wired up additional generators to a transformer owned and maintained by the client. This temporary wiring setup including the generators and the transformer was entirely located outside in the parking area behind the manufacturing building. This testing had been completed and the employer was in the process of dismantling this temporary setup when this incident occurred. The circuits containing generators and the transformer had been completely shut down and there was no live part in the temporary wiring setup. The enclosure that housed this transformer for the temporary setup had three additional cables running through it. These cables were spliced inside this enclosure and had no connection to the transformer. These spliced cables carried Edison 4160VAC power for a 150-horse power motor used by the client as permanent equipment, which was not involved in the temporary wiring setup by the employer. It appears that the transformer enclosure was also used as a junction box for the spliced cables. Each of the spliced connections was covered with pieces of PVC pipe and some duct tape. Before the incident a coworker had tested transformer terminals and determined that there was no power in any part of the transformer. As part of the temporary setup dismantling process, Employee #1 was helping the corker to disconnect the cables from the transformer. While Employee #1 was disconnecting a cable from the transformer, one of the spliced connections was exposed, which started an electrical arc and fire. The right forearm of Employee #1 was burned in the fire before he could get away. Employee #1 suffered third degree burns to his right forearm and was hospitalized for three weeks.

Keywords: BURN, ELECTRIC MOTOR, ELECTRIC ARC, SHOCK, ELECTRICAL WORK, ARM, ELECTRICAL SPLICE, ELECTRIC GENERATOR