Abstract: Two electricians were removing a voltage recorder from a 1200-ampere secondary distribution cabinet. The recorder had been there for one day. The employees had removed the recorder from the cabinet and were reinstalling the cabinet door. One door had been replaced. As one of the electricians was positioning the second door, it entered the cabinet and caused an electrical fault. The ensuing electric arc burned this employee. (The other electrician was far enough away that he was not seriously injured.) The injured employee was hospitalized for 11 days with second- and third-degree burns to both hands.

Abstract: A power line crew was working from an aerial lift on an overhead power line. The two-person crew had placed an extension arm on the crossarm on a utility pole and was preparing to remove the rubber insulating equipment from the conductors. One of the power line workers was tying off a conductor that had been placed on the extension arm when the end of the crossarm broke, allowing the extension arm to swing down and come to rest against another crew's aerial lift bucket. While the extension arm was falling, two of the phase conductors on the power line faulted. The ensuing electric arc ignited the shirt of the power line worker who had been tying off the conductor. His coworker lowered the aerial lift bucket, and the injured employee was removed. Emergency medical services arrived in 5 to 10 minutes and transported him to a hospital. The employee was later airlifted to a regional burn center, where he was hospitalized for treatment of burns to his face, neck, and chest.

Abstract: A power line worker was assigned to replace a knife switch at a substation. He was to unbolt the switch after a coworker removed the energized leads to the switch to deenergize it. To perform this task, the power line worker had exchanged a hand ratchet wrench for a hydraulic impact wrench. This reduced the approach distance between the switch and the tower to less than 25 millimeters. The power line worker started to remove the switch before it was completely deenergized. As the power line worker was unbolting the switch, the impact wrench contacted the tower, and an electrical fault occurred. The ensuing electric arc burned the power line worker. He sustained first-, second-, and third-degree burns above his waist, including burns to his head and hands. He was hospitalized for his injuries.