Accident Report Detail
Accident Summary Nr: 200551471 - ELECTRIC SHOCK - GROUND FAULT IN ELECTRIC CORD
Inspection Nr | Date Opened | SIC | NAICS | Establishment Name |
---|---|---|---|---|
303081780 | 07/18/2000 | 3731 | 0 | Avondale Industries Inc., Steel Sales Div. |
Abstract: A third-class maintenance electrician and a first-class maintenance electrician were troubleshooting a portable outlet box in the lower yard at a shipyard. (A painter had reported that he had experienced an electric shock from touching the 480-volt box.) The electricians checked the wiring to the box using a Fluke Model 1000 volt-ohmmeter. The meter indicated that the box was energized at 15 to 20 volts. However, the box was not grounded, and the meter reading did not accurately reflect the voltage on the box. The electricians decided to ground the box by extending the grounding conductor to the grounding electrode (a rod driven into the earth) used to ground a nearby permanently installed electrical box. Without deenergizing the portable box, the third-class electrician added a length of conductor to its existing grounding conductor so that it would reach the grounding rod. He trimmed the outer insulation from the end of the new length of grounding conductor. He was standing in an area near a sandblasting enclosure with Black Beauty abrasive-blasting agent on the ground. When he went to attach the new conductor to the grounding rod, he contacted the lug on the grounding conductor with an Allen wrench and received an electric shock. The other electrician pulled the conductor from his coworker's hand. Employees summoned emergency medical assistance to the site, and the responding emergency medical team transported the injured employee to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. He had been electrocuted. A four-conductor cable with damage to its outer jacket and to the conductors had been connected to the outlet box. According to the electrical supervisor, the box had been grounded at one time. He had checked the box after the accident and measured 462 volts on the box cover.
Employee # | Inspection Nr | Age | Sex | Degree of Injury | Nature of Injury | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 303081780 | Fatality | Electric Shock | Electricians |