Accident Report Detail

Accident Summary Nr: 202340444 - Employee dies of burns from arc blast electrical fire

Accident Summary Nr: 202340444 -- Report ID: 0215000 -- Event Date: 04/25/2003
Inspection Nr	Date Opened	SIC	NAICS	Establishment Name
306442104	04/25/2003	1731	238210	High Rise Electric, Inc.

Abstract: On April 25, 2003, Employee #1 and coworkers were at a construction project to convert a 28-story commercial building into a residential complex. Employee #1 and four coworkers were installing copper adapters to an aluminum cable to upgrade the main switchboard equipment. The work involved the 480-volt, 1,200-amp, 600 AC, three-phase switch that was part of the Federal Pacific switchboard cabinet. He was using a 5 ft wooden ladder and working at a height of approximately 6.5 ft on the retrofit of the adapter in the 7.5 ft high main switchboard cabinet. The buss inside of the cabinet was still energized while the work was being done on the switch, resulting in an arc blast and electrical fire. Employee #1 died of the burns sustained in the accident.

Keywords: BURN, ELECTRIC ARC, WORK RULES, ELECTRICIAN, FIRE, BUSBAR, CONSTRUCTION, ELECTRICAL WORK, ELEC CIRC PART--MISC, ELECTRICAL CABINET

Accident Details
End Use		Project Type		Project Cost	Stories	Non-building Height	Fatality
Multi-family dwelling		Alteration or rehabilitation		$5,000,000 to $20,000,000	28	300	X

Employee Details
Employee #	Inspection Nr	Age	Sex	Degree of Injury	Nature of Injury	Occupation	Construction
1	306442104			Fatality	Burn/Scald(Heat)	Electricians	Distance of Fall: feet Worker Height Above Ground/Floor: feet Cause: Installing equipment (HVAC and other) Fatality Cause: Fire/explosion

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