Inspection Detail

Inspection: 125710046 - Sacramento Municipal Utility District

Inspection Information - Office: Sacramento District Office

Investigation Summary

An electrical supervisor working for an electric utility was working at a substation. He was opening a disconnect switch on a 23-kilovolt power line. The three-phase switch was operated by a hand crank and gear box that turned a 12.2-meter-long, 64-millimeter-diameter vertical control shaft. Another person was turning the hand crank but could not open the switch. To gain leverage, the supervisor used a pipe wrench and a 1.1-meter-long length of 51-millimeter-diameter pipe on the shaft and turned the shaft along with the hand crank. The switch was frozen and still would not open. The supervisor stopped and studied the situation before deciding to halt the attempt to open the switch. When he stepped back to the pipe wrench to remove it from the control shaft, the wrench swung around and struck him in the face. He was hospitalized for facial fractures.

Keywords: WRENCH, FRACTURE, ELECTRIC SWITCH, ROTATING SHAFT, SUBSTATION, ELEC UTILITY WORK, FACE