Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1757249.015 - Cc Electric, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Augusta Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 1:00 p.m. on June 24, 2024, an employee and Coworker #1 were working as electricians for an electrical contractor. The team was installing lighting switches and other associated electrical equipment in Room 716 of a commercial building. The team deenergized a circuit that supplied power to an area where they needed to perform work. They thought they had isolated the live circuit from the circuit that fed the area where they needed to work. Coworker #1 conducted some testing on a switch he was working on which was supposed to be deenergized. He discovered through testing the circuit with a hot stick that it was still energized. Coworker #1 then tested the switch with his voltage meter, which indicated a 0-voltage reading. He was not sure why the hot stick was indicating a voltage reading and how the power was getting to the switch. Coworker #1 was in charge of the site because the master electrician was not on site, so he instructed the employee to go inside Room 716 and determine whether the junction box they installed earlier in the day was indicating the same issue he had observed at the switch. After Coworker #1 instructed the employee to do the testing in the junction box, he went down to the third floor to use the bathroom. The employee went into Room 716 to conduct testing on the junction box. Coworker #2 was in the room adjacent to Room 716. Coworker #2 heard the employee yell, so he went to see what had occurred and saw the employee standing on a ladder with his upper body above the suspended ceiling. Coworker #2 attempted to initiate a conversation with the employee, but the employee was unresponsive. Coworker #2 then contacted Coworker #1 via phone to notify him of the situation. Coworker #1 returned to Room 716 to find the employee on the floor and called 911. The employee had somehow contacted a live electrical circuit and died due to being electrocuted.

Keywords: Commercial Building, Construction, Contact, Electric Shock, Electric Switch, Electrical Wire, Electrical Work, Electrician, Electrocuted, Energized, Glove, Inspecting, Installing, Lighting, Lighting Circuit, Lockout, Lockout/Tagout, Machine Guarding, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Multi-employer Worksite, Multiemployer, PPE, PPE Hazard Assessment, Protective Clothing, Shock, Troubleshooting