Inspection Detail

Inspection: 302473434 - Carolina Component Concepts, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Nc Department Of Labor - Winston-Salem

Investigation Summary

An employee was working at the feed side of a Black Brothers coater machine. A coworker was working at the output side of the machine. The two employees were performing the daily initial setup and training a temporary employee to load the machine. The first employee was checking the initial setting of the ink rollers. The employer was using an American Scissor Lift lift table (Model No. M-1170-2B, Serial No. 77297-1) to hold and lift the paper being fed into the coater machine. The lift table had numerous electrical problems. The supply cord had been connected to the unit with reversed polarity; the equipment grounding conductor was not connected; the strain relief devices were defective; and a ground fault had energized the frame of the lift table at 117 volts. The first employee, who was wearing shorts, leaned against the lift table to wipe the wet ink roller. His bare left leg was touching the energized frame of the lift table when he contacted the ink roller of the grounded coater machine with his right hand. He received an electric shock and lost consciousness. When paper stock failed to come out of the other side of the machine, the second employee walked around the machine to find out what the problem was. He found the unconscious employee slumped over the machine with his right arm hooked over the emergency shut off bar and his left leg in contact with the lift table. The second employee lifted the injured employee off the machine and laid him on the floor. Another employee, who was a first responder for a local emergency medical service, was working nearby. He responded to the emergency and shook the injured employee's arm. With no response, he and a student nurse working at the plant administered cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. Emergency medical services arrived about 15 minutes after the accident and administered epinephrine. The two employees continued their resuscitation attempts as the emergency medical services team transported the unconscious employee to the hospital. The medical team detected a heart rhythm three times, but could never detect any blood pressure. The injured employee was pronounced dead at the hospital. He had been electrocuted.

Keywords: ELECTRICAL, E GI VII, ELECTROCUTED, GROUND FAULT, EQUIPMENT GROUNDING, ELEC EQUIPMENT--MISC