Inspection Detail

Inspection: 305350258 - Southern California Edison

Inspection Information - Office: Santa Ana District Office

Investigation Summary

On April 8, 2003, Employee #1 was working as an electrician for the utility Southern California Edison (SCE). He was installing an electric meter for a temporary power connection at a construction site. The old meter had been removed earlier, and it was being replaced by a meter with SCE Part Number 3416-009713. The post that held the temporary meter had been wired previously from a transformer box installed at ground level. When Employee #1 arrived at the site, there was no meter on the post, and the meter socket on the 5-foot-high wooden post was energized. This circuit was wired for 480 volts phase-to-phase and 277 volts phase-to-ground. Employee #1 stated that his training required that he bypass the circuit to deenergize the meter socket before installing a meter. Normally he did that, but this time he did not think it was necessary. He decided to install the new meter while the socket was energized. Employee #1 had barely brought the meter into contact with the socket, when the meter caught fire. The arc flash caused second- and third-degree burns to both of Employee #1's hands and first-degree burns to his face. He was hospitalized for two weeks. Employee #1 was not a contract employee.

Keywords: BURN, ELECTRIC ARC, ELECTRICAL, PPE, ELECTRICIAN, CONSTRUCTION, ELECTRIC METER, E C, E PTD, ELEC UTILITY WORK