Inspection Detail

Inspection: 305476723 - Richard L Schuetze Inc Dba Bolt Electric

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At 2:30 p.m. on April 13, 2004, Employee #1, a supervisor for an electrical contractor, was part of a group of workers at a former manufacturing plant that was being converted to a scrap yard by its new owner. Employee #1 and an electrician coworker shut off the 600-amp main breaker, catalog no. QSF 6053T/S2983A17, of a Sylvania electrical panel fed by a 120/240/208 Delta high leg so they could decide whether to modernize or replace the panel. Employee #1 then tried to remove a branch circuit breaker. He was using a screwdriver as a wedge to break the contact clips on the back of the circuit breaker from the busbars when an electrical arc occurred. Employee #1 sustained second-degree burns over 6 percent of his skin surface area that included portions of his head, neck, upper arms, and shoulders. At the time of the accident, he was wearing safety glasses and a short sleeve uniform, but no gloves or hard hat. The screwdriver apparently contacted a busbar behind the breaker, which was energized because one or more poles apparently did not pull free from their contact clips when the breaker was shut off.

Keywords: BURN, ELECTRIC ARC, HEAD, STRUCK AGAINST, BUSBAR, CONSTRUCTION, CIRCUIT BREAKER, ELEC CIRC PART--MISC, HAND TOOL