Inspection Detail

Inspection: 315318865 - Canus Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Oakland District Office

Investigation Summary

On July 27, 2012, Employee #1 was working for the Canus Corporation. He was a field inspector for the work being performed by another subcontractor on electrical utilities and equipment belonging to the electric utility Pacific Gas & Electric. The incident occurred in a residential area where electrical crews were working on conduits between existing transformers. The worksite was a transformer designated as PG&E transformer #T1407 in the front yard of an address in Livermore, CA. At the time of the incident, members of the field crew from another subcontractor employer were blowing a pull tape southward a few hundred feet, through an electrical conduit leading from a pull box to the north, into transformer #T1407. The pull tape was to be left in the conduit, and at a future date, another crew would come through and pull new wires through the conduit. Employee #1 was standing next to the transformer. Employee #1 wanted to make sure that the air being blown through the conduit didn't force debris into the transformer, so he placed two pieces of 2-inch by 6-inch (50-millimeter by 150-millimeter) lumber near the open edge of the conduit. When he heard the end of the pull tape come through, he waved to the crew to discontinue blowing air. Looking into the transformer, he couldn't see the end of the pull tape (the "parachute"). Employee #1 then removed the two pieces of lumber and reached into the transformer with his right hand to find the pull tape and verify that it had come through the conduit successfully. Upon reaching into the transformer, Employee #1 received an electrical shock. In addition, he sustained a second-degree burn to his upper right arm, a first-degree burn on his back, and slight marks around his chest, resulting from incidental contact with conductors energized at 12 kilovolts. The injury resulted in a two-night stay in the hospital. The main causal factor for the injury was a lack of appropriate personal protective equipment and other safeguards, and lack of training by the employer. The injury was reported by the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department to the Division that same day.

Keywords: BURN, E GI II, PROTECTIVE CLOTHING, ELECTRICAL, PPE, CONDUIT, ELEC UTILITY WORK, ELECTRIC CONDUCTOR, ELECTRIC SHOCK, TRANSFORMER