Inspection Detail

Inspection: 315695429 - Loris Community Hospital District

Inspection Information - Office: Sc Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation

Investigation Summary

On October 28, 2011, Employees #1 through #4, with Loris Healthcare System, and Employee #5, an electrician with Cayce Company, Inc. (an electric contractor), were adding a circuit to the outside of Sea Coast Medical Center to power mobile medical equipment. They were preparing to pull electrical wire through a recently-installed conduit. Employee #1, the Plant Services Supervisor, removed the factory-installed protective tape from the energized bus bar of a 480 volt, 3000 Amp main breaker panel in the main electrical room. He was standing directly in front of the open panel with his hands inside it. When Employee #1 used a screw driver to scrape away tape adhesive, an arc flash occurred. He was engulfed in flame and received third-degree burns over approximately 48 percent of his body, primarily from the waist upward. Employee #1 died approximately three weeks later. Employee #2, an electrician/data communications technician who was standing beside Employee #1, approximately 1 ft from the front of the panel, was hospitalized for third-degree burns on his face and arms. Employee #3, who was standing approximately 6 ft from Employee #1, was treated at Sea Coast Medical Center for smoke inhalation. Employee #4, who was approximately 12 to 16 ft from the panel and walking away from it, was struck by flying debris but uninjured. Employee #5, who was working approximately 8 ft from the panel, received a first-degree burn on his upper arm from a piece of flying slag from the bus bar. This task was nonroutine for the employees of Loris Healthcare System; standard practice was reported to be that all energized electrical work was to be performed by contractors. Factors in the incident included failure to wear arc flash PPE, lack of a cover on the main panel, and failure to prohibit employees from working in proximity of energized electrical parts.

Keywords: RESPIRATORY, ELECTRIC ARC, PPE, ELECTRICAL CABINET, SMOKE INHALATION, BURN, ELECTRICIAN, MECHANIC, HEALTH CARE FACILITY, LOCKOUT