Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: ELECTRIC

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which was free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees that were exposed to an electric arc and fire hazard while upgrading switches in an underground vault: a. On or about February 27, 1999, at 9553 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, Florida, two Cable Splicers were assigned to upgrade fuses in an underground vault that contained Oil Fuse Cutouts (OFC) and Oil Switches. During the work activity, oil from a transformer's OFC was blown onto a worker. Work activity was not discontinued to determine why this malfunction occurred. Additional transformer oil was lowered in to the vault. A phase transformer OFC fault fired causing an electric arc which ignited the oil. Additional OFC fault firing and excess oil were contributing factors in the severity of the accident. Among other methods, the following are considered to be feasible and acceptable methods to correct this hazard: Use personal protective equipment (blast blankets, shields and flame retardant clothing) to minimize the effects of electrical arcs and flash fires. Insure that employees are trained to recognize abnormal conditions that arise (i.e. oil blowing from equipment) and only proceed when an in-process evaluation has determined the cause of the malfunction and corrective measures have been taken. Insure that Oil Fuse Cutouts are set to non-automatic (one shot) mode of operation. PLEASE NOTE: CERTIFICATION AND DOCUMENTATION OF ABATEMENT IS REQUIRED FOR THIS VIOLATION.