TranslateAccident Report Detail
Accident: 200375723 - Employees Are Injured In Arc Flash; One Dies Of Burns
Accident: 200375723 -- Report ID: 0454510 -- Event Date: 10/28/2011 | |||||||
| Inspection | Open Date | SIC | Establishment Name | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 315695429 | 10/31/2011 | 8062 | Loris Community Hospital District | ||||
| Inspection | Open Date | SIC | Establishment Name | ||||
| 315695445 | 10/31/2011 | 1731 | Cayce Company Inc | ||||
| Inspection | Open Date | SIC | Establishment Name | ||||
| 315695429 | 10/31/2011 | 8062 | Loris Community Hospital District | ||||
| 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
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| Employee # | Inspection | Age | Sex | Degree | Nature | Occupation | |
| 1 | 315695429 | Hospitalized injury | Burn/Scald(Heat) | Electricians | |||
| 2 | 315695429 | Non Hospitalized injury | Burn/Scald(Heat) | Heating, air conditioning, and refrig. mechanics | |||
| 3 | 315695429 | Non Hospitalized injury | Other | Specified mechanics and repairers | |||
| 4 | 315695445 | Non Hospitalized injury | Other | Electricians | |||
| 5 | 315695429 | Hospitalized injury | Burn/Scald(Heat) | Supervisors; electricians & power transm. install. | |||