OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #570358
E GI V,HEAD,OVERCURRENT PROTECT,ELECTRICAL,ELECTRIC PUMP,GROUND FAULT,EQUIPMENT GROUNDING,DROWN,OVERCURRENT
Event description
DROWNING CAUSED BY HEAD INJURY OR ELECTRIC SHOCK
Investigation abstract
AN EMPLOYEE WAS FOUND IN ABOUT 2 FEET OF WATER IN THE BASEMENT OF A HOT MILL. HE IL SEAL ON THE MOTOR ALLOWING OIL TO LEAK FROM THE MOTOR INTO THE CONTROL BOX. T HE 120-VOLT ELECTRIC PUMP WAS SUPPLIED BY A 50-FOOT EXTENSION CORD SET THAT HAD THE GROUNDING PRONG MISSING. ADDITIONALLY, THE RECEPTACLE OUTLET WAS NOT A GROUN DING-TYPE OUTLET. THE RECEPTACLE WAS SUPPLIED FROM A BOX THAT CONTAINED A 30-AMP ERE FUSE WITH 2 FUSE LINKS CONNECTED TO INCREASE THE FUSE'S CAPACITY TO APPROXIM ATELY 60 AMPERES. THE INSULATION ON THE CORD FOR THE ELECTRIC PUMP HAD MELTED WH ERE THE UNGROUNDED (BLACK) CONDUCTOR HAD OVERHEATED, AND THE WIRE HAD SEPARATED. THE INSULATION ON THE CONDUCTORS HAD MELTED AND BURNED FROM THE WATER LINE TO W ITHIN 6 INCHES OF THE ATTACHMENT PLUG. HAD A BRUISE ON HIS FOREHEAD, WHICH INDICATED THAT HE MAY HAVE LOST CONSCIOUSNE SS AS A RESULT OF THE HEAD INJURY AND SUBSEQUENTLY DROWNED. IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE THAT HIS DROWNING WAS RELATED TO ELECTRIC SHOCK (I. E., HE COULD HAVE LOST CONSC IOUSNESS FROM AN ELECTRIC SHOCK, OR HE COULD HAVE RECEIVED THE HEAD INJURY AS A RESULT OF INVOLUNTARY REACTION FROM AN ELECTRIC SHOCK). AN ELECTRIC PUMP, WHICH HAD ITS WIRING ALTERED, WAS IN THE WATER. ITS AUTOMATIC SWITCH HAD BEEN DISCONNE CTED, AND A 5-INCH PIECE OF WIRE HAD BEEN USED TO CONNECT A SUPPLY CONDUCTOR TO THE MOTOR TERMINAL TO WHICH THE WIRE WAS SOLDERED. HEAT ON THE WIRE MELTED THE O
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 49 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 5
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 7
- Environmental factor
- 13
- Task assigned
- 1
Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.