105,313Records 71,083Employers 85,290Hospitalizations 27,770Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-10-31
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #694190

BURN,ELECTRIC ARC,ELECTRICAL,POWER LINE WORKER,ELECTRICAL TESTING,TEST EQUIPMENT,E PTD,ELEC UTILITY WORK

Event
BURN,ELECTRIC ARC,ELECTRICAL,POWER LINE WORKER,ELECTRICAL TESTING,TEST EQUIPMENT,E PTD,ELEC UTILITY WORK
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
694190
Report ID
355114

Event description

BURN - ELECTRICAL FAULT IN TESTING EQUIPMENT

Investigation abstract

Two power line workers were checking the phasing of some splices they had made. They were using an Allis-Chalmers, Type F, 13.8-kilovolt, 1200-ampere, ground an d test device. This particular device had a 3-millimeter-thick steel face. They were also using an A. B. Chance Company phasing tool (Catalogue No. 1876). The p hasing tool had 178-millimeter-long probes screwed into its end. The probes were too long for the purpose, and an electric arc formed between the probes and the metal face of the ground and test device. Both employees were burned by the arc and were hospitalized for their injuries.

Victims (2)

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 40 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    2
    Event type
    1
    Source
    15
    Occupation code
    577
    Human factor
    6
    Environmental factor
    18
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Hospitalized Age 18 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    2
    Event type
    1
    Source
    15
    Occupation code
    576
    Human factor
    6
    Environmental factor
    18
    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.