OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #818138
ELECTRICAL,E GI VI,ELECTROCUTED,WET OPERATION,UNDRGRD INSTALLATION,ELECTRIC CONDUCTOR,BLIND REACHING
Event description
ELECTRIC SHOCK - DIRECT CONTACT WITH ENERGIZED CONDUCTOR
Investigation abstract
TWO EMPLOYEES WERE REPAIRING A BROKEN 1.5-INCH POLYVINYL CHLORIDE WATER LINE. TH , HE HAD MADE THE WRONG CHOICE AND HAD CUT INTO THE ELECTRIC POWER LINE. HE RECE IVED AN ELECTRIC SHOCK FROM THE 120-VOLT CONDUCTORS. HE WAS TRANSPORTED TO A HOS PITAL WHERE HE EVENTUALLY DIED OF ELECTROCUTION. EY HAD APPARENTLY DUG A 3.5-FOOT-DEEP HOLE TO UNCOVER THE WATER LINE. THE HOLE H AD ALL WATER REMOVED, BUT THE BOTTOM OF THE HOLE WAS MUDDY. THE TWO EMPLOYEES NO TICED THAT THERE WERE TWO CONDUITS THAT LOOKED ALIKE IN SIZE AND IN COLOR. THEY WERE SURPRISED THAT TWO CONDUITS WERE FOUND WITHIN THE HOLE. THE EMPLOYEES KNEW THAT ONE OF THE LINES WAS THE WATER LINE, CARRYING 80 POUNDS OF WATER PRESSURE F OR SPRINKLER HEADS. THEY SURMISED THAT THE OTHER LINE MUST HAVE BEEN THE ELECTRI C WIRING FOR THE TIMING CLOCKS. ONE OF THE EMPLOYEES PINCHED THE LINE THAT THEY GUESSED WAS THE WATER LINE IN ORDER TO CUT OFF THE WATER PRESSURE. UNFORTUNATELY
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 43 M
- Nature of injury
- 10
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 13
- Source
- 15
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 13
- Hazardous substance
- 8870
- 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.