OSHA Inspection: FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT

Issued

Aug 27, 1999

Abate by

Sep 23, 1999

Penalty

Initial $5,000 · Current $3,750 Reduced

General-duty citation text

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.