• Welcome to The Building Code Forum

    Your premier resource for building code knowledge.

    This forum remains free to the public thanks to the generous support of our Sawhorse Members and Corporate Sponsors. Their contributions help keep this community thriving and accessible.

    Want enhanced access to expert discussions and exclusive features? Learn more about the benefits here.

    Ready to upgrade? Log in and upgrade now.

Freak Accident Electrocution

jar546

CBO
Joined
Oct 16, 2009
Messages
13,000
Location
Not where I really want to be
A grounded plug may have been the difference between life and death.

At 1:50 a.m. on July 16, 2022, an employee was closing an overhead door adjacent to a welding station at a fabricated metal manufacturing facility. A portable e lectric fan mounted on a pedestal was plugged into a wall receptacle at the over head door. Coworkers noticed several minutes later than the employee was sitting on a crate at the overhead door and his left arm was in contact with the portab le fan. When a coworker attempted to close the overhead door and moved the porta ble electric fan, he noticed an electric arc when contact between the fan and th e employee's arm was broken. A coworker initiated CPR and requested medical assi stance. The employee was transported to the local hospital where he died from th e electric shock injuries. It was determined that the portable cord run through a wire way hole was exposed to a sharp edge which cut the wire sheath and insult ation and exposed the bare conductor. The attachment plug was also missing the g round pin.
 
Back
Top