Monday, February 2, 2015

ELECTRIC SAFETY – OVERHEAD POWER LINE (OHPL) INCIDENTS



ELECTRIC SAFETY – OVERHEAD POWER LINE (OHPL) INCIDENTS

Overhead power line (OHPL) injuries have outnumbered all other types of electrical injury since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking these incidents in 1992.  We conducted the necessary research and published our findings to raise awareness among these at-risk industries and occupations and help reduce overhead power line injuries and fatalities.”

Industries with the highest number of fatal overhead power line electrical injuries are, in order:
o   power line construction,
o   electrical work,
o   roofing,
o   electrical services (utilities),
o   ornamental shrub and tree services,
o   asbestos and lead pain removal services,
o   painting and concrete work.
The occupations with the highest number of fatal overhead power line injuries are, in order:
o   electrical power installers and repairers,
o   construction laborers,
o   supervisors for electricians and power transmission installers,
o   non-construction laborers,
o   construction trades,
o   painters,
o   carpenters,
o   roofers,
o   electricians and
o   truck drivers.

While it should come as no surprise that most overhead power line injuries occur in occupations that work on overhead power lines, such as line workers, we also found that a significant number of fatalities were attributed to occupations that don’t directly involve power lines, such as laborers, painters, roofers, truck drivers, and farmers.  This evidence demonstrates a need for overhead power line safety training beyond those who expect to have direct contact with power lines.

Many occupations that are not usually associated with OHPL-job responsibilities are fatally injured in the course of work performed in the vicinity of OHPLs.  Conductive ladders, aluminum siding, sheet metal, metallic poles and handheld objects are frequent elements in OHPL electrocutions for painters, siding mechanics and tree trimmers.


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The driver of a truck and loader crane sat tight in his cab after pulling down high tension power lines in Zell am See, Austria, on Friday.
                             The truck’s tires catch fire

The loader crane was not stowed and was left over the top of a piece of equipment on the back of the truck. As the truck passed over a railway level-crossing the top of the crane caught up on the 15,000 volt power lines above the tracks. The truck’s tires caught fire as the power hit them, but the driver, 67, had the knowledge to calmly stay in his cab until the power was cut off.



The fire department arrived quickly, organised for the power to be cut and took around half an hour to put out the fire and make sure that no residual current remained – the driver then finally left the cab. He was taken to hospital for a precautionary check-up.







The fire is extinguished and its almost ready for the drive to get out of the cab

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 Ivy, Virginia

A utility contractor employee suffered serious burns on Tuesday after he and the work platform he was using touched a live overhead power line in Ivy, Virginia.
The emergency services rescued him with a fire ladder, once they had cut the power supply to the area and made sure that no residual current was present.

Virginia Utilitly Worker Shocked 6-19-2014 8-22-29 AM
 
 The stricken man is rescued

Witnesses say that there was a huge flash that knocked out some of the power and caused the truck mounted aerial device to catch fire. The man seemed to be caught up in the power lines, but regained consciousness before the fire crew arrived. He was said to have received burns to 30 percent of his body.

The man was installing fiber optic cabling for a phone company when he inadvertently touch the power line. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating.