Tool Box Talk: Some Mistakes During Electrical Work

“Some Mistakes During Electrical Work”
By Jim White, Shermco Industries

Thinking that it’s “only 120 volts” or 208 volts or 480 volts or…”It’s only low voltage.” Okay, I’ll admit that you can have an open casket with a low-voltage hit, but you’ll still be dead.

The only difference between low and high voltage is how fast it can kill you. High voltage kills instantly; low voltage may take a little longer.

Working on energized systems or equipment when it can be de-energized

This is a “man-thing”. When I was working in a power plant (back in the 70s), we never de-energized anything, whether it could be or not.

My boss had a great contempt for anyone sissy enough to actually ask to de-energize before working. He would tell anyone foolish enough to suggest turning it off, “You’re an electrician, work it hot!

That’s what you’re trained to do!” His other favorite saying was, “If you want to be here tomorrow, you’ll get this done today”. Can you feel the love? De-energizing is the only way to eliminate hazards.

Arc flash personal protective equipment (PPE) just increases your chances of survival; it doesn’t guarantee it.

Just be aware that until equipment and systems are placed in an electrically-safe work condition, proper PPE and procedures must be used to protect the worker.

Not wearing PPE.

People really don’t like wearing rubber insulating gloves or arc flash PPE and equipment.

It’s hot, uncomfortable, restricts movement, and slows the entire work process down — not only by wearing it, but by selecting the correct PPE and putting it on and taking it off. It will also save your life.

One of the most likely times people neglect to wear their PPE is during troubleshooting. The rationale seems to be, “I’m not really working on it; I’m just testing it.” Yet, CDC/NIOSH studies have found that 24% of electrical accidents are caused by troubleshooting, voltage testing and like activities. We have a tendency to ignore hazards associated with tasks we consider “safe”.

Not wearing the right PPE

No, I’m not repeating myself. Some people think that if they wear anything by way of PPE that should be enough.

While it is true that the injuries that you sustain probably won’t be quite as severe as if you didn’t wear any PPE, there’s a high probability that if the right PPE was worn, you’d have no injury.

This could also probably go under number 4, because if you aren’t paying attention during safety training, you probably can’t choose the right PPE, either.

Do you know how to interpret arc flash labels? What do you do if there’s no arc flash label on electrical power equipment? Do you know how to use the tables in the NFPA 70E?

Do you refer to the notes when you use the tables? If you answer “no” to any of these questions, you aren’t choosing the right PPE.

Going to sleep during safety training

Nothing like a good nap to get you ready for a hard day’s work! Every Monday morning Shermco does a one-hour safety meeting for all technicians.

We call it the “Monday Moaner”, because the technicians really want to be at their job sites, not getting “preached to”. We like to do what we are comfortable with, even if there’s a better way to do things.

Using outdated or defective test equipment to troubleshoot.

When the leads are frayed or the meter’s doggy, it’s time to replace it. I worked with a technician who used the same Wiggy (solenoid tester) for seven years.

You couldn’t read the faceplate, the coil was so weak that it didn’t even vibrate and the leads had been pulled loose from the bottom.

Almost every time he used it he got nailed! One day, right after he was shocked (for the kazillionth time) I said, “Hey let me see your Wiggy”. He handed it down and I twirled it around my head and smacked a concrete column with it.

The coil came springing out and he charged down the ladder like an enraged bull! I handed him my new Wiggy and said, “Take this new one – that one’s going to get you killed”, to which he said, “I’ve had that since I was an apprentice!”

Don’t get emotionally attached to inanimate objects. If you really love your old voltage tester, take it home and make a little shrine to it – just don’t bring it to work.

The NFPA committee was concerned enough to put two different requirements for using only portable electric tools and test equipment that were properly rated.

110.9(A)(1) Use of Equipment, Rating states, “Test instruments, equipment and their accessories shall be rated for the circuits to which they will be connected”.

Each of these statements is followed by a reference to ANSI/ISA 61010-1, Safety Requirements for Measurement, Control and Laboratory Use – Part 1: General Requirements for rating and design requirements for voltage measurement and test instruments intended for use on electrical systems 1000V and below.”

Trusting someone else for your safety

An OSHA compliance officer I know investigated an arc flash incident where two electricians had been working together for years.
The one who was injured asked his buddy if the circuit had been checked and was dead, to which his buddy replied, “Yeah”. He really didn’t think that it had been done, but he didn’t want to offend his partner, so he didn’t pursue the question.

When he started working on it the circuit blew up, causing severe arc flash burns. He stated, “If I had to do it over again I would have checked it myself and not worried about so-and-so’s feelings”.

Sometimes relationships cause us to not follow through when we should. Either we don’t want to offend someone, like the above example, or we don’t want to look less than manly to our co-workers.

“Nothing personal, I’d just like to make sure I don’t get my face blown off.” However you want to put it, don’t neglect to prove systems dead “personally”.

Not carrying your gloves with you during my safety training classes I like to ask how many people actually carry their rubber insulating gloves with them? Maybe one or two will raise their hands. Well, guess what, if you don’t carry them, you aren’t using them.

Summary

There’s always something else that could be included in this list, but these get you thinking. We go through life making small mistake after small mistake and nothing happens, until we happen to get the wrong alignment of small mistakes and we now have an accident. Once the accident starts, we have no control over it, so the best thing to do is to avoid the small mistakes and tighten up the way we work.

“To live with change, to optimize change, you need principles that don’t change.” –Dr Stephen R. Covey

Thanks for the share, TO!