Fraser Construction Co: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on May 9, 1985: Electric shock & burn - contact with underground line

Some employees were installing a new 2.0-meter-diameter sewer line in a trench. An existing 0.7-meter-diameter line ran parallel to the new line. A concrete sad dle had previously been installed over the existing clay tile pipe to protect th e pipe from an electrical duct that ran perpendicular to the sewer line. The con crete electrical duct and the saddle had been poured at the same time, and no di stinctive line was showing between the two. The saddle was about 0.6 meters thic k, 0.6 meters wide, and 0.6 meters long. The employees were using a jackhammer t o chisel the concrete away from the old pipe because the saddle interfered with the new line. The employees drilled some horizontal holes into the saddle about 100 millimeters below the electrical duct. The superintendent and foreman got in to the hole and asked two employees how long it was going to take to remove the concrete saddle. One of the employees stated that it would take about 2 hours at this rate, and the supervisors apparently left the hole. With both employees ho lding onto the jackhammer, they brought it down at an angle to the concrete sadd le. Neither employee was using electrical protective equipment. The jackhammer p enetrated the electrical duct and a 13.8-kilovolt underground power line, causin g an electrical fault. The ensuing electric arc threw both employees backward in to the wall of the trench. One of the employees received an electric shock and s ustained severe burns to his arms. The second employee received an electric shoc k and sustained burns to his left arm and shoulder. The employees were hospitali zed for their injuries.