MCH Electric, Inc.: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on May 13, 2008: Employee suffers electric shock from underground switchgear

On May 13, 2008, Employee #1, who was a foreman, attempted to perform cable spli cing in an underground electrical vault, which contained a Trayer submersible va cuum switchgear that had conductors energized at 12,000 volts. The vault was loc ated at a residential construction site in Fremont, California. According to Emp loyee #1, who was the only witness on the day of the accident, his immediate sup ervisor told him to connect cables to the switchgear; therefore, he went to the switchgear to do the requested work. Employee #1 opened the lid to the vault at approximately 8:30 a.m. Employee #1 placed a ladder into the vault to descend in to the vault. Employee #1 stood on the top of the switchgear and Employee #1 did not notice any vibration or noise coming from the switchgear. This contributed to Employee #1 believing the switchgear was not energized. Employee #1 proceeded to remove three candle elbows for terminal conductor points or bushings on the switchgear so that Employee #1 could begin connecting cables to the switchgear. When Employee #1 removed the third or last candle elbow, an electrical flash or large ball of light occurred. The flash generated a loud bang. Employee #1 felt a substantial amount of pain. Employee #1 tried to ascend the nearby ladder to g et out of the underground vault. Employee #2, who heard the loud bang, went to h elp Employee #1 get out of the underground vault. Employee #3 called for emergen cy assistance. The gloves worn by Employee #1 had holes/tears from the electrici ty that entered/exited Employee #1's hands. The gloves were Tool Handz PLUS Rein forced Snug-Fitting types. On the day of the accident, the weather was sunny. Th ere was no water in the underground vault. Employee #1 did not receive electrica l safety training dealing with high voltage equipment. Employee #1 is not certif ied as an electrician/electrical trainee in the state of California. Employee #1 had never used any voltage testing equipment to determine if conductors/equipme nt are energized. According to Pacific Gas and Electric, which owns the switchge ar, the accident resulted in 182 customers losing power. After the accident, Emp loyee #1 was admitted to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, California, but w as later admitted to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, California. Employee #1 was admitted to both hospitals on May 13, 2008. Employee #1 suffered third and second degree burns to hands, and first degree burns to entire surfac e of the face to the neck. Employee #1 also suffered temporary loss of hair on h is head and face. The employer failed to provide any electrical safety training records for Employee #1 after the employer was given a request for safety traini ng records. The cause of the accident was Employee #1 performed electrical work on energized equipment/switchgear without using proper safety controls for energ ized equipment. These controls include using voltage testing equipment before pe rforming electrical work to determine if equipment was energized, having only a qualified electrical worker perform work on high voltage equipment, wearing safe ty gloves that are rated for voltage that may be encountered, and following prop er de-energizing provisions for work on high voltage equipment.

Incident on Aug 22, 2003: Employee burned in arc blast from cutting into pvc conduit

On August 22, 2003, Employee #1, a laborer, was instructed by his foreman to cut into a 3 in. thick PVC conduit so that a branch conduit could be installed. He had hand-sawed 2 in. into the conduit when he contacted an energized, 21 kilovol t conductor. The conductor shorted, causing an arc blast that was contained by t he PVC conduit. Employee #1 sustained first-degree burns from the electric shock . He was transported to Valley Medical Center in Pleasanton, CA, where he was tr eated and released. The employer was cited for serious violations of T8CCR 2940( b), T8CCR 2940(c), and T8CCR 2940.6(a)(1).