Home Improvement Project? Call Before You Dig To Avoid Electrocution

As spring rolls around, many homeowners start projects that require digging on their property. This creates a risk of striking an underground electrical wire, causing injury. Sempra Energy provides this useful reminder about how to conduct such projects safely:

SDG&E is encouraging customers to “call 811 before they dig” to avoid damaging buried natural gas and electric lines when pursuing projects in their yard, such as putting up a new wall or fence, planting or re-working landscaping, putting in a swimming pool, or other yard renovations.

“During the warmer months, many homeowners begin projects which require digging on their property,” said J. Bret Lane, vice president of gas transmission and distribution for SDG&E. “Since gas and some electric lines are located underground and out of sight, we urge homeowners to make a quick phone call to Underground Service Alert to have utilities marked for free. This will help them avoid unnecessary and costly damage, possible injury or service interruption.”

You can get more information about the Call 811 program, a federal program available nationwide, here.

Electrical Safety Tips for The Holidays

Getting in the holiday spirit? Breaking out the lights? Here are a dozen useful tips about how to avoid electrocution, electrical fires and other electrical injuries this holiday season:

1. Turn off holiday lights before going to sleep or leaving the house unattended. An appliance timer can help manage holiday lights.
2. When stringing lights outside, use a dry, wooden or fiberglass ladder and be sure to stay away from overhead power lines.
3. Use only strings of outdoor lights, spotlights, sockets and extension cords approved by the Underwriter’s Laboratories (UL). Ensure they are not frayed or damaged.
4. Before putting up lights, check wires, plugs and sockets for wear or damage. If damaged, either repair or discard them.
5. Use more than one circuit to avoid overloading household wiring. This generally means no more than three light strings connected together.
6. To reduce the risk of electrical shock, make sure that GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupters) protection is provided for outlets at outdoor receptacles and test the GFCI monthly to make sure it is working properly. If GFCI receptacles are not available, portable GFCI equipment may be used. The Consumer Product Safety Commission advises that more than two-thirds of the 300 annual electrocutions nationwide could be prevented with the use of GFCI protection.
7. Do not use candles near flammable materials or where they can be knocked over or reached by small children or family pets.
8. Do not hang lights on a metallic tree. The danger of shock is great. Instead of hanging lights, use a spotlight to illuminate metallic trees.
9. There should be a smoke detector on every level of the house and outside each sleeping area. It also is important to have detectors installed properly and tested to ensure they are in working condition.
10. If using a live Christmas tree, make sure to check the water level in the tree stand on a daily basis. If the tree appears to be losing a large amount of needles, or if the needles become brittle, do not turn on any electrical lights used for decorations. The heat from the lights may cause a fire.
11. Avoid stringing any outdoor lighting or electrical cords where the water from irrigation or sprinklers may be present. Water and electricity do not mix and can cause serious injury or even death in these conditions.
12. As a precaution, all homes should have at least one class ABC extinguisher, placed in an easily accessible area. An extinguisher with an ABC classification puts out all three types of fires: combustible-liquid fires; fires from burning wood, paper and cloth; and electrical fires. It is important to check the pressure in the extinguisher at least every month and refill or replace if it’s low. Know how to properly use the extinguisher.

[More at APS Energy]

5-Year-Old Boy Dies From Electrocution After Crawling Into Unlocked Utility Box

A five-year-old boy tragically died on Thanksgiving after crawling into an unlocked utility box. Indiana’s WSBT reports:

The utility box that killed Izaya Baiz-Hickey last week carries more than 7,000 volts of electricity, so security is supposed to be tight. But city officials say not only was that box left unlocked; there didn’t appear to be a lock on it at all.

Family members of Izaya are still trying to understand why they lost him. While playing outside with friends after Thanksgiving dinner last week, authorities say he climbed into the utility box — buzzing with 7,200 volts of electricity — and was electrocuted immediately.

“Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to come out and check and make sure there are locks on these things,” said Izaya’s grandmother Melodie Hale.

Mishawaka’s utility department owns the utility box and hundreds of others. Monday morning, city officials met to talk about what happened while police continue their investigation.

“We expect that soon we’ll have a final report but until we do it’s somewhat speculative on our part to determine what really took place,” said Jim Schrader of Mishawaka Utilities.

But the head of Mishawaka Utilities says this much is clear.

“It is our procedure to have doors on these cabinets locked; can’t explain why it wasn’t,” Schrader said.

City officials say not only was that box unlocked Thursday night, there wasn’t a lock on it, and they still don’t know where it is.

Schrader says city utility workers are the only people with access to the boxes and know all too well the dangers of leaving them open.

Four days after the accident, authorities still aren’t sure why the box was unlocked.

But they promise — for the family of Izaya Baiz-Hickey — answers will come soon.

As a general matter, both the electric utility and the owner of the apartment complex have a legal obligation to keep high voltage equipment secure and safe.

How To Protect Children From Electrical Shock With Tamper Resistant Outlets

Each year, 2400 children suffer electrical shocks and burns from contact with electrical outlets. The Electrical Safety Institute International has produced a useful video about how you can protect children from electric shock in your home at very little expense with tamper resistant outlets:

You can read more about tamper resistant outlets, which are required in all new homes by the 2008 National Electric Code, at childoutletsafety.org.

Jury Awards Nurse $3.2 Million For Severe Electric Shock

A Massachusetts jury recently awarded a nurse $3.2 million after she suffered a severe electric shock. Here is a summary of the facts of the case:

A nurse suffered an electrical shock, which severely injured her, when she was trying to plug in an oxygen container for a patient at a nursing home where she worked; a month earlier another nurse had filled out a repair order for an outlet in that room, reporting that sparks came out of it when she tried to plug in a lamp; a repairman had looked at the outlet on the other side of the room and had replaced a light, but did not speak to the nurse to determine which outlet was sparking.

The nurse’s injuries included “violent seizures,” “unconsciousness for eight to ten minutes” and “paralysis on the left side of her face.” The nurse currently suffers from “deep depression” is now unable to drive more than very short distances, because she easily gets lost.

The jury issued the award after finding “the nursing home vicariously liable for the repairman’s negligence.”

The case is Doe v. Comprehensive Addiction Programs, Inc.

Scottish Engineering Company Found Liable For Electrocution

The BBC reports that a Scottish Engineering Company has been found liable for the death of a man who electrocuted on the job:

A Scottish engineering company is facing a substantial fine following the death of an electrician on a construction site in Dundee.

Mitie Engineering Services (Edinburgh) Ltd has been found guilty of breaching health and safety laws.

Michael Adamson, 26, from Bo’ness, was killed while working on a live wire which had been marked “not in use” at a JJB fitness centre in 2005.

The company will be sentenced at Dundee Sheriff Court next week.

More reporting on the case from Construction News UK:

The Dundee Sheriff Court heard that, despite being labelled ‘not in use’, the cable he was working on was live.

HSE principal inspector Jim Skilling said Mr Adamson was not provided with the necessary test equipment to prove the cable was dead, nor the means to securely isolate the circuit.

Mr Skilling, commenting after the case, said: “The industry’s complacency in accepting dangerous practices is startling.

“Michael Adamson’s death could have been prevented had his employer ensured that safe working practices were being carried out in accordance with the company’s own written procedures. Managers and supervisors in this industry must take active steps to ensure that their electricians work safely.”

The company was ultimately fined 300,000 British pounds (about $500,000).