Category: OSHA Archives

OSHA News Release: Federal investigation into fatal 2022 electrocution in Kansas City – company again failed to protect workers

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OSHA News Release – Region 7

U.S. Department of Labor

Federal investigation into fatal 2022 electrocution in Kansas City finds Midwest engineering services company again failed to protect workers

US Engineering Services employees electrocuted while servicing HVAC systems in 2021, 2022

KANSAS CITY, MO ‒ A fourth-year apprentice heating, ventilation and air conditioning technician employed by U.S. Engineering Services suffered fatal electrocution after coming in contact with energized parts while repairing HVAC equipment on Aug. 24, 2022, at University Academy, a college prep charter school in Kansas City, Missouri.

A federal investigation  found the company failed to follow required procedures which would have prevented the incident, a violation cited by federal investigators in July 2021, when another company HVAC technician was fatally electrocuted while working on a rooftop air conditioning unit not drained of all its energy in Wichita, Kansas.

Specifically, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found U.S. Engineering Services – a subsidiary of the Midwest enterprise, U.S. Engineering – failed to de-energize equipment and prevent equipment from unintentionally starting during repairs or maintenance. OSHA also found the Kansas City-based company failed to conduct hazard assessments to identify personal protective equipment needs and other requirements for field employees at contracted sites and allowed a damaged extension cord to be used at the repair site.

“This worker’s death was avoidable. Employers must follow well-known electrical safety procedures set forth in federal regulations and industry-recognized practices,” said OSHA Area Director Karena Lorek in Kansas City, Missouri. “Companies whose employees work with electricity must take all necessary steps to make sure they are protected from dangerous electrical hazards so they can return home safely.”

OSHA’s investigation found the worker was cleaning a chiller unit in the academy’s mechanical room when the electrocution happened. While the chiller’s fan motor was turned off using the building’s HVAC management system, neither a lock and/or tagout was placed on the unit control switch to ensure electrical power was drained from the coils and the air handler.

Investigators also determined neither arc flash personal protective equipment or lockout/tagout equipment was onsite at time of the incident.

OSHA cited U.S. Engineering Services for three serious and two repeat violations and proposed $197,642 in penalties. The agency identified similar violations after the July 2021 fatality. The company settled the case and paid the penalties assessed by OSHA.

U.S. Engineering Services is one of five companies held by U.S. Engineering in Kansas City. Its holdings include U.S. Engineering Construction, U.S. Engineering Metalworks, U.S. Engineering Innovations and USE Real Estate Holdings. 

 

Click here for the full news release from OSHA

OSHA fines company $333,560 over alleged workplace violations in accident that killed worker in Boston

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The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed penalties of $333,560 against Eversource Energy for workplace safety violations related to an arc flash and blast last summer that killed a 31-year-old worker.

The Eversource employees were doing maintenance work on electrical equipment in an underground electrical vault July 12, the agency said. As one employee set the equipment back into place, an arc flash and arc blast occurred. The worker, identified by Eversource as Fabio Pires, suffered severe burns and later died.

The utility did not fully de-energize the electrical equipment or follow the manufacturer’s maintenance recommendations when employees conducted maintenance, OSHA said. It also failed to make a reasonable estimate of the heat energy to which employees would be exposed if an arc flash and blast occurred, it said.

In addition, Eversource did not adequately train employees on electrical equipment hazards, provide rescue equipment or test oxygen levels before the employees entered the vault, an enclosed space, the agency said.

“Eversource could have prevented this arc flash and blast — and its tragic outcome — by ensuring effective and necessary training, procedures and work practices were provided and followed,” OSHA Area Director James Mulligan said in a release Thursday. “The company knew the hazards related to this type of high voltage equipment, yet it failed to safeguard its employees as the law requires.”

Eversource spokeswoman Caroline Pretyman said the company disagrees with OSHA’s conclusions and the characterizations of its actions. The utility “will continue to respond accordingly as this process becomes final,” she said in a statement.

“We remain deeply saddened by the passing of our colleague Fabio Pires following the tragic incident in downtown Boston last summer,” Pretyman said. “Safety is the most fundamental aspect of our everyday focus to provide reliable energy service, and we always strive to lead by example in accordance with industry best practices.”

OSHA cited Eversource for two willful and three serious violations. Eversource has 15 business days to comply and pay the fine, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings, the labor agency said.

Pires, who lived in Brockton, Massachusets, was born in Cape Verde and moved to the U.S. with his mother in 1999, according to an obituary. Trained as an electrical engineer, Pires began working at Eversource in 2016.

Click here for the original article from Utility Dive

OSHA NEWS RELEASE: US Department of Labor cites Savannah space remediation company after 32-year-old lead repair technician suffers fatal electrocution

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OSHA News Release – Region 4

US Department of Labor cites Savannah space remediation company after 32-year-old lead repair technician suffers fatal electrocution
East Coast Crawl LLC failed to have power lines deenergized before work began

SAVANNAH, GA – A federal workplace safety investigation into how an employee suffered a fatal electrocution while digging a shallow drainage trench under a home has found that a Savannah crawl space remediation company might have prevented the incident by following required safety standards.

U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators determined the 32-year-old lead repair technician employed by East Coast Crawl LLC – operating as Crawlspace Medic of Savannah – came into contact with an electrical line on April 18, 2022, as they installed a drain to remove accumulating water.

OSHA cited the company for not making sure to deenergize electrical lines before allowing employees to work and dig within the danger zone, which exposed workers to electrical shock hazards. East Coast Crawl also failed to train employees to recognize and avoid unsafe conditions, did not provide personal protective equipment for working in a confined space, and failed to identify all permit-required confined spaces. OSHA has proposed $31,284 in penalties.

“Working in confined spaces presents hazards that can be fatal if they go unrecognized and are not appropriately mitigated,” explained OSHA Acting Area Director Jerred Stevens in Savannah, Georgia. “Employers have a legal responsibility to provide and ensure their employees have a safe workplace, but East Coast Crawl failed to follow federal safety requirements, and this worker’s family, friends and co-workers are left to grieve.”

In 2020, hazardous exposure to electricity claimed the lives of 126 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

East Coast Crawl LLC, a Crawlspace Medic LLC franchise, operates 24 locations across the U.S.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Click here to read more from this OSHA News Release

Cabinet Manufacturer Faces Citations After Worker Electrocuted – Repost from Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S)

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Cabinet Manufacturer Faces Citations After Worker Electrocuted

The citations include violations for not using energy isolating devices, PPE and ladder use.

A cabinet manufacturer was recently cited after a worker was fatally injured.

In March of this year, a 33-year-old technician was replacing a light fixture when they “came into contact with a 277-volt circuit,” according to an OSHA news release. The technician, employed by Wellborn Cabinet Inc of Alabama, was fatally electrocuted. 

After an inspection, the agency determined parts were not checked for de-energization, and “energy isolation devices” were not used to control energy, the agency said. Other violations OSHA found relate to PPE use while “spraying coatings, paints and finishes” and ladder use. The company was cited for eight serious violations. The agency also proposed penalties totaling $115,188.

 “A worker’s family, friends and co-workers now grieve a terrible loss which might have been prevented had Wellborn Cabinet followed federal safety requirements,” explained OSHA Area Director Ramona Morris in Birmingham in the news release. “Every worker has a right to a safe and healthful workplace and every employer is legally responsible for providing one. We encourage employers to contact us with questions about keeping their employees safe.”

Click here for the article directly from Occupational Health & Safety

Most Common OSHA Violations for Electrical Contractors

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Highlights from “The Most Common OSHA Violations for Electrical Contractors”

Between October 2020 and September 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) charged nearly $2 million in fines to electrical contractors in the United States. These penalties were all the result of failure to comply with OSHA standards, but which standards in particular?  

By understanding where other electrical contractors have gone wrong, you can help to ensure your firm doesn’t make the same mistakes — and, more importantly, avoid devastating workplace injuries. Here are the 10 most-cited OSHA standards for electrical contractors, according to the latest figures released by the Administration.

Note: This content is for informational purposes only, and should not be considered legal advice. For official help complying with these and other OSHA standards, contact your local OSHA office, or contact the Administration at 1-800-321-OSHA.

1. Standard 1926.416:    General requirements for protecting employees

This standard covers the general requirements for working with electrical systems in the construction industry. It contains nine distinct rules, covering everything from preventing contact with energized power circuits to the necessary condition of electrical cables. According to this standard, OSHA citations may result from failure to:

  • Prevent employees from working near power circuits unless those circuits are deenergized and grounded or sufficiently guarded from contact.
  • Ensure employees wear insulated gloves when using hand tools near the potential location of underground power lines.
  • Locate all energized power circuits prior to allowing employees to work near them.
  • Set up barriers around exposed and energized parts of electrical equipment.
  • Keep all walking/working spaces free of hazardous cords.
  • Prevent load increases in circuit protectors beyond the top wiring load rating.
  • Make sure employees use appropriately insulated tools to handle fuses in energized systems.
  • Avoid the use of “work or frayed” cords and cables.
  • Never support extension cords with staples, nails, or wire.

In the October 2020 to September 2021 study period, OSHA issued 39 citations to electrical contractors for violating this standard. These citations led to fines worth a total of $324,353.

6. Standard 1926.20:    General safety and health provisions

This standard clarifies how other standards will be enforced, covering general topics from safety programs to personal protective equipment (PPE) and employee training in the construction industry. It makes several important safety responsibilities clear:

  • Employers are responsible for offering effective safety programs.
  • These programs must include frequent inspection of job sites, equipment, and construction materials, and must be conducted by “competent persons.”
  • Multiple standards within part 1926 of the OSHA regulations require employees to provide safety training as well as appropriate PPE.

    –Standard 1926.20 (f) specifies that each failure to train or provide PPE is a separate violation. So if you fail to train a whole team, you could be cited once for each employee, for instance.

Among electrical firms, violations of standard 1926.20 resulted in 15 citations from OSHA during the study period. Total fines amounted to $57,576.

7. Standard 1926.21:    Safety training and education

Here, OSHA spells out the government’s authority over industrial training programs in the construction industry, and clarifies employer responsibility to train employees for safety and health. Sections that may lead to citations for electrical contractors include:

  • Employers must teach employees how to recognize and avoid unsafe conditions, as well as methods of removing or at least controlling these hazards.

Between October 2020 and November 2021, OSHA issued electrical contractors 15 citations related to this standard, with fines totaling $87,022. That breaks down to an average fine of over $5,800.

 

8. Standard 1926.403: General requirements for approved electrical conductors and equipment

This list of “general requirements” covers the use of electrical equipment in the construction industry, including rules for setting up and working around electrical devices. In part, it states that:

  • Employers must ensure that electrical equipment is safe for use in a variety of conditions.
  • Any equipment that requires certification or official documentation must be installed and used as described by the paperwork.
  • Electrical equipment must be safely secured to mounting surfaces (which means no wooden plugs driven into concrete, which apparently was a common problem when OSHA wrote the rule).
  • Electrical equipment must have a certain amount of empty space surrounding it (usually not less than 30 inches, but sometimes up to four feet).

Violations of standard 1926.403 led to 13 OSHA citations among electrical contractors in the study period, with fines totaling $35,576.

 

9. Standard 1904.39: Reporting fatality, injury, and illness information to the government

Notably, standard 1904.39 is the only item on this list that doesn’t cover the construction industry alone. It comes from part 1904 of the regulations, which governs how employers must record and report workplace injuries and illnesses to the government. Specifically, standard 1904.39 states, in part, that:

  • Employers must report workplace deaths to OSHA within eight hours of the incident.
  • If a workplace injury leads to an employee being admitted to a hospital — or if there’s an amputation or loss of an eye — those incidents must be reported within 24 hours
  • Employers can make these reports either online, using OSHA’s Serious Event Reporting Online Form, by calling your local OSHA Area Office, or by calling the central OSHA phone line at 1-800-321-OSHA.

During the study period, OSHA issued 11 citations to electrical contractors for violations of this standard, and charged total fines of $33,158.

The best way to avoid OSHA citations — and the workplace hazards that lead to them — is to work with the experts, either professional safety advisors or OSHA itself.

 

Click here for the full list of most common OSHA violations for electrical contractors provided by the Solus Group

Worker for Keene electric company electrocuted at wastewater treatment plant

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Worker for Keene electric company electrocuted at wastewater treatment plant

An investigation is underway after a worker died when they were electrocuted during an accident at the Keene wastewater treatment plant.

The victim’s identity has not been released as of yet. Keene Mayor George Hansel called Wednesday a difficult day for the city. “I just want to first express my heartfelt sympathy to the family members of the person who passed,” Hansel said.

The person who died is an employee of Hamblet Electric. Hansel said they were working as a sub-contractor on a backup generator replacement project at the wastewater treatment plant located on Airport Road in Swanzey.

The incident happened just before 8 a.m. Wednesday. CPR and an AED were used to help the victim, but those efforts were unsuccessful. Monadnock family services also responded to the scene with the state’s mobile crisis response team to provide support services.

“This morning and in the coming days and weeks, we are going to make sure that mental health support is available to not only our team at the plant, but also our emergency responders, our contractors, anyone involved in this incident,” said Elizabeth Dragon, Keene city manager.

“We’re committed to finding out what’s happening here and insuring that it never happens again,” Hansel said. OSHA is working to determine exactly how the accident happened.

Officials said the Hamblet employee has been working on city projects for a few years and has formed relationships amongst city staff over time.

“Keene is a city, but we’re a close-knit community,” Hansel said. “I know I speak for many in this community expressing my sympathy to the family, friends and coworkers of the individual who passed away.”

 

Click here for the full article from WMUR

          

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