Hi I am new to the group, just signed up today. I am recovering from a 2300 volt shock and blast. Got me 6 weeks in St. Barnabas burn unit and a 14 months off so far. Just wanted to say be careful out there guys.When i was in the hospital and therapy ive seen around 20 electricians come through there i never relized so many accients happend.

It’s good to hear that you are here to tell about it and recovering.

For a lot of the last century most concerns have been voiced about the hazards of electric shock, and then in the eighties an electrical engineer, Ralph H Lee authored a paper, The Other Electrical Hazard: Electric Arc Blast Burns. Slowly, it is being acknowledged through and reflected in codes and standards that both can be very serious problems.

All of us should never forget that arc blast can be a grave situation in 600V-class gear, too.

Your right either one can kill you. I got a little of both, the shock collapsed my right lung they think and the blast gave me 2nd and 3rd degree burns on the chest,arms,hands and neck. I dont want to get into details but i saw some PSE&G guys and some who pulled old meters that fell apart in thier hands not a nice site. To all be safe.

marktlm123,
Welcome to ECN!!.
Thanks for the friendly warning and I would agree with Bjarney, that it's good that you are alive to tell us about your experience.
One thing that everybody that works around electricity, should be aware of is the large amount of Energy that is released during one of these incidents, it's just not nice at all!.

Mark,

Welcome to ECN!


Bill

Thanks all. I still cant describe the plasma ball that rolled through me , i thought i was going to explode the surge was incredible backed by a 1200 amp breaker

Mark,

If you feel like giving some details of what you were doing and what went wrong, or how it could've been prevented it may save someone else from making the same mistake.

Bill

I was dreading this question., Unfortunantly it's going through the lawyers so I cant say much other that there was 2300 volts mixed up in an old motor control center with all mixed voltages and no warning signs of such high voltage. Interlocks were gone just a real mess and mainly a lack of warning signs and other violations. In these very large industrial buildings its hard to know what every thing is all the time so be alert and use caution. Like there was a guy from St. Barnabas who pulled a meter and it blew up in his face, so you never no how.

hi guys i did got a shock with 600 volts dc and it hurt my hand for quite a while but i pretty well recoved now and i got wise with that and expect everything is hot(alive there)that time i was working on buss bar and acording my tester it show dead and i was hooking up new clip for fuse and some how the lockout switch overrideed and got back feed and got hit hard i was using inslualted glove and i was running cordless drill to tap it and blew my drill out and i was injured for short while but i working full time now without side effect now thanks to the doctor who he treat me fast few other details i cant say here much at all ( the lawyer gave me partal gag order )

merci marc

Welcome to ECN Mark,

I've never had the misfortunate to be shocked by anything at that sort of level, so I can only imagine what it must feel like.

Glad to hear you're on the mend.

It hurt,as I said all the people I've seen hurt and killed with in the last year being at the hospital amazes me. Thats just a little part of the county the count must be thousands per day, country wide.

My condolences on your injury marktlm123, may you heal quickly.

It would seem you are an unfortunate example of laws, codes et all, that do not work when needed.

Sorry to hear, spedy recovery.
Two more electricaly related (arc blast/arc flash)fatalities came across my OSHA desk today from OSHA investigators (coast to coast). I'm tired of viewing and reviewing fatalities in all parts of the U.S.
I only with I could do more. http://www.oshazone.com/forums/showthread.php?s=7cdc1b4e83439b3d4982f40c36cba8f0&th readid=6

OSHA Professor

[This message has been edited by OSHA Professor (edited 05-05-2003).]

I met one of the OSHA managers up here (NJ), a real nice guy. I really wish I could get into all the details, maybe someday. It must be tough dealing with the horrers of our profession on a daily bases. I'll leave it at that for know. I had laser surgery today on my arms,chest and neck and it hurts like hell. Thanks for all the replys of your concerns.

Just wanted to let everybody know i am returning back to work, no more 2300 i'll stick to the lower voltages from now on. I am getting laser surgery every 5 weeks to reduce the scarring and inflamation

Good to hear you are on the mend and getting back into the swing of things!.