Workplace Dangers - ECN Electrical Forums

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Please forgive the pic- while it shows everything clearly- it's not clear what it shows.

Imagine a house converted into apartments. Also imagine the rear porch being enclosed, and added to the living space. This pic was taken under that porch, which is now used as a 'crawl space.' (OK, maybe 'stumble and head bump space :-) )

The piece of old-style 6/3 romex, with wire nuts on it, is laying exactly as I found it. It is also connected (via 'flying splice') to a similar piece of romex that serves the stove above.

It is quite hot. It also lies right where you are likely to step on it.

It seems we ahve some "minefields" here to look out for!

Code or no code, it is unforgivable to abandon a wire in this manner, setting the stage for a major injury. Even a DIY or handyman would know better!

- renosteinke

I had one landmine like that recently that I found when it blew up on me:

Digging around in some blow-in insulation in an attic to try and follow a conduit run. The next thing I know I'm practically knocked off my feet: A 240V 40A circuit in some greenfield had been abandoned by simply cutting it and leaving the exposed conductors lying energized underneith the insulation for me to find with my sweaty hand. [Linked Image]

Fun times.

-John

I had a scary one about 20 years ago..

I was up on a lighting truss, focusing lights for an outdoor show, when I noticed that the L5-20C connector that I'm about to crawl over isn't clamped properly, and that whoever assembled it had stripped all three conductors all the way back to the cable jacket.. twisting that connector on the cable would have caused some nice fireworks.. it turned out that the other end of that cable was exactly the same..
I saw that connector, froze, and called down to the lighting designer, and told him to pull the main disco for the dimmer rack, since I'm 20' in the air, up on a grounded metal truss, at night, with dew on everything..

Another time, I was in a projection booth, and noticed that when they had removed the old amp racks, the crew had cut the SJO cable feeding the plugstrips in the old racks, but had not bothered to kill the breakers feeding them.. 3 live phases just lying there on the floor..

I remember finding the cut off end of "T&E" (Romex-style) cable poking up in a flower bed once.

The fact that this cable isn't intended for direct burial pales beside the fact that when I checked it, sure enough the bare ends were still energized (and this being England, the hot was at 240V to ground!).

I have no idea what the cable once fed, but to leave an energized end poking up in the ground where kids and animals will be around is just unforgivable.