ECN Forum Forums Safety Discussion and News Occupational Safety Discussion What's Your Story, Were You Ever Shocked?

I believe I am the DUMBEST of them all....

I have 2 major situations...1 for A.C. and 1 for D.C., I guess I wanted to FEEL the difference !!

First major shock occured while I was working in my Boss's Carpet Cleaning Van.
I was cutting out some left-over carpet to line the floors of the work van with a razor-knife. Wanting to get an accurate fit, I placed the carpet inside the van to trim it up in place and didn't notice the 2 gauge wire comming from the Carpet Cleaning Machine starter. So, I began to cut along the carpet when I skinned the 2 gauge wire with the razor-knife when "POP"....the razor blade connected the wire and the metal floor-board at the same time, (thus ARC WELDING was invented)and if that wasn't enough to make your day more interesting, when the FLASH occured, I pulled my hand with the KNIFE in it backwards real fast and then forward into my other hand holding the carpet !!!!!!! Burned and Stabbed !!!!

The next was more recent....
I was at work troubleshooting a 240vac heater relay, that was sticking and forcing the heater to over-heat.....
I had the STAINLESS STEEL cover open and had a meter out to test when the over-heating caused the circuit breaker to trip.....I yelled at my partner to just let it stay tripped so I could tighten the screws up on the relay with an ALLEN/BRADLEY pocket tweaker screwdriver !!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!BIG DUMB MISTAKE !!!!!!!!!!!
With 1 hand firmly placed on the back of the STAINLESS STEEL cover and the other holding the tweaker, (with an un-insulated shaft) on the 240vac relay lead screw, My partner (who DID NOT hear me) re-energized the circuit breaker and ME !!!!

WOW !!!! How lucky are any of us who have been shocked ????
I have learned to NEVER deviate from LOCK OUT,TAG OUT proceedures AGAIN !!!!!
The ONLY difference between an CLOSE CALL and DEATH is LUCK !!!!!
Please slow down and use LOTO ALWAYS !!!!!

MIKE