An arc blast really hurt a guy out here in NJ. To make matters worse, the room had a bunch of combustables stored in it (mainly cardboard). Here's the article from the Newark Star Ledger:


An electrician severely burned in a fire at Plainfield High School remains in critical condition with "life-threatening" injuries, his family said yesterday.

Ollie Johnson, 68, sustained third-degree burns over 80 percent of his body and is in a drug-induced coma at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, according to his daughter, Lisa Johnson.

Johnson was working in an electrical room when some equipment became energized and caused an explosion just after 9 a.m. Saturday, fire Battalion Chief Richard Polunas said.

I hope he and his Family get through this accident. Prayers help

My best to this gentlemen and his family. This is another reason that "electric rooms" and "electrical closets" must not be used for storage. I had one last Thursday, on a service upgrade inspection, that was used as a 'garbage holding room'. The office staff (Dr. Office) had the "la-de-da" response to the verbal warning, & a look of amazement when I handed the receptionist a 'red sticker'. "It's been like that for years"!! Well, hopefully not anymore.

John

... God help the poor guy,I hope he pulls through.. Prayers for him and his family..
God Bless..
Russ

Man that's a shocker.
Having been through serious burns myself, I can understand just what this guy is going through.
It's a long hard road to recovery and it affects more than just the victim.
My prayers are with this guy and his family.
Unfortunately, at the age of 68, your chances of recovering from burns this wide-spread are pretty remote, considering that lung damage is often the worst of the injuries and the body does not heal the same at that age.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to sound down-beat here, but that is the reality of the situation.

He's still with us as of March 9th, thank goodness. Here's a bit more information I got from a different paper:

Johnson, a Plainfield schools employee and pastor of the Progressive Baptist Church in Rahway, was taken to the burn unit at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. He suffered third-degree burns and lung damage as a result of severe smoke inhalation and was placed in a medically induced coma. Johnson remains in critical condition.

A buddy of mine is an a different union here in NJ and he heard something about an allen wrench across the phases of a 277/480 panel. He is working on getting more info.

That will do it. Dead short probably melted or vaporized allen wrench if it turns out to be the cause. Add to that some loose cardboard and you have yourself a real problem, especially if the blast had incapacitated him. We all hope he pulls through.

I'm very sorry that this guy got hurt and hope that he makes it. That being said, we are not permitted to work on energized equipment other than for diagnostic work, and even then PPE based on the incident energy must be worn. These types of accidents are going to continue to happen until the field electricians insist on following electrical safe work practices and until they insist that their employers provide the proper PPE.
Don

Well said, Don.

Rick Miell

Gentleman:
Don, as usual, eloquent, direct, and to the point!

The following are all verbal comments, and cannot be confirmed or denied at present:

Discussion last nite at Vo-Tech: screwdriver accross 3 pole 40 amp CB that was being replaced, or the screwdriver 'fell' onto the 3 pole 40. Another guy said he heard that Mr. Johnson passed away.

Time to show the arc flash video again, and have a PPE discussion with my class.

Also, for what it's worth; Plainfield High has been closed all week, and is to re-open Monday 3/14/2005.

I'll post any further news when I hear it.

John

saw this follow up in the paper today,

Injured Plainfield electrician dies
Ollie Johnson severely burned last week while replacing circuit breaker.


By PETER N. SPENCER
Staff Writer
PLAINFIELD -- A 69-year-old electrician died early Saturday morning after suffering third-degree burns over 80 percent of his body in a fuse box explosion at Plainfield High School last weekend.

Ollie Johnson of Scotch Plains, a longtime employee of the Plainfield school system and a pastor of the Progressive Baptist Church in Rahway, died at 1:20 a.m in the burn unit of St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston due to complications from burns he suffered March 5, Plainfield safety Director Jiles H. Ship said.

Johnson, who also suffered lung damage from severe smoke inhalation, was placed in a morphine-induced coma for the past week, said his daughter, Lisa Johnson, 36.

He was taken off the respirator a few days ago, and doctors had hoped to perform the multiple skin grafts and operations he would have needed to recover from the severe burns.

The family had not made any funeral arrangements as of Saturday night, his daughter said.

Plainfield High School was left without electricity after the accident and had been closed for the past week. School officials expect to re-open the high school Monday, school board President Sharon Robinson-Briggs said.

The school also plans to hold a memorial service for Johnson soon, she said.

"We are deeply, deeply saddened at the news of his death," Robinson-Briggs said.

"He was a fixture here," she said of the more than 20-year employee. "He always had a smile on his face. ... Everyone loved Rev. Johnson, and I'm sure they would want to come out and remember him."

Johnson was trying to replace a 440-volt, high-capacity circuit breaker near the first-floor boiler room at around 9:15 a.m. when the breaker contacted another piece of metal, sparking a fireball that enveloped his body, Plainfield fire Chief Cecil Allen said.

Two school maintenance workers, who were not identified by police, came to Johnson's aid and put out the fire, Allen said. Both workers were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene.

Born and raised in Raleigh, N.C., Johnson moved to Plainfield more than 30 years ago. His wife, June Johnson, worked as a human resources specialist with the Plainfield School District before retiring a few years ago.

His daughter called him an "extremely dedicated worker" and a devoted minister at Progressive Baptist Church, where he served as deacon for the last nine years. Deacons had planned to celebrate Johnson's 10-year anniversary as the church's spiritual leader in June.

Johnson also planned to retire in April, his daughter said -- just in time to perform her wedding ceremony.

from the Courier News website www.c-n.com

This is a extremely sad incident. My condolences to his family and friends.

shortcircuit

Sadly, the maintenance worker burned while working at Plainfield High School, has died.
Following is the article from the Newark Star-Ledger:


An electrician severely burned in a fire at Plainfield High School last week has died.

Ollie Johnson, 69, died at 1:20 a.m. Saturday, officials said yesterday. He had worked for the district for 18 years.

"We're deeply saddened," district Superintendent Paula Howard said yesterday. Johnson had a "spiritual and graceful way of being" that added to the district, she said.

"It's a sad day in Plainfield," said Jiles Ship, the city's safety director.

Johnson was working in an electrical room at the high school March 5 when some equipment became energized and caused an explosion just after 9 a.m. Johnson spent a week in a drug-induced coma at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston with third-degree burns over 80 percent of his body. He was removed from a respirator several days ago.

Johnson, who lived in Scotch Plains, was also pastor of the Progressive Baptist Church in Rahway. He was planning to celebrate 10 years with the congregation this summer.

"We loved him. We'll miss him," Shirley Palmer, the church historian and secretary, said yesterday.

Plainfield High School, which was closed last week because of the fire, is scheduled to reopen today.

Ship said the district is planning a memorial for Johnson, though details have not been set.

Sorry to hear of this incident...it sounds VERY PREVENTABLE and a real SHAME.

This is why there is NO JOB THAT IS SO IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE TO BYPASS SAFETY.

This fellow apparently failed to follow the established safety guidelines that are in place to prevent incidents like this. Had he shut the power down to that panel and used the proper LOTO and PPE he may have had no problems.

There is NO JOB that important!

"Our work is never so urgent or important that we can not take the time to do it safely."

If you do not know how to work safely YOU ARE NOT QUALIFIED to be working on energized or de-enegized circuits! You are a hazard to yourself and others!

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IF YOU CANT WORK SAFE IN THE ELECTRICAL FIELD WE DONT NEED YOU!
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TAKE TWO AND THINK IT THROUGH!

just my thoughts.

Regards

Greg



[This message has been edited by mustangelectric (edited 03-14-2005).]

... My sincere condolences go out to this man's family and community... another of us has fallen,and tho' he hadn't taken the appropriate precautions,he still fell in the line of duty.. Hopefully we can all learn by this.. Work Safely, ladies and gentlemen,... May God receive him as a friend..
Russ

From a learning standpoint, I hope that there will be some sort of forensic investigation into the accident from an electrical system standpoint. For instance, where was the shortcircuit protection located in the circuit & what type was it? What was the expected fault current? Maybe things can be learned that will produce better designed systems that will be more protective of people. In the past, designs were meant to be protective of equipment, not people.

You can never make it completely safe to work on energized equipment. That is why the OSHA and other safety rules severely limit the work that can be performed while the equipment is energized. Even when such work is permitted, PPE suitable for the available incident energy must be used. We don't need new equipment designs, we need employers and employees to follow the safety rules.
Don

[This message has been edited by resqcapt19 (edited 03-19-2005).]

Well said Don. Each one of us is responsible for our own safety. Learn the proper procedures for energized work and follow them with no shortcuts. Do a hazard assessment for each job and use the correct level of PPE. NFPA 70E Handbook is a good place to start the learning process.

Al

I agree that a safe system is one that is locked out, tagged out and tested dead. However you can limit the amount of fault current available by utilizing properly rated current limiting fuses and circuit breakers, it will lower the level of PPE used when testing work must be performed. I think we should use this tragic incident in such a way as that some good could come of it. Who knows, maybe such equipment had it been present may have at least saved this man's life. There is a place both for safety procedure and good design.