ECN Forum Forums Safety Discussion and News Occupational Safety Discussion Earring electrocution

From Japan:

Boss to face charges over earring electrocution

Gee whiz... I never imagined that the safety ground on my foil-covered/foil-lined [double radiation shield] hardhat may not be the best idea.

Somehow, I think that if there had have been a bit of common-sense used, that young guy would still be alive.
But, we are all constantly reminded that using(or having) bare metal around live electrical equipment,is just asking for trouble.
I have a clause in my Employment Contract that prohibits me from wearing jewellery and any other dangerous fitting(whatever that is! )while under the employment of The Company.
Getting a shock like this is not my idea of a good time.

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 05-02-2003).]

I am always aware of my wedding ring, which i'm very careful of.

It hasn't come off in 15 years,(i doubt it can anyway) and i'll be dipped in s**t if some faction of the safety junta is going to tell me it has to.

It would seem to me that if his head was that close to a 6.6 kV circuit, the earring wouldn't make much of a difference. High voltages have a way of "reaching out and grabbing you" if you get too close.

NJ,
That's precisely the thought that came into my mind. Even if we just look at direct contact, if he was close enough for the earring to touch, then he must have been so close that his ear could have touched the live part directly anyway.

In one telecoms facility where I onced worked we had 28V distribution busbars for the newer digital equipment. Anyone who came into that part of the building and starting scoffing about "What can it do? It's only 28 volts" was taken down an aisle to where there was a severe burn mark on the floor, directly below a pair of the 28V bars.

It was then explained to him that this was where a workman several years earlier had been on the cable trays above the busbars and had dropped a uninsulated tool directly across them. The short-circuit current was so high that the tool had just fallen as a molten mass of hot metal within a couple of seconds.

The tap-offs into equipment bays had protective fuses, but if someone were to accidentally get a ring, metal watch strap or something similar across the supply the short-circuit current would turn it red-hot so quickly that the result could be severe burns.

Steve,
Have you thought about securing some sort of insulating sleeve over your ring finger if the need ever arose?

Does any manufacturer actually produce an item specifically designed for this purpose?

[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 05-04-2003).]

sparky,
So she'd rather have you lose a finger or get killed!!! No one who does mechanical or electrical work should ever wear any type of ring while working. Even other people need to be careful. I know of a nurse who lost her finger when her ring was caught in a door handle as she was rushing to get the "crash cart" and a fire fighter who had to get 15 stitches because his ring got caught on the door of the fire truck as he jumped out .

I've been married 28 yrs and haven't worn a wedding ring in about 25. I got a pretty good burn betweenhot wire and frame on a car once,and when it came off,I never put it back on. I personally don't like jewelry,but thats just me.

Russell

yep,
been to a few 'deglovings'due to rings myself Don.

but my ring is small, imbedded, and probably less a hazard that glasses, zippers, steel toes, belt buckles, or tool pouches the size of shopping bags.

I feel my ring is my choice, not some bueracrats, thanks.

A few wraps of electrical tape over the ring reduces the electrical part of the hazard, anyway.

I can understand sparky's point of view.
The bureaucrats are digging their spurs in deeper every day.

Paul,
Them ELV supplies can be pretty ferocious when they get short-circuited.
In some respects they are just as bad as High Voltage, safety-wise.

we're banned from wearing any metel jewelry that may come into contact with electricity,that said we have guys with piercings??!!!! ie eyebrow rings and the one that really cracks me up --a nipple ring--ouch!! god help him if he comes into contact with current!
its a strange world!!
regards pete

Sparky:

I can understand about not wearing metal jewelry on one's person.

After all, one doesn't need rings, watches, earrings, "body" jewelry, etc.

But I NEED my glasses!! I'd be more dangerous without them!

(MAGOO, YOU DID IT AGAIN!!!)

>But I NEED my glasses!! I'd be more dangerous without them!

Whatch what you write, someone might start demanding contact lenses instead of glasses in the workplace

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 05-08-2003).]

Speaking of eyeglasses, are those retaining strings required on jobsites?

Bill

No! Not contact lenses!! Every self-respecting electrician knows there is the on-the-job danger of welding your contact lenses to your eyeballs! ;-)

“An electrical worker, wearing contact lenses, throws a switch...” Alas, it’s another urban legend embellished over time. About 20 years ago a US trade rag—EC&M—even published an article insisting that the claim was false, and cited a response from some “official” institution for contact-lens marketing, or the like. http://www.snopes.com/horrors/techno/cornea.htm

Sven,
my point is that there is a big difference in legislating safety vs. what is simply held as good practice.

I find many in the safety biz (and make no mistake , it IS a biz in this country*) would focus on the ring, while ignoring much else of obvious conductable caliber

*Read up on the ergonomics fiasco for instance.....the coercion of OSHA via fortune 500 lobbyists to trash small biz is ALL that was....

Now what say i choke up a new angle, call it my constitutional right to wear a religous ornament on the jobsite?

For all you skeptics, the famous "Ring Picture" is readily available at Safteng.net.
Joe T. could provide a quick link.

Or..
Go to safteng.net, and choose "shocker photos", then "hand injuries". There are several "ring incidents".

WARNING...
Visit BEFORE eating!



[This message has been edited by Redsy (edited 05-09-2003).]

Scare tactics are the common selling point of most safety related issues, i dare say that the sound-bite, bumper sticker mentality has spawned many a beuracracy, and probably will continue to do so.

so tell me ....

how many here use wooden fold-up style tape measures on the job?

If that young fella had a ring in his ear,
could you then say that the ear-ring acted like the shorted turn of a transformer?.
And also that the shock was caused by the Eddy currents in the ring?
What are your thoughts on my theory?.