[ESN] Is this energized electrical work?

Kris was "green", as he said in his own words...

He had only been working his new job for a couple of weeks.

The first few days were spent reading through some generic safety manuals and then he was on the tools.

He had been assigned to a new construction.

Twin hotels...

They shared an electrical room in between them.

Kris was tasked with wiping down the transformers, both inside and out, before they went to commissioning.

Week one went fine.

The weekend went by too fast and Kris found himself on his way back into work on Monday.

It seemed like every other day.

When he showed up his boss seemed a little distracted and when Kris asked him what he wanted him to do he just got a quick response...

"Just pick up where you left off on Friday."

"Okay" Kris said... and off he went.

--

Kris described the last thing he saw was a glowing orange light...

Then a crushing sound...

And then blackness.

He woke up in the burn ward a few weeks later.

Months of treatment...

And years of psychological damage.

Kris would never be the same.

But what happened?

--

First, Kris didn't realize that over the weekend the utility crew had energized the transformers.

So, his simple task of wiping down "dead" transformers just became a ticking time bomb.

Next you have his negligent supervisor... how did he not know the transformers were now energized?

Then you have the generic safety manuals...

Did they even mention energized work?

Remember... Kris was brand new... first job... he probably would have never considered that the equipment could be turn on!

--

What can we take away from this story?

For starters...

Always assume electrical equipment in energized until you've proven it's not (with a voltage detector).

And secondly...

You have to watch out for our young workers!

I remember what it was like on my first job, and I definitely didn't have the respect for electrical hazards that I do today.

P.S.

It was energized work by the way... energized work that should have never happened.

Cheers, Jon

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