It is Your Move...To Not Make a Move

When we’re lucky, we learn from our mistakes before they cost us dearly. But on the industrial level, not only are we not learning from our mistakes, we are falling behind. I have been teaching electrical safety courses since 1980, and our industry is seeing the same accidents today as back then—only with more disastrous results.

I recall an accident in 1982 where an electrician was killed when he pulled a 600V fuse out of a loaded circuit. Just hearing that makes you shake your head; every apprentice is drilled and grilled on the stupidity of that action. It is taught at tech; it is reinforced by the journeymen; it is embedded in our memories.

So why on earth does it continue to happen?

Sometimes we are so busy concentrating on, or distracted by, something else that we forget otherwise obvious and well-known dangers. (Incidentally, that’s why troubleshooting is so bloody dangerous, but I digress.) In the case of the electrician above, two of his coworkers were chatting with each other behind him; before they knew what was happening—and too late to do anything about it—the electrician pulled out the 600V fuse.

Had ‘the puller’ taken an electrical safety course just the day before the incident, and heard the instructor say, “Never pull a fuse under load!”, I can guarantee he would have sat there thinking, “Yeah, tell me something I don’t know”. Yet he was killed, and one of his coworkers severely burned.

And we’re still doing it. The exact same incident happened last year, this time on a 480V system. One guy in front and, again, two guys standing behind him, chatting. The main difference these days is our busses are enormous with available short-circuit current. The accident burned two of the electricians to death; the third suffered severe burns. I’m sure all three victims knew never to pull a fuse under load.

We’ve all heard the joke about safety programs, “Don’t move and nobody gets hurt”, but this exactly what you have to do when working with an energized circuit: don’t move until you are utterly and completely 100% sure of what you are about to do and its consequences. And when you’re working with others, have a quick tailgate meeting to ensure no one makes a move unless they’ve okayed it with the rest of the team.

Because of the unforgiving brutality of highvoltage accidents, the best safety best practices have been developed primarily by the power companies. One of their best practices has been the call system:, and it works likes this: before I make a move, I call out to my coworkers—telling them what I’m about to do—then wait until I get the return call okaying my move. Everyone is ingrained with the idea that safety comes first, and that no hand moves before the brain evaluates that movement.

In either of these accidents, had ‘the puller’ said, “I’m about to yank this fuse”, an argument—involving colourful and imaginative cussing—would have instantly ensued, and the action would not have occurred. Both accidents—involving three deaths and three serious burn injuries—could have been prevented with this safe work practice.

Take a serious look at your safety program: do you have communication procedures in place that would prevent these accidents? And have you adopted the PPE (personal protective equipment) requirements of NFPA 70E so that, should an accident occur, there are no injuries or deaths?

We’re in the 21st Century: let’s use our 21st Century tools and know-how to end these 19th Century ‘accidents’.

Until next time, be ready, be careful and be safe.