Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025
105,313Records 71,083Employers 85,290Hospitalizations 27,770Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-10-31

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14454284

IOWA POWER & LIGHT CO

DES MOINES, IA—

Event
BURN, CLOTHING, ELECTRICAL, POWER LINE WORKER, FIRE, E PTD, TRANSFORMER VAULT, ELEC UTILITY WORK, TRANSFORMER, SMOKE INHALATION
NAICS
000000
Inspection type
Accident-driven
Activity number
#2649994
Employer profile
IOWA POWER & LIGHT CO
Summary number
14454284
Report ID
751910

Event description

FIRE - ELECTRICAL FAULT IN A TRANSFORMER VAULT

Investigation abstract

THREE EMPLOYEES WERE WORKING IN A TRANSFORMER VAULT. TWO OF THEM HAD OPENED A LA . THIS EMPLOYEE RECOVERED FROM HIS INJURIES. TWO ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES SUFFERED S MOKE INHALATION FROM THEIR RESCUE EFFORTS. HOW THE FAULT OCCURRED AND HOW THE AR CING STARTED WAS NOT DETERMINED. RGE NETWORK PROTECTOR BOX ON A 480-VOLT TRANSFORMER. THEY WERE ATTEMPTING TO ENE RGIZE A LOCKOUT SWITCH BY TOUCHING AN INDEPENDENT 120-VOLT CONDUCTOR ONTO A TERM INAL INSIDE THE NETWORK PROTECTOR. THE THIRD EMPLOYEE WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF T HE VAULT AT THE SOURCE OF THE 120-VOLT CONDUCTOR AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. A FAULT OCCURRED IN THE NETWORK PROTECTOR CAUSING A FLASH FIRE. TWO EMPLOYEES PROM PTLY ESCAPED FROM THE VAULT, BUT ONE OF THEM LATER DIED OF INJURIES HE SUSTAINED IN THE FLASH FIRE. THE OTHER REMAINED IN THE VAULT APPROXIMATELY 25 MINUTES, UN TIL THE EQUIPMENT COULD BE DISCONNECTED AT THE SUBSTATION AND THE ARCING STOPPED

Victims (5)

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 45 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    8
    Source
    16
    Occupation code
    577
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Task assigned
    1

  2. #2 Fatality Age 35 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    8
    Source
    15
    Occupation code
    577
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Task assigned
    1

  3. #3 Hospitalized Age 42 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    16
    Occupation code
    577
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Task assigned
    1

  4. #4 Hospitalized Age 34 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    16
    Occupation code
    577
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Task assigned
    1

  5. #5 Hospitalized Age 57 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    16
    Occupation code
    577
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Task assigned
    1

Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.

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