Exposure to electric arc · Electrical burns any degree
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Sullivan & Merritt Constructors, Inc., 1329 Waterville Road, SKOWHEGAN, MAINE 04976
on — Electrical burns any degree , affecting the Head and extremities.
Final narrative
An employee was drilling a quarter-inch hole into a 277-volt bus bar and sustained electrical burns to their face and arms from an arc flash.
Hospitalized Head and extremities Switchboards, panels, fuses
More severe injuries at Sullivan & Merritt Constructors, Inc.
An employee was removing a cast iron heater from the overhead in a mill. Ropes that were temporarily holding the unit broke and the unit knocked the employee from his ladder to the floor. He suffered 11 broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a head laceration and was hospitalized.
An employee was terminating cables in a junction box. A loose ground wire came into contact with the bushing, causing a flash that burned the right side of the employee's face and his right hand.
An employee was using a bucket truck hoist to raise secondary aerial wiring. The wire made contact with the primary wire, causing an arc flash. The employee suffered burns to both hands and was hospitalized.
A temporary employee was testing an electrical starter motor. He was placing tape on the starter while the breaker was not engaged, but the starter sent an arc flash that burned his hands and stomach.
Two employees were removing a circuit breaker. The injured employee was using wrenches in the removal process. One of the wrenches contacted an adjacent door, resulting in an arc flash. The employee suffered burns to their neck, face, and ear, as well as momentary vision loss due to the flash.
An employee was fixing a broken purlin at a worksite when they fell from the framing to the concrete floor approximately 19 feet below. The employee sustained brain bleeding and fractures to their face, vertebrae, and wrists.
Employees were removing scaffolding that was used to repair an ion exchange tank. The line was undergoing the regen process when a piece of scaffold struck a PVC pipe that transported hydrochloric acid (HCl). The injured employee was placing material inside a scaffold rack when he was sprayed in the face with HCl and sustained chemical burns to his eyes, face, chest, right arm, and left leg.
An employee was moving a ramming machine to a staging area. While using the controls on the side of the machine, there was a sudden heavy rainfall causing the equipment to slide. The ramming machine tipped over and caught the employee against the ground. The employee sustained a fracture to the right side of their pelvis and was hospitalized.
The injured employee was training a new employee on a dough machine. She went to show where the batter comes from and her right index fingertip was cut. The employee sustained an amputation to the fingertip. The machine was not guarded at the time of the incident.
An employee was operating a roller machine on a dirt slope when the machine hit a bump and fell onto it's side. While trying to get free of the falling machine, the employee's legs were pinned by the top bar of the cage. The employee was hospitalized and his left leg was amputated. He also sustained fractures to a hand and finger.
A crew was installing drilled micropiles alongside an outdoor covered deck foundation. The injured employee was working the front of the drill when a loose section of casing dropped onto the tip of a rig wrench and pulled the wrench down to an embedded casing. The employee's left little finger was caught between the rig wrench and the embedded casing and was amputated above the top knuckle.
Two employees were working to change a tire on a mobile slasher saw. The slasher weighs around 2,000 pounds and is towed. Employee 2 was lifting the saw while the injured employee was placing a block of wood under the frame for support. The slasher then lowered onto the block and the injured employee's left thumb was crushed between the slasher frame and the wood block, leading to an amputation at the first knuckle.
An employee was using a crane to move a 44-foot, 3,343-pound I-beam. As the beam was moving west, it straightened out (north to south), beginning to swing south toward the northwest corner of a building. The crane then sent the beam southward, directly toward the corner of the building. The beam caught the tips of the employee's left index, middle, and ring fingers against the building. The last joints of the middle and ring fingers were amputated, and the last joint of the index finger was partially crushed.
An employee was standing on a step stool, removing the nuts and bolts from the frame of a solar panel that was being replaced. The employee's cheek made contact with a connector with damaged insulation. The employee was shocked, briefly lost consciousness, and fell to the ground, suffering an injury to the left shoulder.