When people in Texas think about workplace electrical fatalities, they usually think of electricians. In reality, 68% of people who are killed at work in electrical accidents are not electricians.
Lack of safety equipment
Personal protective equipment, or PPE, and other safety equipment can prevent a lot of electrical accidents at work. Safety equipment should be specific to the job that’s being done, and PPE should be fitted correctly to the worker. Researchers have found that there is a lack of safety equipment and PPE in most electrical fatality cases.
Because electricians understand that they are going to be regularly working with high voltage electricity, they usually have appropriate PPE and insulated tools to do the job safely. Other professionals, such as machine operators and mechanics, work with electricity all the time but often lack safety equipment. Workers that aren’t electricians also lack a certain level of expertise in dealing with electricity.
Learn to recognize electrical hazards
Workers that regularly use electrical equipment and machinery should be trained to recognize electrical hazards. There are tools that can be used to detect voltage and establish that a work area is electrically safe before it’s used. When an electrical hazard is detected, workers cannot afford to take any risk around it. Serious electrical accidents are the reason behind a lot of workers’ compensation claims, and these accidents are often fatal.
Nonfatal electrical injuries
Nonfatal electrical accidents happen frequently as well. Accidents with high voltage can cause serious electrical shocks and burns. A lot of workers are also injured by falls that occur when they are suddenly electrocuted. Even if the electricity causes a minor burn, a fall could cause a head injury.