Safety FIRST! A sad story - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: MrAureliusR
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 21, 2013, 06:10:38 pm
content: A great example of what NOT to do, especially working around high voltage. RIP Eddie. I think we can all understand wanting to do something by yourself without asking for help -- but that's usually the wrong thing to do in a situation like this.Please take this video very seriously.

author: MrAureliusR
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 21, 2013, 06:16:44 pm
content: As an aside, to the more experienced people out there, what should you do if you were the operator of this crane and it started arcing like this?

author: IvoS
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 21, 2013, 06:44:33 pm
content: Shit just happened here in Mass yesterday, a tree worker was electrocuted doing some work in bucket truck.http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/features/x1155153330/Worker-in-bucket-truck-shocked-while-holding-chainsaw

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 21, 2013, 06:59:57 pm
content: Quote from: MrAureliusR on August 21, 2013, 06:16:44 pmStay in the cab and don't touch anything, or jump (NOT step) out

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 21, 2013, 07:21:21 pm
content: Stay in cab and drop the boom irrespective of the load, then power down and jump after the arc is broken. the fire there was caused by the tyres catching fire, then it spread to the hydraulic system and started burning the oil.

author: Rufus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 21, 2013, 07:28:58 pm
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on August 21, 2013, 06:59:57 pmTough decision to make while the crane is starting to burn around you. There was probably enough voltage drop across the ground surrounding the crane to get electrocuted so you want to land on your feet not too far apart and hop or skip away.Quote from: SeanB on August 21, 2013, 07:21:21 pmI doubt any controls would be functional after the first arc.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 21, 2013, 07:42:57 pm
content: This video focusses the mind !Warning graphic content showing electrical burn injuries.

author: MrAureliusR
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 21, 2013, 08:06:35 pm
content: Man that guy is INCREDIBLY lucky. Infection that severe is almost always a death sentence. Once the blood becomes a vector for the infection, I mean it spreads so fast there's almost nothing they can do. They use the most powerful antibiotics known and basically just pray.I hope that anyone on this forum who works with high voltages will take this as a reminder of how important basic safety is! Dave, I'm sure among many others, can attest to being shocked. I've been shocked a few times myself, in Canada (like all of NA) we have 120V 60Hz mains, and I've been on the receiving end twice. Both times, as described in many videos, my muscles contracted and pulled me away from contact. I've heard that high-power DC, as it doesn't oscillate, will make you clamp down hard on the wire, and if someone tries to free you they of course will as well be shocked and held in place.I wonder, if you got like 30-40 people to all touch you at once if you could spread the charge around enough that you could all pull away at the same time? It might only require as few as 3 or 4 people depending on the current...

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 21, 2013, 09:15:37 pm
content: A friend of mine father has a farm where a truck driver was killed when he tipped a load and the aluminium body touched an 1100 volt power line, He was killed when he jumped out of the truck cab, I guess its hard not to panic in such situations, if he had stayed put he would have been fine.

author: Lightages
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 21, 2013, 10:52:05 pm
content: The story in the original post here is exactly the point of my attempts here to try to impress on people here the need for safety in a multimeter. The voltages and power involved in the story are not something almost everyone here would ever get close to, but...There are lessons to be learned.1. Use the correctly rated equipment for the the job. Sure a wall socket or a home distribution panel is NOT LIKELY to kill you, but there is still potential for burns and flying bits of plastic and parts should something go boom. If you only have a $5 meter and you need to measure something, "well this is only one time... what harm can it do?" is what most people a likely to do. Familiarity breeds contempt.2. If the person in the story was that careless or distracted over something he knew would most definitely kill him if he screwed up, how careless or distracted might you allow yourself to be if there is only a slight chance of something going wrong? Familiarity breeds contempt.3. Never assume something is the way you think it is and then make safety decisions based on that assumption. When dealing with electricity, if you are going to assume anything, assume it can kill you, and proceed from there.4. Good equipment or bad, it is up to you to not be lazy, or complacent, or careless. Think about what you are putting your hands into before you do it, and then think again.So did a fancy high priced multimeter save this guy? No. He appeared to have used a Fluke 87 series and it did not protect him from his error. It was not the correct equipment for the job he was doing. The possible severity of the consequences if you use a $5 meter in a home power distribution box are much much lower but there is the potential for injury or loss of vision, and still death in the worse case.Buy a cheapo unreliable built for no safety junk multimeter if you wish. Just remember from this video that using the incorrect equipment has consequences sometimes that could not have imagined. Oh yes, think, then think again, then double check before you stick your hands in anything that has electricity involved.

author: M0BSW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2013, 08:37:32 am
content: I remember , back when I used to operate Tower cranes in the UK, this particular crane was 120 ft to the cab, one day there was a god almighty bang behind me on the back jib, I thought something had hit it, and being that high in the air I was crapping myself, it was immediately quite after the event, the Tower crane was still standing, so I climbed up out of the cab to the back jib ware I found the entire control panel had exploded, if I remember they ran at 400/600volts, I stayed up there until the power was off, Health & Safety, shut the site for about a month, before we could go back.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2013, 01:54:52 pm
content: Quote from: Lightages on August 21, 2013, 10:52:05 pmEven still, as I wrote inanother thread: never underestimate the effects of tiredness, stress or distraction when you grab a cheap multimeter instead of a good one to execute a job... I have almost done that in numerous occasions, therefore now my 179 stays on the easiest and more accessible place and the other cheap ones I have stay in a drawer.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2013, 05:05:06 pm
content: Nothing like having a wiring cabinet and some computers for controlling overhead screens mounted on the wall in a high voltage area.So that's always nice to have to walk through the "Danger High Voltage" gate with a metal ladder.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2013, 05:50:25 pm
content: That is when you __INSIST__ on having a nice brand new fibreglass runner ladder specifically available for that area. Almost all the telecoms and metro vans now have them, the first big buyer of them was the railways track crews, as they hated the heavy wooden ladders they had to carry, which needed 4 people to move long distances down the tracks.

author: Br0ski
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2013, 11:49:10 am
content: Quote from: MrAureliusR on August 21, 2013, 06:10:38 pmI had just watched that video yesterday. This type of thing happened to a friend of mine except he didn't even get to use the multimeter. He just tried to reposition a grounded cabinet with his weight and when he touched it *poof*. If any of you ever find yourself on a ship be super cautious *must respect electricity. Electricity is not the way I wanna go out.

author: Big_Al
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2013, 04:15:39 pm
content: I always remember a little rhyme that was in my Radio Shack Electronics Set book that I had as a kid:"There are Old technicians and there are Bold technicians, but there are No Old Bold technicians"Wise words !

author: GadgetUK
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2013, 04:47:00 pm
content: OMG, and I thought 20Kv from a colour monitor up my arm was bad... I think back how lucky I was, and compared to that chap in the hospital bed there I had a tingle.