# Medium Voltage Arc Flash Event



## Moonshot180 (Apr 1, 2012)

Yesterday, two of our team members fell victim to an arc flash event. I don't have the details yet, and have to withhold some ..due to the investigation that is in progress.

I would like to ask for prayers. The two electricians involved suffered some pretty severe burns, and are going thru some tough battles right now in the hospital.:sad:


Voltage potential at this board was 6.9kV.


----------



## emtnut (Mar 1, 2015)

Thoughts and prayers to your co-workers, and their families.
I hope they make it through ok :sad:


----------



## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Father please be with our brothers and their families in their time of suffering and need. Please lessen their pain as they heal from this event Father. I ask you Father to let their families stay strong as they go through this arduous process. This I ask in Jesus name.

Amen!


----------



## joebanana (Dec 21, 2010)

Sorry to hear this.
But I have to ask, where was their required PPE? At least the hood.
I knew a guy who opened a 2300v. knife switch under load, by mistake, melted his hard hat to his skull. Flash burns are the worst kind of injury imaginable.
ALWAYS wear your PPE.


----------



## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

MechanicalDVR said:


> Father please be with our brothers and their families in their time of suffering and need. Please lessen their pain as they heal from this event Father. I ask you Father to let their families stay strong as they go through this arduous process. This I ask in Jesus name.
> 
> Amen!


Ditto here, that's about as good of a Prayer as you can get.


----------



## circuitman1 (Mar 14, 2013)

i have to agree with joebanna, where was there PPE? i know we all take chances & get away with it. but there may be that one time we don't & end up going home in a pine box. every one should watch the video DONNIE"S STORY. it will make you think twice! i hope they will be ok though.


----------



## Moonshot180 (Apr 1, 2012)

Thanks for the replies/prayers everyone. 

As far as PPE..this is all under investigation, and there are investigators on site that are working to get to the bottomg of it. There have been questions here in regards to PPE also, I will say that.

I will be sure to update ET once factual information is released.


----------



## Moonshot180 (Apr 1, 2012)

Update:

I just noticed that there has been an official statement released about the event:

The electricians had just racked out a ground truck from the cubicle, and at that time, had taken off their PPE. 

One electrician, proceeded to do a visual inspection of the cubicle, before closing the compartment door, and at that time, had called the other electrician back over to the cubicle, and that is when the arc flash occurred.


----------



## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

:surprise: I hope they make it.....:sad:

~CS~


----------



## circuitman1 (Mar 14, 2013)

oh no! right when you think nothing can happen it does. i hope they make it through this, accidents happen at the wrong times. was there an equipment fault that caused the incident?


----------



## Moonshot180 (Apr 1, 2012)

Updated information is that their injuries, although severe, are not life threatening.

The ground truck, was proving difficult to remove from the cubicle, but, they were succesfull on removing the ground truck from the cubicle. Once the ground truck was out, they took off their PPE, and then went back to inspect the guide rail/track system that the trucks, and breakers use to rack onto the tulips.

Once the truck was out, the shudder closes, to cover the energized tulips.

Investigators are actively working to determine the cause of why it happened.


----------



## AU Facilities (Mar 25, 2015)

circuitman1 said:


> ........... every one should watch the video DONNIE"S STORY. it will make you think twice! i hope they will be ok though.


 
I second that...... Everyone should watch the video, Donnie's Story.........


----------



## EB Electric (Feb 8, 2013)

Never like to hear of these accidents, but thank you for bringing it to light so others can be aware and hopefully learn from it. I work in substations everyday so this hits close to home.

I am sorry to go on a rant but what on earth brought out the previous comments "Where was PPE?". Where does that come from, what called their PPE into question before there is even any details? Hang on a second fellas, have some respect before making a comment like that, it's an ongoing investigation, details take time. Nobody knows first hand what went down until the investigation is complete or those involved come out and tell you the real story. That ain't right first thing to jump in implying assumptions like PPE was not used or procedure wasn't followed. What's next should we question their ability and career judgement because of an accident? How many guys on here actually work in medium voltage, do you know the complexity inside high voltage subs. There's a million ways sh*t can hit the fan. To the guys asking where was PPE do you even know what a ground truck is, would you know what to check before you go ahead and rack a ground truck into the gear? And another thing, PPE ain't the end all be all. I'm not advocating for being unsafe and not using PPE, but unfortunately no matter how diligent you are, PPE is still only the last line of defence. End of the day the top of the line nicest newest 40cal bomb suit worn perfectly ain't protecting you as designed if say 55 or 60cal incident energy is present in an arc flash. When you get into the realm of medium voltage get into the utility environment, PPE can become a difference of open casket or closed at a service.


----------



## circuitman1 (Mar 14, 2013)

glad to hear there going to be ok! sounds like equipment may have failed. "what brought on the ppe ?" just from what happened, i know it was an asumpition.i do not know about such things. i also know that s**t can hit the fan at any time.know we all make mistakes, but don't want to hear of no one losing there lives over this.these all things that coming to question when things like this happen.so sometimes we assume a lot. no offense was meant. some times you can the best protection avaliable & still get hurt. just wish these guys a speedy recovery!


----------



## emtnut (Mar 1, 2015)

EB Electric said:


> Never like to hear of these accidents, but thank you for bringing it to light so others can be aware and hopefully learn from it. I work in substations everyday so this hits close to home.
> 
> I am sorry to go on a rant but what on earth brought out the previous comments "Where was PPE?". Where does that come from, what called their PPE into question before there is even any details? Hang on a second fellas, have some respect before making a comment like that, it's an ongoing investigation, details take time. Nobody knows first hand what went down until the investigation is complete or those involved come out and tell you the real story. That ain't right first thing to jump in implying assumptions like PPE was not used or procedure wasn't followed. What's next should we question their ability and career judgement because of an accident? How many guys on here actually work in medium voltage, do you know the complexity inside high voltage subs. There's a million ways sh*t can hit the fan. To the guys asking where was PPE do you even know what a ground truck is, would you know what to check before you go ahead and rack a ground truck into the gear? And another thing, PPE ain't the end all be all. I'm not advocating for being unsafe and not using PPE, but unfortunately no matter how diligent you are, PPE is still only the last line of defence. End of the day the top of the line nicest newest 40cal bomb suit worn perfectly ain't protecting you as designed if say 55 or 60cal incident energy is present in an arc flash. When you get into the realm of medium voltage get into the utility environment, PPE can become a difference of open casket or closed at a service.


Very well put EB !
I'm retired now, and it's been over 18yrs since I worked on high voltage. I did it because it was my job ... always scared the **** out of me.
It's not very forgiving, and I don't know if the majority of guys here can relate.

Hope those 2 brothers are doing ok :sad:


----------



## Moonshot180 (Apr 1, 2012)

They continue to recover and I will disclose more info to my ET friends when I am able to. V/R


----------



## circuitman1 (Mar 14, 2013)

GREAT NEWS!:smile::smile::smile:


----------



## Zog (Apr 15, 2009)

So what happened? Sounds like maybe part of the shutter mechanism fell across the line side stabs or something? I have seen that cause an arc flash before when the rod on the side that moves the shutters fell off and hit the stabs.


----------



## Moonshot180 (Apr 1, 2012)

Zog said:


> So what happened? Sounds like maybe part of the shutter mechanism fell across the line side stabs or something? I have seen that cause an arc flash before when the rod on the side that moves the shutters fell off and hit the stabs.


 
That is exactly what they are thinking happened. They are thinking that the pin that holds the rod in place came loose, and it took about 2 minutes for the rod to slide down across the energized line stabs.

Doesn't look like the rod was visible to them, and they didn't know it had came loose?


----------



## Zog (Apr 15, 2009)

Moonshot180 said:


> That is exactly what they are thinking happened. They are thinking that the pin that holds the rod in place came loose, and it took about 2 minutes for the rod to slide down across the energized line stabs.
> 
> Doesn't look like the rod was visible to them, and they didn't know it had came loose?


I was part of an accident investigation for that same thing many years ago, I can't even remember where it was, steel mill I think. The rod was vaporized. You just can't plan for that type of freak accident. Wishing for the best for your guys, burns are horrible.


----------



## Zog (Apr 15, 2009)

So this is what the cell looks like (For those wondering). The breaker is removed in this photo, the shutter (Thing on the back with 3 holes) is in the lowered position as it would be with the breaker removed. This is a safety feature designed to cover the live bus with an insulating barrier when the breaker is removed. 

When the breaker is racked in it pushes a lever that operates the shutter mechanism to lift the shutter, exposing the bus stabs, so the breaker can rack onto the stabs. 

As you would guess these do not get maintained very often in most facilities (this gear is likely from the 70's) and the mechanism while simple, has several metal linkages that can spell disaster if they fall apart.


----------



## circuitman1 (Mar 14, 2013)

THANKS ZOG! wondered what that thing looked like. freak things will happen all the time.so they would have thought they were safe , & should have been safe. someone is going to have a lot of explaining to dooooo!!!!


----------



## Apelectric (Dec 6, 2017)

I wish your coworkers a speedy and full recovery.


----------



## Zog (Apr 15, 2009)

This is what the ground and test device looks like


----------



## canbug (Dec 31, 2015)

Shutters are damn scary when they don't work right or get jammed half open. Thoughts and prayers for the guys.

Tim


----------



## Apelectric (Dec 6, 2017)

Shutters


----------



## canbug (Dec 31, 2015)

That looks like an old 13.2 cubicle?


----------



## Signal1 (Feb 10, 2016)

Wow, sorry to hear about this horrible accident.

I missed the OP from last month somehow, but I'm glad to read that they are recovering.
Best wishes to your co-workers for a full and speedy recovery.


----------

